In this economy (and etc.), is your club demoralized?

[drskater]

I realize this topic is a bit loaded and has the potential to get terribly gossipy. I’m simply curious how other people who are active in their clubs are holding up, especially now that the season is winding down.

Not too long ago, our club held a party for our rink’s LTS and other group lessons kids (such as the home schooled group). The idea was to create a nice venue for the club members to get to know the other regular skaters and vice versa. To make a long story short, I was the only club person who showed up! Even our designated food and drink person forgot. The no-turnout was not for lack of organization. It’s not like we didn’t call everyone, send printed invitations, emails, and so on. Luckily I brought some yummy grub and it looked like our guests had a fun time. I mainly shrugged it off, it isn’t worth getting upset about. But I wonder if this episode points to broader issues that are affecting our club and clubs around the nation.

Quite simply, the kids from group lessons are not “graduating” into private and/or figure skating lessons this year, or the recent past. This fact is making club recruitment especially difficult. Obviously, it’s the economy, but in an Olympic year we’ve seen a rise in the group lesson numbers. The little kids (both genders) seem to prefer hockey. There are more problems along this vein (believe me our club has tried everything!!). My main point is that our club members are getting so demoralized and cynical that they’re growing apathetic about the club’s long-term health. The Board (that includes me) is tired and out of ideas.

I’m not much in contact with the other area clubs, and thus would love to hear about your experiences. Am I just morose?

[Skate@Delaware]

concerning my club, it isn't a matter of the economy but a bit of "why should we invite them" attitude. When the rink opened up the punch-card bulk discount, which previously had been only available to club members, there was a big stink about it. But very few club members were actually skating on freestyle ice because of the price ($5 for publics/$10 for the discounted freestyles vs. $13 for the regular freestyle price).

I'm not sure WHAT is wrong with my club, they don't really do much to promote/advertise. It's an attitude of "well, everyone knows we're here" sort of thing. Yeah that really works well.

a club needs to constantly and actively promote. If the leadership doesn't recognize that, then at the next elections, they need to be replaced. Because if they don't work for their club, there won't BE a club to work for.

(stepping off soapbox and slinking back to the couch now)

[rsk8d]

I teach at two different rinks, one with a club that is very recreational, and another that is in a more affluent area with freestyle ice-time all day. At the recreational club, they are definately taking a hit with the economy. All sessions are not as busy, and LTS numbers are way down. This is a result of the economy, but also a result of the club having mainly junior coaches and very few coaches who have passed above juvenile freestyle. At the competitive rink, we noticed a drop off about a year and a half ago, yet it has picked up in the past six months as the economy is starting to stabilize. Still, people have cut back on lessons for their skaters.

[kayskate]

I teach at a rec and hockey rink. What we are doing to keep students who cannot afford privates or are not able to commit to the $ at this time is offering FS grp lessons. We presently do not have a club. It folded. We are trying to build it back at the rink. You may want to talk about offering FS classes. They keep kids interested and skating especially if you have enough passing B8. Our FS grp is combined levels.

Kay

[Isk8NYC]

Our group lessons haven't seen a real Olympic impact. I have two kids in a Basic 6 class plus a few makeup students from other days. Almost every class has combined levels, which is concerning since this is the peak of the season normally. Two years ago, we were bursting at the seams, especially on the tot programs.

Our bridge program, which isn't a year-round option, did very well with enrollment. That's mainly because a few of the parents/coaches encouraged the skaters to sign up in lieu of freestyle groups.

Our club's fall competition was very small, but next month's roster is full enough that they're starting on Friday morning. (Single-sheet rink) From what I've heard, membership is more or less the same as it was last year. The club dropped their weekly freestyle sessions, so everyone uses the rink's freestyles.

The synchro team will help enrollment next year since several of the beginner skaters plan on testing MITF to move up the synchro levels. I'm not sure how many skaters will leave the upper-level teams for college, though, so it might have a zero net effect.

I had some of my private students come to the rink to watch a test session. Two of the Club execs went out of their way to say hello and be friendly, which was really nice for the kids. Both execs are also judges, so it made the process seem less scary. I could have done without one of them trying to start a "wave" on the benches during a MITF test, lol.

I have talked to five or six beginning skaters' parents who said the kids were inspired to start figure skating because of the Olympics. However, it seems like there are many skaters who didn't return for lessons this year.

[Skate@Delaware]

While our club numbers have gone way down; the LTS program has exploded! they had almost 300 sign up for the "Olympic Special" where LTS was offered half-price. 7 weeks of lessons for $49. They did raise the price of the public session by $1 and some of the snack bar prices went up. Hockey prices went way up but that was expected (they were way too low compared to other programs in the area, now they are evenly matched).

For the rink's spring show, the rink management said "you want a spring show-the club has to run it otherwise no-go" and the club board members didn't want to do it saying it was "too much work" although they were told they could keep 100% of the profits. These shows raise over $2,000 for the whole weekend. Eventually, they changed their mind and decided to run it but canceled the basic skills competition, saying-we can't do both it's too much work (again, turning down another no-brainer money raising event). As a former board member, I know we used to make money hosting basic skills since we utilize club time (already paid for) and in-house coaches for judges. virtually 100% profit.

Numbers for the show are down, since the entry fee to join the show is $75 plus that doesn't include your costume or some of the extras.

I'm wondering how some of the other small clubs are making it. We have about 50 members and dwindling.

[Skittl1321]

I teach at a rec and hockey rink. What we are doing to keep students who cannot afford privates or are not able to commit to the $ at this time is offering FS grp lessons. We presently do not have a club. It folded. We are trying to build it back at the rink. You may want to talk about offering FS classes. They keep kids interested and skating especially if you have enough passing B8. Our FS grp is combined levels.

Kay

Our freestyle classes are huge. We just do "low freestyle" (1 and 2) and "high freestyle (3+), and recently added "axel plus" on Saturdays. These classes don't follow USFS curriculum, I've been in high freestyle for awhile and all the kids in it with me have moved onto doubles while I trudge away at working on my loop. I still keep up with most of them on spins though...

I think there are at least 20 kids in freestyle classes on Saturday. I'd say 80% of them take private lessons, but most only 1 a week. The freestyle classes and "specialty" (aka whatever the coach wants to do: power, synchro, more freestyle) are a great impact on the program.

Our snowplow and Basic 1 numbers are up high too. The LTS director has a hard time with retention past basic 2 though, but I think it's to be expected- living in a cold weather state, it's expected that everyone learns how to ice skate, but most have no interest in being a skater.

I don't know anything about the clubs because I didn't rejoin last year.

[GoSveta]

concerning my club, it isn't a matter of the economy but a bit of "why should we invite them" attitude. When the rink opened up the punch-card bulk discount, which previously had been only available to club members, there was a big stink about it. But very few club members were actually skating on freestyle ice because of the price ($5 for publics/$10 for the discounted freestyles vs. $13 for the regular freestyle price).
For me, it's the same, with some additions.

Not only is it cheaper to go to Publics, but the traffic is much less (the on-ice traffic), since I'm able to go to the rink for Publics when most/all of the kids are in school.

[vesperholly]

I'm not sure WHAT is wrong with my club, they don't really do much to promote/advertise. It's an attitude of "well, everyone knows we're here" sort of thing. Yeah that really works well.
OMG, THIS. When I was my club's publicity chair about 8 years ago, I floated the idea of an introductory membership rate ($120 just to join is damn steep considering LTS was $90 for 10 weeks), you should've seen the sturm und drang that ensued. One would've thought that I suggested switching to the metric system or renaming the rink "Hitler's Hockey Haven".

I had lots of ideas, including "packaging" membership and their choice of one of a few low-level sessions into one flat rate, since the whole ice schedule rigamarole can be really scary, and redesigning the membership form so it was more legible, but I didn't even bother after seeing how ridiculous the introductory membership went over. They FINALLY created an intro rate a year ago. Sigh.

IIRC, the LTS program this year has done very well. I just don't think there are many making the transition from LTS to club, and they're staying in the LTS program longer. Coaches used to be able to pull kids into the club as early as Badge 6, now the kids wait to Badge 8 completion and enter the freestyle classes. It's a bummer because I think a little creative wording and self-promotion could get a lot more people into the club.

[Skate@Delaware]

Vesperholly, your post made me laugh! My club was very restrictive and exclusive at one time but recently the rink has relaxed the rules concerning who could skate on freestyles (club ice is only once/month). So, if you passed pre-alpha you are eligible. However, it does make it rather dangerous since they haven't required the skaters or their parents to be aware of any rules concerning right-of-way. And some of the sessions tend to be crowded with little kids going willy-nilly.

Unfortunately, not many see the benefit of joining the club when they can skate on any freestyle session or even public session. There is no benefit to joining my club any longer...they don't even run tests unless you are a dancer; and there has been no Basic Skills competition in the past two years. They even opened up the ice shows to the kids in the LTS program (although any adult skater in the rink can skate in the show-they are glad to have them).

When the club started, we had 4 sessions/week. You joined the club and then you bought your ice time...depending on how many times you thought you wanted to skate: 1-4 times per week. If you joined at 1x/week you could drop in and skate more, but if you joined at 4x/week and you only skated 1x/week you didn't get a rebate. But the club made a lot of money, it was just mis-managed. Also, there were times when there would only be 1-2 skaters on the ice as well, which was nice (for club ice). I miss those times. Now, there are less times to skate per week. I believe we went from a total of 14 sessions per week (4 were club) to 8 per week, with club ice only once per month.

Sorry this is really lengthy.....I'm just really sad to see the club go so far downhill in such a short amount of time (the rink just celebrated 7 years). We went from a great hard-working club to one that likes to sit in the lobby. Really, really sad. Yes, i did request to run for a board position at the last election but my name was not even on the list.

[RachelSk8er]

My club is losing members left and right, I think it's due not only to the economy, but the way my club is run. When membership went down, we kept the same amount of ice time, so our sessions are sparsely attended. The club then tries to do fundraisers and the board sends nasty letters/emails to people who don't participate. We also get nasty letters/emails for not attending their "emergency meetings" to discuss the state of our club. I'm sorry, but when I work full-time and go to school at night, I'm not going to go around selling pies at Thanksgiving or chocolate at Easter. I don't have time for that crap, I don't need to be buying/eating that crap, either. If I need extra money to pay for skating, I work an hour of overtime and make a lot more money that way. Many of our members are home-schooled and skate on the rink's freestyle ice during the day, or adults who skate on the rink's early morning sessions...why should they have to be guilted/threatened into participating in fundraiser to subsidize club ice that they don't skate on?

We're finally having an exhibition in May. I was told up front I get a solo and don't have to try out for one, since they want to make sure adult skating is represented. Great. Then they hand me a form and want me to pay $30 to be in the exhibition. Is this normal for just an exhibition that they're already charging admission for? This isn't some big fancy production with rehearsals and lighting and costumes and other things that would justify a fee. We do our own programs that fit the overall theme ("Summer Fun"). Haven't decided yet if I'm going to do it, it's in the middle of my law school finals.

[Clarice]

We're finally having an exhibition in May. I was told up front I get a solo and don't have to try out for one, since they want to make sure adult skating is represented. Great. Then they hand me a form and want me to pay $30 to be in the exhibition. Is this normal for just an exhibition that they're already charging admission for? This isn't some big fancy production with rehearsals and lighting and costumes and other things that would justify a fee. We do our own programs that fit the overall theme ("Summer Fun"). Haven't decided yet if I'm going to do it, it's in the middle of my law school finals.

A show fee is normal for our club. For us, shows have been major fundraisers - that way, we don't have to sell pies or chocolate, etc. The participation fee covered the production expenses of the show, so that the ticket revenue was profit. We split the gate with the rink - we included the Learn to Skate students in the show, and they didn't charge us for the ice. Production expenses included stipends for coaches who helped at dress rehearsal and on show day, spotlight rental, decorations, and programs.

The benefit of being in the club is being able to have a solo or duet in the show. Learn to Skate students can only be in group numbers. (They don't pay the participation fee, either - just the registration fee for their class.)

We're having the same trouble as other clubs in getting skaters to move from group lessons to club membership. Our biggest growth area right now is with synchro skaters, since they're required to be club members. We have quite a number of adults who joined for synchro, and are now working towards various tests.

[Skate@Delaware]

We're finally having an exhibition in May. I was told up front I get a solo and don't have to try out for one, since they want to make sure adult skating is represented. Great. Then they hand me a form and want me to pay $30 to be in the exhibition. Is this normal for just an exhibition that they're already charging admission for? This isn't some big fancy production with rehearsals and lighting and costumes and other things that would justify a fee. We do our own programs that fit the overall theme ("Summer Fun"). Haven't decided yet if I'm going to do it, it's in the middle of my law school finals.
Way back when we used to host exhibitions, they were held on club ice and were open to the public AND did not cost to enter. We did think about charging a small fee but that didn't seem "friendly" so it was dropped. We aren't allowed to charge admission for some things (it's complicated, being that everything we do goes through not just USFS but also the Delaware State Fair Board). Hey, good luck on your final if I don't get a chance to say so beforehand.
The benefit of being in the club is being able to have a solo or duet in the show. Learn to Skate students can only be in group numbers. (They don't pay the participation fee, either - just the registration fee for their class.)
The ones that get solos in our shows are skaters above a certain skating level and guest skaters (again, from U of DE). However, there have been skaters that have had solos pulled from LTS ranks recently for the "cuteness" factor which I think has been awesome. But that started a "why not my kid" war among the parents. The kids pulled are beginning pair skaters and so adorable! Everyone pays to be in the show, you pay the money and it gets you tickets to the show which you turn around and either give away or re-sell and make your money back. They are open tickets to any performance and there have been times when everyone shows up for Friday night's show and there haven't been seats available (no seats are reserved). However, if you are not a LTS or member of the club, you can request an audition and if you are really good, you can be in the show. And pay the fee. And then buy your costume(s).

[Query]

I haven't belonged to a club in years.

People join clubs if their work schedule, and the local rink's skating schedules, don't mesh well otherwise, or if the sessions that do mesh are too busy.

As skating got less popular, the clubs in my area, Maryland near DC, became largely pointless. There are now many rinks here where you can find a near empty cheap public sessions, where the rules don't bar freestyle and dance. So most people don't need clubs, except to test and compete, though some join synchro teams or hockey clubs.

I think providing group activities as suggested by people above makes sense, if you care.

E.g., hire an Olympic or World class skater to teach group lessons during club sessions. And advertise.

You might be surprised how much it would help to organize a pot luck, or an alternate person cooks and brings dinner activity nearby after the session. Some other types of club I have belonged to find that helps a lot. Food is a very powerful attractant, and so is the social fun of preparing or bringing food for everyone. If the rink let's you do it there, post a sign that says people considering joining can eat one time without having to bring anything.

But maybe the question should be, why do you care?

[Clarice]

The ones that get solos in our shows are skaters above a certain skating level and guest skaters (again, from U of DE).

We limit "feature numbers" to club members (solos, duets, trios) to encourage people to join. Even club members can't have solos unless they've passed the Pre-Preliminary free skate test (Pre-Bronze for adults). They can have duets or trios, though. The length of the solo is determined by test level - we use the program lengths from the National Showcase competition. They can choose their own music, as long as it fits with the theme. This eliminates a lot of arguing, and encourages skaters to advance. You want a feature, join the club. You want a solo, pass your test. You want a longer solo, test higher. If we had more members, the requirements might have to be adjusted higher so the show doesn't become ridiculously long, but this has worked well for several years. It does seem that the desire to be in shows has attracted more skaters to the club than the desire to compete.

[sk8lady]

Our club is divided into areas and the area that runs things decided that our area did not make enough money last year, and therefore could neither purchase ice time for club members or have a show (and they hired our regular show director to direct THEIR show this year). Since the only reason most people joined the club was for the ice time or to be in a show our area lost most of our members and only ran Basic Skills, although the Basic Skills kids also thought there was going to be a show that they could be in since we have had one for the last ten years or so. Can't feel too bad about it since the members we did have refused to volunteer in oversight positions and I wanted a break after two years, so whatever happens is not my problem. I can skate during the day and I only belong to the club so I can test.

[PinkLaces]

Our club numbers are actually up. However, they were really down 3 years ago. There was a big shake-up at the rink and several coaches were fired. They took most of the high level skaters with them. The board members that were left couldn't have cared less. The club almost disbanded. Over the past 2 years, the current board has worked very hard to build it back up. We're at about 70 members right now. That is small, but double what we had - especially considering we are an ISI rink. Freestyle sessions are available 6 days & nights/week - there are only 2 you have to be a member of the club to skate on. We have found that the coaches need to be somewhat involved with the club and recommend joining it for us to keep and bring in new members.

Somethings we do to try to make the club beneficial for our skaters:

*We hold optional fundraisers 4 times per year where the majority of the proceeds go to the skaters' account - can be used for ice time, home competition fees, ice show fees, or the rink store.

*Hold all of our club ice sessions on the same night so if you want to skate that night & time period you have to be come a club member. It is the busiest night so it works out.

*Hold 3-4 USFS test sessions/year

*Have an party with ice time during National Skating month that is free

*Hold used dress/skate sale once a year.

*Have exhibition ice before competitions where skaters run through their programs like they would in competition, wear their dress, etc. Anyone can come and watch for free - parents, grandparents, etc.

*4 social events per year including a banquet. Skater does not pay.

There has been talk recently of a coach who coaches at our rink and another, who is trying to shift some of the girls to the other rink. This rink requires them to become members to skate on their ice. Coaches were concerned that one girl+mother in particular has been talking up the other club. How can we keep our skaters from going to the other club, etc.

Some things that the board talked about doing:

*Working with the rink to issue a coupon to all members that would be good for 1 freestyle session of the skaters choice (doesn't have to be club ice).

*Only allowing club members to have the solos and features in the ice show.

The board has a great group of 10 people, but they are getting tired of doing most of the work. They have tried to get other people to help, but often these people drop the ball at the last minute which creates more work. I hope the board doesn't burn out.

[Skate@Delaware]

PinkLaces, those are some really good things!

all coaches that want to coach on club ice MUST join at a coaches level, which costs $35/year. It used to be, the rink would get a surcharge of your fee but people never paid it (small wonder, you could never find anyone up front to pay).

Clarice, if we held to that testing requirement at my rink, only 3 skaters would qualify. We just started testing our skaters under the USFS structure and that is not at our rink but up at U of De; for dance it's held once per year at our rink. ISI testing is of course, held in house.

Anyone can drop in on club ice-just pay the fee (which is the same as freestyle).

We don't even have awards banquets or recognition of our skaters that win competitions. Hockey does. It's a big thing and always a full house.

Query posted:
"E.g., hire an Olympic or World class skater to teach group lessons during club sessions. And advertise.
At my rink, group lessons are taught by some high level skaters. Melissa Bulanghagui, Laura Handy, and at one time Shaun Rogers. It wasn't that big a draw as you would think as people in this area (lower Delaware) don't seem to know (or care). It would have gotten a bigger draw if it had been a race car driver, country star, etc.

But maybe the question should be, why do you care? "
Because if there is a lack of interest in figure skating, eventually the sessions will not draw the numbers, then you find the sessions canceled. Then the rink gets a bit more restrictive on what you can do in public sessions, since the people aren't as familiar with the moves. It's a trickle effect. Then you can't do anything on public except skate in a circle with two skates on the ice at all times (of course except for the moronic hockey dudes doing their stupid stuff cause hockey never dies, pays the bill, etc).

THAT'S WHY WE CARE.

[PinkLaces]

Why Do I Care?

1. I want to create opportunities for my daughter, myself (as a skater), and other skaters. I am the Test Chair. Yes, it's a lot of hours of work and some headaches (unhappy coach that totally b'ched me out). There are plenty of other clubs in my area that skaters can test at, but it's cheaper and more comfortable for them to test at home.

2. Hockey is king around here. The Hockey Assns have the bucks and clout. They are very vocal in complaining about any ice that figure skating takes up. If it was up to them, there would be no ice except hockey ice. The more figure skaters we have in the club the more we can negotiate with the rink to keep more freestyle hours.

[vesperholly]

Interesting read, PinkLaces.

One fundraiser I thought about proposing was a kind of 50/50 - if you volunteer at X event, you earn something for your work and something for the club as a whole. Your portion would be "club dollars" redeemable for ice time/membership fees/etc.

So say 10 people work an event that raises $300. That's $30 apiece, $15 goes to the club and $15 goes to you in "club dollars". That way, there's personal incentive and no one gets pissed that others are benefiting without doing any work.

I wish I'd been able to suggest this, but we were in the middle of a residency issue (town-owned rink drama) and that was the priority.

[RachelSk8er]

Interesting read, PinkLaces.

One fundraiser I thought about proposing was a kind of 50/50 - if you volunteer at X event, you earn something for your work and something for the club as a whole. Your portion would be "club dollars" redeemable for ice time/membership fees/etc.

So say 10 people work an event that raises $300. That's $30 apiece, $15 goes to the club and $15 goes to you in "club dollars". That way, there's personal incentive and no one gets pissed that others are benefiting without doing any work.

I wish I'd been able to suggest this, but we were in the middle of a residency issue (town-owned rink drama) and that was the priority.

Fundraising and all that stuff is fine, but like I've mentioned before, I have a HUGE issue with club officers who are nasty to those who choose not to participate because they either don't need the money in their account, can't get any use out of what you earn (i.e. my club did a punch card for 5 club sessions if you raised a certain amount of money at one fundraiser. Due to work/school I don't skate on any club sessions other than what I've already contracted and can't use that), or who don't have time in their already busy schedules. Our ice monitor at the session I normally skate always gets pissy at me when I don't take the papers to sell pies, Christmas wreaths, candy, and whatever other crap they try to tell us we "have" to sell.

If you want to make fundraising/volunteering "mandatory" and include it in club membership forms/contracts that people sign at the beginning of the year, fine. I skated for one club that required us to buy one Entertainment book. No biggie, my parents bought one every year anyway so this was convenient. Another club I was a member of charged us a $50 volunteer fee up front, which we got credited to our account or directly refunded to us at the end of the season once we did a certain amount of volunteeer work. Not a problem. You're getting what you need (volunteers for test sessions, competitions we hosted, ice monitoring, etc) but $50 wasn't a huge punishment for families who didn't have time or who were home club members but lived out-of-town. But you can't tell club members mid-season, totally out of the blue, that they must participate in "mandatory" fundraisers or they will be charged. (My club tried that, and accompanied information about our "mandatory" fundraiser with a nasty letter about how awful we all are for not participating in earlier fundraisers. And all they're getting out of it now are more people switching clubs next season.)

[Skittl1321]

I had an (ISI) club attempt to fine me for not having a parent volunteer at a show. I told them my parents lived over 1000 miles away, and that I was skating in the show- so could not volunteer DURING the show- could I help with take down?

Nope, take down volunteering was full- and it was clearly written in the show contract that a parent of every skater MUST be present to volunteer DURING the show. (My coach had told me it would be no problem to volunteer for take-down... sigh)

The club officers had never met me, and I think it took them awhile to realize I was an adult who was completely serious that my parents lived very far away. However, at that point, they decided to stick to their guns and it was a $150 fine. I dropped out of the show, and took my $80 participation check back. bet they regretted not cashing that sooner.

I did not rejoin the club.

[Virtualsk8r]

Wow that was harsh - and totally unreasonable! Glad you bailed on them and didn't return. But I bet that was in the day of flush parents and lots of demand for membership.

Our club doesn't charge for participants to be in any of our ice shows. We do charge an entry fee of $5 per person at the door for the show, which is used to offset the cost of minimal costumes, which we recycle by keeping in our costume room. Many of the costumes are user-constructed.....ie boxes with arm and leg holes wrapped in Christmas paper for kids being 'presents', kids wear black shirts and pants and are given a 'bumble bee' felt vest, or solo skaters are dressed from the costume room (tails donated by former dancers, ballroom dresses from second hand stores etc.). Parents are asked to volunteer and usually we have too many! Show is run by coaches with help from some (note the word some!) board members.....the rest seem to disappear between elections!

The state of all volunteer organizations is pretty dismal these days. Skating clubs are not immune from the 'no time - not in my backyard' syndrome that the generation X'rs (the majority of parents) believe. I find that boomer parents volunteer the most - while those parents in the 25-45 age range can't be bothered but DO expect that someone else give their child everything including badges that aren't earned.

Must be something in the water when these kids were growing up-----my generation was brought up to believe in working for rewards and giving back to the community.

Any wonder there aren't enough people interested in being on skating club executives or training to be judges these days?

BTW Those parents 25-45 that do volunteer are stellar! Just too few of them.

[PinkLaces]

Wow! No reason to be nasty someone or unreasonable. I didn't volunteer to help at the show last year - I figure I do enough volunteering. My daughter had a solo and any volunteering that I would do would mean missing it. It was the 4th number. No one said anything to me.

I hate selling stuff. We don't force anyone to sell stuff. You can sell wreaths at Christmas time and plants in the spring.You get the proceeds minus a percent to the club. We've done bagging at the grocery store for tips. The total was split by whomever bagged (based on hours spent bagging) minus a percent to the club. The club gets 10% of the proceeds from the used dress/skate sale. I forget some of the other things we have done. Those were the things that were most popular and brought in the most profit for the skater.

Our main club fundraisers are working the 2 ISI competitions that the rink hosts each year. We get ice credits for them...about $3000 a year. Since we only have 2 sessions per contract and 3-4 test session a year, it goes pretty far. Most people volunteer to work at the competitions, but a few don't. We have a few collegiate members. No one bugs them if they can't help out. We just ask that everyone that is actively skating at the rink volunteer 4-8 hours at one of the two competitions. I don't think that is asking too much of someone. We also do a basket auction at the ice show. Again not mandatory, but it usually brings in enough $$$ to pay for the banquet.

[RachelSk8er]

Must be something in the water when these kids were growing up-----my generation was brought up to believe in working for rewards and giving back to the community.

Any wonder there aren't enough people interested in being on skating club executives or training to be judges these days?

BTW Those parents 25-45 that do volunteer are stellar! Just too few of them.

I don't think it's a lack of desire to help out at all. People are just stretched too thin and there are only 24 hours in a day.

Nowadays most families have both parents working. You no longer have dad who goes off to work and mom cooks and takes care of the kids and can volunteer with the PTA and the skating club and everything else. All the things parents are asked to help out with between school and youth sports are now on top of spending time with the kids and working a full-time job. And kids are all doing multiple sports and activities. They don't just skate. They skate, play soccer, take ballet, take music lessons, and have brothers and sisters who all do 25 other activities, too.

Even some of the stay-at-home moms whose kids skate at my rink are run down, stressed out basketcases because they spend all their time running kids to 75 different places every day. (Seriously, looking at how miserable they seem is the best form of birth control!)

[Isk8NYC]

I don't mind volunteering - I just MAKE the time for special events and such. My kids are in a lot of activities, both my husband I work full-time, plus I coach skating! If you really care, you can pull it off, but it's very easy for people to beg off, claiming their time schedules are too busy. There's an old saying: If you want something done, give it to a busy person.

Then they wonder why skating is so expensive. If ten people volunteer to donate a couple of dishes/drinks/paper goods, hospitality is inexpensive. If no one volunteers, the Club has to buy store-made food which raises the cost.

Even when I don't sign up in advance, I usually offer to help out when I'm there (if my kids aren't skating) or do hospitality / clean up. That's just how I was brought up - you don't sit and wait to be asked, you just pitch in somehow, even if you're not on the list. Watch your kid skate-absolutely!


A big issue is your volunteer coordinator. It has to be someone who is friendly and willing to overlook errors without comment. I know of several people at various clubs on the east coast who are so nasty they discourage participation. Of course, they play the martyr card of "no one ever volunteers." Well, gee, you snarled at the woman who had just started her first turn at the check-in desk because she was "doing it wrong," you complained about another family's food, and you terrified the preteen runners because you thought they had lost an envelope of music.

As a follow-on to the last one: the little girl and her sister both started crying. When the envelope was found sitting on a chair in the music booth, no one came to apologize to the kids. I felt awful for them and I've never seen them volunteer since that day.


My attitude in coordinating volunteers is take whatever they give and say thank you. If you have to redo something, do it discreetly or ask NICELY for them to help you. That in turn, teaches them the right way. But don't be a micromanager and don't be nasty.

[PinkLaces]

I don't mind volunteering - I just MAKE the time for special events and such. My kids are in a lot of activities, both my husband I work full-time, plus I coach skating! If you really care, you can pull it off, but it's very easy for people to beg off, claiming their time schedules are too busy. There's an old saying: If you want something done, give it to a busy person.

Then they wonder why skating is so expensive. If ten people volunteer to donate a couple of dishes/drinks/paper goods, hospitality is inexpensive. If no one volunteers, the Club has to buy store-made food which raises the cost.

Even when I don't sign up in advance, I usually offer to help out when I'm there (if my kids aren't skating) or do hospitality / clean up. That's just how I was brought up - you don't sit and wait to be asked, you just pitch in somehow, even if you're not on the list. Watch your kid skate-absolutely!


A big issue is your volunteer coordinator. It has to be someone who is friendly and willing to overlook errors without comment. I know of several people at various clubs on the east coast who are so nasty they discourage participation. Of course, they play the martyr card of "no one ever volunteers." Well, gee, you snarled at the woman who had just started her first turn at the check-in desk because she was "doing it wrong," you complained about another family's food, and you terrified the preteen runners because you thought they had lost an envelope of music.

As a follow-on to the last one: the little girl and her sister both started crying. When the envelope was found sitting on a chair in the music booth, no one came to apologize to the kids. I felt awful for them and I've never seen them volunteer since that day.


My attitude in coordinating volunteers is take whatever they give and say thank you. If you have to redo something, do it discreetly or ask NICELY for them to help you. That in turn, teaches them the right way. But don't be a micromanager and don't be nasty.

ITA! We have an awesome volunteer coordinator who is super friendly. Thank yous go a long way!

[drskater]

Wow. These are really thought-provoking and insightful posts! I appreciate your input. Thanks for taking the time to answer.

It seems that club recruitment and retention depends as much on club policies and “club culture” more than simple economics. Clearly, there’s a huge disparity between the large, competition-oriented clubs and the smaller, primarily recreational organizations. My club belongs to the latter group. We haven’t had kids in Regionals in years and the few members who compete just go to local ISI events. Most of our members skate for fun not sport. As a result my club has had no choice but to cater to our recreational constituency.

Why care? Yikes, this is a question that prompts an identity crisis! I guess I care because in the past few years (before I joined the Board) the club was horrible. A few aggressively psychotic/dumb skating parents intimidated the Club Officers, made meetings miserable, drove out the reasonable people, forced a coach to quit, and generally pushed the club to devote energy to useless and moronic causes that never amounted to much. As a result the club neglected basic issues like recruitment, publicity, and fundraising. In the spirit of karmic retribution these idiots were thrown out of the rink when their devil spawn were caught stealing. The damage was done, however, and we were barely functional with hardly any members left. My caring heIps prevent this kind of situation from happening again. We’ve worked hard to rebuild; to cultivate a pleasant environment for our club and a fun atmosphere at the rink and that’s worth the effort.

From your stories, it seems that a lot clubs do not do much to retain members. Actually, I find it appalling how some of you have been treated. Members are golden, I know because we lost so many good people that our club fell below thirty members. You lose your charter if you can’t keep a minimum of 25 members.

To recruit and retain members, our club going to offer a free Saturday freestyle once a month. This is in addition to a meager 20 dollar club fee, no mandatory donations, no mandatory volunteer hours, plus a free freestyle and free public session for signing up (we’ve got a great relationship with our rink). We don’t run the exhibition shows but basically if you show up, you can solo.

This is getting way to long. More later….

[Isk8NYC]

I think that any event you're going to open to the public (skating sessions, concerts, shows, speakers, etc.) should have at least a token fee. If people lay out $5 for a concert, they'll be less inclined to go "no show" if the weather turns really nice or really nasty, lol.

I would send an invitation saying "this is free for current members and () guest(s)" That encourages people to bring friends.

If your club doesn't offer regular freestyle sessions, you have to build friendships and trust in different ways. This could be one of them.

[Debbie S]

Skating clubs are not immune from the 'no time - not in my backyard' syndrome that the generation X'rs (the majority of parents) believe. I find that boomer parents volunteer the most - while those parents in the 25-45 age range can't be bothered but DO expect that someone else give their child everything including badges that aren't earned.
I'm not a parent, I'm an adult skater, but I am in that age range (actually Gen X is now 30-45) and I take exception to your comments. I volunteer for my skating club - am on the board - and no, I don't expect anything to be given to me, nor have I found that with the majority of parents who don't volunteer.

As RachelSk8er pointed out, parents are stretched very thin with their time - the ones who say they can't volunteer are usually heavily involved in another of their child's activities - PTA, or other sports. Also, our annual competition (which is where the volunteer need is) is held at a rink about 40 minutes from our home rink (long story). Parents whose kids compete at the comp will volunteer, along with adult skaters, but if a parent has no other reason to be there, they generally don't volunteer, b/c they usually have to take their kid to some other activity that day. It's also been tough to recruit volunteers the past few years b/c our home rink has been closed during the summer so there are people that we just don't see. This year, the rink is staying open, so I'm hopeful it will be easier to snag people. But summer is a tough time, b/c people also go away on vacation.

To answer the original question, my club is doing fine b/c we have our annual comp as a fundraiser. Last year, we reduced our expenses (no program, only gave competitors their individual protocol and posted the full results online, didn't order extra T-shirts - only those that gave their size in advance) and made a profit. We buy ice time from the rink and do subsidize the cost a bit for members, but the amount of ice we've purchased is much less than 5-8 years ago - only 2 hours on 2 evenings/week and only from Oct-March (so we prevent the rink from selling the ice to hockey during hockey season). The rink offers FS ice during those times in spring and summer.

Still, we've seen membership drop off a bit, but some of that is due to standard attrition (kids go away to college or stop skating). The fact that our home rink has been closed over the past 4 summers has probably hurt, but now the rink is staying open again year-round. We do recognize the need to attract more members, particularly from group lesson participants, and are looking into ways to do that (have a introduction-to-club-and-FS type seminar in the spring, offer a bridge membership, have a Basic Skills comp). The group lesson program is very crowded, but there don't seem to be a lot of kids taking the next step - that could be due to the economy or maybe they aren't aware of what the next step might be.

[vesperholly]

Fundraising and all that stuff is fine, but like I've mentioned before, I have a HUGE issue with club officers who are nasty to those who choose not to participate because they either don't need the money in their account, can't get any use out of what you earn (i.e. my club did a punch card for 5 club sessions if you raised a certain amount of money at one fundraiser.

I know, it seems there's always a gaggle of people who judge people for not volunteering without even thinking about what their situation might be. In my case, I was 14 by the time I started in private lessons and both my parents worked full-time jobs that included travel - I was lucky I could get to the rink in time, and sometimes I didn't. When I turned 16 and started to drive, I volunteered myself. And that was AFTER I skated myself, not while my child was on the ice. So I put in twice the amount of time.

Thankfully, my club has never asked anyone to do sales for fundraising. I'd much rather volunteer my professional services (graphic design) than hawk candy bars to coworkers.

I think it also doesn't help that the martyr volunteers can come off as very cliquey. They all go into the club office and talk, while adult skaters are on the ice. It can make it very hard to get your foot in the door. The best board members I've ever dealt with are the ones who also have jobs, that way the club drama isn't central in their lives.

[tazsk8s]

I spent a couple of years as our club's vice president, competition chair, and webmaster, and have pretty much "seen it all" when it comes to parent volunteers. There are always the die-hard regulars who continue to help out at events long after their kids are done with the sport, and then there are those parents whose kids test and compete regularly who do nothing to help out, and then everything in between.

The hardest thing I found was to get new people involved in the club in some form. Most new parents just don't know how to go about getting involved. It's all well and good to have Mrs. So-and-so be in charge of ice monitors every year because she knows the ropes, but you have to have some new blood learn what's going on because the day could come when Mrs. So-and-so moves away. Our club's competition is our biggest annual event and when I chaired it, we added a section to our application form for our members' parents to check off what they wanted to help with regarding the competition. There were plenty of options...from stuffing envelopes beforehand to bringing hospitality items to ice monitoring to cleanup. Nobody was ever expected to miss seeing their kid skate! I did take some flack the first year for adding the "expectation" that those club members entering the competition would provide some sort of support, from the "I don't have time" crowd (really? How hard is it to pick up some paper goods or bottled water for hospitality? sheesh.) but I notice that the current regime has left it intact. We didn't hassle anyone that really couldn't help out, and there were always a couple of those due to first communions, graduations, whatnot. Just tried to spread the workload out a bit. And of course we made allowances for the people who worked at test sessions or other events throughout the year...there's no reason the same people should "have to" do everything.

[Isk8NYC]

That's what I'm talking about: too many people blow off any requests for volunteers with a flippant "I'm too busy." Too many volunteer coordinators are too overwhelmed to figure out what they can ask others to do.

Look at Vesperholly's contribution - it's volunteering, even though she's not sitting in a locker room feeding judges. There are lots of ways to contribute. I prepare the holiday show programs. I also look through the costume closet in Sept/Oct and clean/mend anything that needs tending. One of my friends put in an hour while waiting for her skater, taping check in lists on envelopes for the runners at an upcoming competition. Someone could make a pot of soup or chili for the hospitality at a competition. Bring it in a crock pot and the Chairperson will be overjoyed. Offer to accept the ads for the program journal and put them in order for the person putting it all together. Make up signs where each of the show groups are supposed to sit and wait. Pick up the judges from out of town at the airport near your office and drop them off at their hotels or bring them to the rink.

It just takes creativity and a spirit of cooperation - many hands make light work.

I gotta say, of all the volunteer work I've ever done, working the snack bar at the Softball games was a blast. We had shade, food, and good company. Nothing cliquey there.


All fundraising goes to DH - he's a pro. Truthfully, we usually end up DIY'ing it most of the time because we don't really know many local people well enough to ask them to buy something. The Entertainment Books are pretty painless, as are magazine drives. We use this hook for magazine drives: most of the companies honor subscription renewal prices, so instead of asking people to buy new magazines, we just ask them to renew their existing ones when they come due. It doesn't the subscriber more than they would have paid, we just attach a copy of their "renew now" card with the renewal price. (Might vary by company, so check)

Our club offered holiday greenery and the pieces were spectacular and fresh. But, wealways receive a front-door wreath as a gift, so I couldn't buy one of those. Our front porch gets full sun all afternoon so any real greens are browns within a week. They also had a gift wrap drive, so we bought some of that instead. Just more practical for us.


My church in Brooklyn was outstanding at coordinating events and volunteers. About a week after every big event, the committee (and anyone else who was interested) would have a post-game meeting with refreshments in the Parish House. At the meeting, they'd go over what worked, what didn't, and what they need for next year. The Church secretary would take minutes and type up a report with the lists and any action items. If someone moved or changed parishes, their replacement could refer to notes from prior years. That kept the knowledge available, even if the original person wasn't around.

Our pastor was GREAT at getting people involved. He'd just ask them to do a specific task, like working with so-and-so on the decorating committee. So-and-so would know that this new person would be there as a resource for them and that they should learn everything about decorating that they could, so they could help with other events. No one held the same role for more than 2-3 years. Before they got too comfortable, he'd ask them to take on a different role. He once told me that doing that made them feel welcome and he gave a lot of thought to the roles he asked of them so that they wouldn't be intimidated.

Which is how I ended up as a swim team coach for ten years, lol. He found out that I was a former competitive swimmer and they needed lane coaches for the new girls' team. I liked doing it so much that it never felt like a burden, even when I was expecting twins. I just got to sit on the deck more, lol.

I have NEVER seen anyone coordinate events in that way. It truly worked well and kept the cliques in check.

[sk8tmum]

A bit of a thread drift; it sounds like some clubs are demoralized irrespective of the economy. Which brings it back to the critical factors in keeping a club alive, effective and positive, which are the people resources and the way that members are treated and recruited.

[RachelSk8er]

That's what I'm talking about: too many people blow off any requests for volunteers with a flippant "I'm too busy." Too many volunteer coordinators are too overwhelmed to figure out what they can ask others to do.



But some people have good intentions and when they say they are too busy and can't handle any additional obligations, they mean it. There is "busy" (as in "can make time for what's important" or "using it as an excuse") and busy as in various factosr in their lives have every single hour of every single day already spoken for and they can't possibly take on anything else.

[Isk8NYC]

A bit of a thread drift; it sounds like some clubs are demoralized irrespective of the economy. Which brings it back to the critical factors in keeping a club alive, effective and positive, which are the people resources and the way that members are treated and recruited.

I don't consider it thread drift. The two issues are tied to demoralizing: financial and interpersonal are really both priorities. When money is tight, interpersonal relations can boost morale. When morale is high, it's because of the people involved in the club, and the finances usually get better when people are happy and excited.

But some people have good intentions and when they say they are too busy and can't handle any additional obligations, they mean it. There is "busy" (as in "can make time for what's important" or "using it as an excuse") and busy as in various factosr in their lives have every single hour of every single day already spoken for and they can't possibly take on anything else.Is this a permanent lifestyle? At that point, they need to cut back on activities. It's just common sense.

If it's a temporary situation, such as going to school, having to work multiple jobs, having kids, taking care of a loved one, or similar, that's a different story. In time, they'll be able to contribute. We gladly contributed our Softball "volunteer fee" for two years when dealing with family illnesses and deaths. The league refused our check, saying they knew we volunteered regularly and would again.

But if the person was NEVER one to volunteer prior to their overscheduled lives, it's an excuse they'll use forever. It's their choice, of course, but almost every club says that they expect people to volunteer.

[RachelSk8er]

Is this a permanent lifestyle? At that point, they need to cut back on activities. It's just common sense.

Well, for my sanity's sake, I hope this working 45-50 hrs/week and taking 4 night law school classes and trying to find time to skate and spend time with friends/family and sleep madness that I put myself through will end at some point (only so I can wind up working 60-65 hrs/week, so not sure if that's much of a trade-off). Can't really speak for other people though.

[drskater]

I find recruitment a bit like a medieval courting ritual. Since I teach LTS (the only club member who teaches), I’m in contact with many of the new skaters and their parents and use that opportunity to get to know people. Gradually, people come to realize that I represent the Club and approach me to ask about it or just comment on rink and figure skating issues. I never “push” the club but do give out stickers, buttons, and man an info booth, which is never lacking for cookies. I figure I help make the club visible, accessible, and familiar. I snagged four new members, a huge number in our little club. As so many of you point out, simply being polite and helpful will make your club look desirable. As for retaining members, I’ve worked hard on sending out the notes of appreciation, thank yous, and basic communication. Would you believe we only set up an email list, web site, facebook page this year!? It took so long because the previous Board members didn’t “like” email and a few are still scared of computers.

In my admittedly limited experience, the soft sell works wonders. Last fall, our rink had an open house and the club set up a booth. The other club volunteer who worked with me that day, watched the public walk in and bellowed, “Join the Club!!” As the public winced, averted eye contact, and tried to shuffle past us, she’d hold up a picture of her (figure skating) son and yell, “See?! Boys can figure skate too, ya know!). Ha ha. Nobody joined.

Also, I love your ideas about creating a friendly atmosphere around the rink. I find that acting generous and genuinely concerned about the other skaters does indeed cultivate a positive skating culture—something that may actually attract people. I suppose this is a “no duh” observation, but such behavior is definitely not in evidence at the neighboring, out of town rinks. Plus, look at skittl, versperholly, and skate@delaware, whose experiences almost seem like abuse. It’s a figure skating club people! What on earth could be so important to warrant such punitive policies? Seriously, what’s at stake?

As for volunteers, in my club it is the “volunteer” (singular, me) and her husband. Yes, I do work and etc. but I don’t find the club work that difficult, especially given the stresses of my profession. In addition, I just want to get things done. I’m not a martyr about it. It just limits what can be done.

I love the suggestion about charging admission to an ice show. In fact, you’ve given me an idea (evil Dracula laugh), but that’s another post…

[sk8joyful]

I love the suggestion about charging admission to an ice show.

Doesn't every ice arena charge admission to their Ice-shows?

Here, it was $12-15, depending if up in bleachers, or ice-level.
--- personally,
as a people-loving person, I used to be heavily involved in 'church'-activities half my life. And most of the time, they didn't even need ask me; when I saw a need somewhere, I was glad to Volunteer, & donations - Lordy, I gave happily over 25% of my gross, to help nearly anyone. I LOVE serving & giving :D joyfully... Until - I could no longer justify nor excuse some of the basic human-rights violations continually committed, and left. I never returned, nor do I have any intentions of so doing. Enough, was more than enough.
now,
I'm learning skating. And had no idea at the outset there were 'clubs', and that people actually had to 'pay' to skate in a show, or pressure to advance up some rank, nor all the back-biting, and attitudes 8O that sad to say, apparently feeds many rinks. - And
I gotta wonder:
How many people just go to skate... simply for the ENJOYment of it.

I've asked 4 friendly skaters at our rink, when they test & will compete.
And every last one of them said, the same thing: "I'm not into the whole club-scene. I'm here, simply for my personal enjoyment"

Maybe there's room for everyone? ;)
.

[LilJen]

Hm. We just had a new rink open in our area, and all activity has transferred to the new rink from the old one (which is still open but I guess hosts only hockey overflow?). New rink is officially an ISI rink. To date, I have heard that our USFS club will NOT be allowed to have a bulletin board in the rink. How odd is that?

[Skittl1321]

Doesn't every ice arena charge admission to their Ice-shows?


Ours would have no way to. It's in a mall, and it's pretty hard to prevent people from seeing the show without paying. All of the club shows are free.

[Isk8NYC]

At one rink I worked at, they did charge admission to their skating shows. They had to do two performances because of the overflowing crowds. Part of that was the inclusion of group lesson students in group numbers. Part of it was also the incredible performances we saw - none of them big names.

The best idea they ever had was selling VIP seating. They used the glassed-in party rooms on the second floor. They had a buffet of snacks and beverages in the room without a view. The rink built a temporary platform so that the cushioned folding chairs had a good view through the windows. My inlaws loved it because they didn't have to deal with crowds, stadium seating without backs, and the cold. It was well worth the price to let Grandma and Grandpa be comfortable for the entire show.

[sk8lady]

Finding time to volunteer is mostly a question of figuring out what your priorities are and sticking with them, and if it's your kids' activities rather than your own, limiting your kids' activities to what they and you can handle. No kid really NEEDS to be involved in two travel sports, band, youth groups, etc. at the same time--that just results in stressed-out kids AND parents. Pick one sport per season and a few things that really matter for your kid (or are good for him!) and leave it at that.

My husband and I have volunteered with my son's hockey league for the last seven years, and during that time I also volunteered: at the school once a week for five years; with the local low-cost LTS for five years; as chair of the local region of our skating club for two years; plus baking over a hundred cookies for fund-raisers this year for the school's class trip. (Plus paid positions refereeing and coaching positions for hockey, Basic Skills, and private lessons, and my law practice.) Not everyone has their own business and can make their own schedule so they can do that--but, having said that, part of the reason the hockey groups are so successful is because numerous people are dying to help out and somehow manage to find the time to volunteer. It may be for dubious reasons, like they think their kid is going straight to the NHL from youth hockey, but it still makes for a successful organization--which is why they can afford to buy most of the ice time in our area.

No one should be forced to volunteer, but people should carefully weigh how important it is to have a club and whether it's worth making the time to help out.

[RachelSk8er]

I think my initial question on charging for shows has not been read carefully.

My question was charging skaters to let them perform in their club's show, not charging admission for the show. Charging admission for the show is a no-brainer.

We're doing a simple, bare-bones end of season exhibition. It's not some big production involving weeks of rehearsals, costumes, taking down glass/boards, setting up lighting and rink-side seating whatnot (all of which would justify the $50/skater charge that they have done in the past to mainly cover ice time, choreography and costumes). It's not to raise money for a good cause (like Gails's Adults for Autism show she's putting on--a skater fee for that is understandable). For our exhibition, everyone does their own program on their own time that fits the generic theme. The entry fee to skate in our exhibition is $30/skater, even for the skaters they've "asked" to perform solos in the show (basically, any skater from our club who qualified for JNs, Sectionals or US nationals this season gets a solo, plus me to represent adult skating; remaining numbers will mainly be duo/trio/group numbers skaters organize and put together on their own). Seems a little ridiculous to me when preparation for the show will already cost us whatever it takes in our own ice time/coaching to put a program together and the club should already be making money off of admission, raffle tickets, food and other stuff to more than cover the 1.5-2 hrs of ice time and make money for the club on top of that (especially when the rink cut us a great deal on the ice time).

Is this normal to charge skaters to skate in a no-frills exhibition? None of the other clubs I've been a member of in the past did this at all unless it was a big theatrical production that required rehearsals/choreographers/costumes to put it all together.

[Isk8NYC]

<snip>part of the reason the hockey groups are so successful is because numerous people are dying to help out and somehow manage to find the time to volunteer. It may be for dubious reasons, like they think their kid is going straight to the NHL from youth hockey, but it still makes for a successful organization--which is why they can afford to buy most of the ice time in our area.

No one should be forced to volunteer, but people should carefully weigh how important it is to have a club and whether it's worth making the time to help out.
ITA - I also think that the hockey leagues organize their volunteers well. That's something that seems to be lacking among skating clubs. In the past ten years, I've seen almost no volunteers at club sessions, yet the hockey teams have three parents on the ice, two working the fundraising table (collecting orders/giving out received items), and others watching the locker room. The volunteer schedule at one startup league was actually on the team's bulletin board - brilliant!

I've had a few skating clubs sent out volunteer pleas two days before competitions! That's just too late. My current club has been doing a good job of sending out an email with a schedule/list of what volunteers are needed and when. They ask the members to "fill in the blanks" a month ahead of time. Then follow up with a "thanks for volunteering to do (X) at (time) on (day) We appreciate the help." Then send out the schedule a week beforehand so people can check their calendars one last time.

I know someone mentioned it upthread, but it doesn't always have to be parents who volunteer. Skittl's absurd situation aside, I've seen aunts and grandparents and the skaters themselves, volunteering at events.

[Isk8NYC]

We're doing a simple, bare-bones end of season exhibition. It's not some big production involving weeks of rehearsals, costumes, taking down glass/boards, setting up lighting and rink-side seating whatnot (all of which would justify the $50/skater charge that they have done in the past to mainly cover ice time, choreography and costumes). It's not to raise money for a good cause (like Gails's Adults for Autism show she's putting on--a skater fee for that is understandable). For our exhibition, everyone does their own program on their own time that fits the generic theme. The entry fee to skate in our exhibition is $30/skater, even for the skaters they've "asked" to perform solos in the show (basically, any skater from our club who qualified for JNs, Sectionals or US nationals this season gets a solo, plus me to represent adult skating; remaining numbers will mainly be duo/trio/group numbers skaters organize and put together on their own). Seems a little ridiculous to me when preparation for the show will already cost us whatever it takes in our own ice time/coaching to put a program together and the club should already be making money off of admission, raffle tickets, food and other stuff to more than cover the 1.5-2 hrs of ice time and make money for the club on top of that (especially when the rink cut us a great deal on the ice time).

Is this normal to charge skaters to skate in a no-frills exhibition? None of the other clubs I've been a member of in the past did this at all unless it was a big theatrical production that required rehearsals/choreographers/costumes to put it all together.
First of all, I love this idea. Parents want to see their kids skate and they don't always need board covers, spotlights and themes. Skating a competition program without the pressure of competing is a great way to let the skaters do their best and entertain the family. It's wonderful.

When I've been on club boards that had these simple shows, there was no fee or just a token fee. However, we used our regular ice time to hold the show, cancelling the normal freestyle or dance sessions. In effect, the entire CLUB paid for the handful of skaters to perform. Maybe the fee covers the cost of using the rink? Or maybe the club wants to bring in a little end-of-the-season money to save for next year's ice deposit?

I remember one club where all the officers chipped in $100 from their own pocket at the end of the year to put down the deposit for the following year. Our Club had lost a lot of members due to new year-round rinks opening in the area. They had also (stupidly) revised guest policies, which reduced that source of income. Perhaps there's a financial crunch and the club sees this as a fundraising opportunity for the Club itself instead of a charity.

Unless it's a 50/50 raffle, a volunteer has to either donate, or ask for donations of, the raffle prizes.

[sk8tmum]

MY DD hunts around her fellow students. She then provides to the club a list of the ones that are a) willing to volunteer and b) that she can personally vouch for and that she knows will be responsible and helpful. These kids are great to have: enthusiastic, energetic ...

In Ontario, where we live, students have to accrue volunteer hours to graduate from high school, which is one factor that helps encourage them to volunteer with us on shows and for competitions. However, some of the teenagers have further found that an entry on their resume that states that they have volunteered and done "insert task here" helps them in a job hunt. Our Board members have in the past provided a written letter of reference to our good teenage volunteers, which has helped in job hunts, scholarship and school applications, etc.

She's also spread an understanding of figure skating into the community through this, as the kids go back and talk up the sport and the club to parents, friends, etc.

[kssk8fan]

I think it's a simple formula of kindness and thoughtfulness that will increase club numbers and gain volunteers for functions. My club is notorius for it's "holier than thou" attitude. It's pretty sickening actually! Our volunteer coordinator is such a micro-manager that she refuses to tell people the hours they will be volunteering until the last minute. She places people during competitions where she thinks they should be and it never fails, the parents are always volunteering when their kids are skating. We have to check-in and check-out in order for our hours to be "validated". If we're talking, while doing our "jobs", she'll come around and tell us to get back to work. Yes, I'm talking about adults here, being treated this way! If you aren't willing to put up with this, you're fined $50.00 Last year I think I volunteered over 100 hours but refused to bow to her demands (there were a few of us that decided to "buck her system") and we were all fined $50.00 b/c nothing was validated. It was unbelievable.....one of the ladies actually sat next to her for two days straight at our competition registering people and she wasn't given any credit b/c "it wasn't written down".

This year, I just wrote a check for $100 ($50 for 15 volunteer hours and a $50 for donations) and called it a day.

I used to volunteer for everything...my thought process was "I'm going to be there anyway, might as well do something!". However, now its a different story. There are no thank-you's and you're lucky if you come out of your volunteer hours without being yelled at. It's ridiculous.

This won't change until we get a new board with a different mind-set. All I can do now is focus on my skater. For those of you that are interested - a few thank-you's and friendly conversations go a long, long way!

[PinkLaces]

I think it's a simple formula of kindness and thoughtfulness that will increase club numbers and gain volunteers for functions. My club is notorius for it's "holier than thou" attitude. It's pretty sickening actually! Our volunteer coordinator is such a micro-manager that she refuses to tell people the hours they will be volunteering until the last minute. She places people during competitions where she thinks they should be and it never fails, the parents are always volunteering when their kids are skating. We have to check-in and check-out in order for our hours to be "validated". If we're talking, while doing our "jobs", she'll come around and tell us to get back to work. Yes, I'm talking about adults here, being treated this way! If you aren't willing to put up with this, you're fined $50.00 Last year I think I volunteered over 100 hours but refused to bow to her demands (there were a few of us that decided to "buck her system") and we were all fined $50.00 b/c nothing was validated. It was unbelievable.....one of the ladies actually sat next to her for two days straight at our competition registering people and she wasn't given any credit b/c "it wasn't written down".

This year, I just wrote a check for $100 ($50 for 15 volunteer hours and a $50 for donations) and called it a day.

I used to volunteer for everything...my thought process was "I'm going to be there anyway, might as well do something!". However, now its a different story. There are no thank-you's and you're lucky if you come out of your volunteer hours without being yelled at. It's ridiculous.

This won't change until we get a new board with a different mind-set. All I can do now is focus on my skater. For those of you that are interested - a few thank-you's and friendly conversations go a long, long way!

That is just WRONG! I think I'd write a check and call it a day, too.

Our volunteer coordinator is a very friendy warm person. You've given me a great idea though. Our club should do some type of volunteer recognition - at our year end banquet seems appropriate.

[sk8joyful]

re my question: Doesn't every ice-rink charge admission, to their ice-shows?


Ours would have no way to. It's in a mall,
and it's pretty hard to prevent people from seeing the show without paying. All of the club shows are free.

Thanks! for answering my question. I keep hearing about rinks inside "malls" 8-) how common is that?
is there a site listing all the rinks inside malls, and are they hockey-size?, smaller?, or olympic - I wonder.

[PinkLaces]

ITA - I also think that the hockey leagues organize their volunteers well. That's something that seems to be lacking among skating clubs. In the past ten years, I've seen almost no volunteers at club sessions, yet the hockey teams have three parents on the ice, two working the fundraising table (collecting orders/giving out received items), and others watching the locker room. The volunteer schedule at one startup league was actually on the team's bulletin board - brilliant!

I've had a few skating clubs sent out volunteer pleas two days before competitions! That's just too late. My current club has been doing a good job of sending out an email with a schedule/list of what volunteers are needed and when. They ask the members to "fill in the blanks" a month ahead of time. Then follow up with a "thanks for volunteering to do (X) at (time) on (day) We appreciate the help." Then send out the schedule a week beforehand so people can check their calendars one last time.

I know someone mentioned it upthread, but it doesn't always have to be parents who volunteer. Skittl's absurd situation aside, I've seen aunts and grandparents and the skaters themselves, volunteering at events.

We started using Sign Up Genius this year. The volunteer coordinator lists out all the jobs in 1 hour time slots and people could sign up on-line. She did it about 5-6 weeks in advance, but no one signs up until they know their skaters' schedules. If you register when you sign up for something, it will send you a list of your volunteer slots a few days ahead of time. It sends the volunteer coordinator an e-mail every time someone signs up for something.

www.signupgenius.com

[RachelSk8er]

I think it's a simple formula of kindness and thoughtfulness that will increase club numbers and gain volunteers for functions. My club is notorius for it's "holier than thou" attitude. It's pretty sickening actually! Our volunteer coordinator is such a micro-manager that she refuses to tell people the hours they will be volunteering until the last minute. She places people during competitions where she thinks they should be and it never fails, the parents are always volunteering when their kids are skating. We have to check-in and check-out in order for our hours to be "validated". If we're talking, while doing our "jobs", she'll come around and tell us to get back to work. Yes, I'm talking about adults here, being treated this way! If you aren't willing to put up with this, you're fined $50.00 Last year I think I volunteered over 100 hours but refused to bow to her demands (there were a few of us that decided to "buck her system") and we were all fined $50.00 b/c nothing was validated. It was unbelievable.....one of the ladies actually sat next to her for two days straight at our competition registering people and she wasn't given any credit b/c "it wasn't written down".

This year, I just wrote a check for $100 ($50 for 15 volunteer hours and a $50 for donations) and called it a day.

I used to volunteer for everything...my thought process was "I'm going to be there anyway, might as well do something!". However, now its a different story. There are no thank-you's and you're lucky if you come out of your volunteer hours without being yelled at. It's ridiculous.

This won't change until we get a new board with a different mind-set. All I can do now is focus on my skater. For those of you that are interested - a few thank-you's and friendly conversations go a long, long way!


Is this fine system spelled out in your membership contract at the beginning of the season? That's ridiculous, I'd i) fight that, ii) get her @ss thrown off the board, and iii) change clubs so fast it wouldn't even be funny, and take other members with me.

[Debbie S]

That is just WRONG! Agreed. That's terrible.

Our volunteer coordinator is a very friendy warm person. You've given me a great idea though. Our club should do some type of volunteer recognition - at our year end banquet seems appropriate.My club in the past has paid membership dues and given free testing to people who volunteered a certain number of hours at our comp. We didn't do it this year - long story - but we may discuss it again for next year.

When I'm recruiting volunteers for ice monitoring and running, I usually start about a month ahead of time. E-mails go out to the club membership several months in advance, and a few people respond that way, but usually people don't start thinking about it until a few weeks before. I get people's preferences, and if they or their child is competing, I make a note of it and when the schedule comes out (our ref usually gets it done 3 weeks or so in advance), I contact volunteers with specifics. What makes it challenging is that I need to coordinate with the person recruiting volunteers for the registration desk - some people sign up for both (or either one or the other), so we have to coordinate volunteer availability with our needs - it can get a little crazy, but it all works out. And the committee chairs get along, so that helps. :) We each sent volunteer schedules out by e-mail a few days before the comp.

The day after the comp, I sent thank-you e-mails to my volunteers. In some cases, I had to send them to their parents, lol - I hope the kids got the message.

[sk8joyful]

I think it's a simple formula of kindness and thoughtfulness that will increase club numbers and gain volunteers for functions.

My club is notorius for it's "holier than thou" attitude. It's pretty sickening actually! Our volunteer coordinator ...
places people during competitions where she thinks they should be and parents are always volunteering when their kids are skating.
We have to check-in and check-out in order for our hours to be "validated". If we're talking, while doing our "jobs",
she'll come around and tell us to get back to work. If you aren't willing to put up with this, you're fined $50.00

There are no thank-you's and you're lucky if you come out of your volunteer hours without being yelled at. It's ridiculous.

This won't change until we get a new board with a different mind-set.

Thanks for another 'heads-up', on why to steer clear! of such dysfunctional 8O 'clubs': that twit would treat me like that once, and
she'd never see another dime, and I would encourage people skating elsewhere...
.

[drskater]

Really??!! This is the way some clubs treat their volunteers? Really?!!!! If I had some people willing to help out, I’d bend down and slavishly kiss their feet, sobbing my thanks. The phenomena of psycho dysfunctional sports clubs make recruitment a challenge. I’ve talked to folks about joining our club and their eyes sort of roll in the back of their head as they warily ask, “What would I have to do?” We have a deal with our rink (it runs the freestyles) where club members can earn ice time through volunteering for fundraisers. It’s a great deal for the skaters and they almost never take advantage of it. Bottom line, we try to kill ‘em with kindness; there’s no way we can force anyone to help out.

[kssk8fan]

Yes, the fines are spelled out in our membership. Actually many clubs have begun to include mandatory volunteer hours - believe me, I researched this! HAHA. However, I would have to assume they are treated with respect. I am not exagerating on how the "members" are treated by the board. I could elaborate and probably make most happy with the club they are currently members of. There isn't a club within 200 miles of us so most of us are just stuck with what we have. Our membership dues are over $225.00 per year and that doesn't include the $50 fine for not volunteering and the $50 forced donation fees. Like I mentioned, I've seen other sports team have fines over $300 for not volunteering so I'll settle for the small fines I'll incur until the board changes hands. Unfortunately, that won't happen for probably the next few decades!

I do think we'll lose members this next go around. With the expense to belong to our club being so high, getting nothing in return, coupled with the stagnant economy, I just don't think we'll keep a lot of our "recreational club members".

As for our exhibitions - our rink holds them so we do pay an entry fee. I don't mind this at all - it's an inexpensive form of performance and the more my skater can perform in front of an audience, the better skater she becomes.

[RachelSk8er]

Yes, the fines are spelled out in our membership. Actually many clubs have begun to include mandatory volunteer hours - believe me, I researched this! HAHA. However, I would have to assume they are treated with respect. I am not exagerating on how the "members" are treated by the board. I could elaborate and probably make most happy with the club they are currently members of. There isn't a club within 200 miles of us so most of us are just stuck with what we have.

Can you register as an individual member and still skate at that rink (or is there another rink in your area without a club)?

I personally wouldn't stand for that. A lot of clubs do have mandatory volunteer requirements and/or fees that are charged if you don't. That's fine. It's when you treat your members like crap and make it impossible for them to do their volunteer work that is blatantly unacceptable. It's a figure skating club, not a communist dictatorship.

I've seen clubs with mandatory volunteer requirements whose members are hours away (families move either for work or training-related reasons and keep their home club if it's a reputable club, or skaters themselves relocate for training without their family, college students sticking with their home club, I commuted 2 hrs each way once a week for synchro and that rink was my home club), and they were more than happy to work with those out-of-towners to help them get their volunteer work done (web design, writing press releases, putting together competition announcements, proofreading things the club is putting out, etc).

[AgnesNitt]

I had an (ISI) club attempt to fine me for not having a parent volunteer at a show. I told them my parents lived over 1000 miles away, and that I was skating in the show- so could not volunteer DURING the show- could I help with take down?

Nope, take down volunteering was full- and it was clearly written in the show contract that a parent of every skater MUST be present to volunteer DURING the show. (My coach had told me it would be no problem to volunteer for take-down... sigh)

The club officers had never met me, and I think it took them awhile to realize I was an adult who was completely serious that my parents lived very far away. However, at that point, they decided to stick to their guns and it was a $150 fine. I dropped out of the show, and took my $80 participation check back. bet they regretted not cashing that sooner.

I did not rejoin the club.

Well, my reply would have been a blatant lie. "My parents are dead. Your move."

[Skate@Delaware]

Well, my reply would have been a blatant lie. "My parents are dead. Your move."
ha ha, or my situation, I'm 48 and my mother is 74, virtually blind and home bound.....

I'm NOT rejoining my club next year (and even contemplating switching memberships to another club this month, solely for the reason-when I test I don't want current club's name associated with me & my test results...petty I know but I've been screwed by my club more than once for many of the reasons others have posted).

[slusher]

I worked in 4 clubs this year. All of them have good numbers in LTS with enrollment up. All of them had a nosedive of the number of kids in private lessons. The economy was a big factor as parents had to make choices. There are many kids who are just testing and not competing. That was another factor, competition got too hard. I'd be the last to say that every kid should get a medal for showing up, but with some of the changes to competition, there were huge flights and it's not really pleasant to say that you finished 22 in pre pre pre freeskate flight 7 of 16 flights. Kids didn't get the drive to compete from that sort of thing, and I suggested to the competition organizers that if they'd charge $5 more and make small flights of 6 so that more kids got medals, or a small result, that our kids would stop quitting skating. They didn't get the point.

So the big challenge is always getting kids to hire private coaches and go onto freestyle ice. The second challenge is getting them to stay for more than one year. (that was the usual drop out point) but if they lasted, they skated all the way through high school. Now, the challenge is how to keep them in the sport while they are *in* high school. Money is still a big factor but keeping it fun is also hugely important. If the kids don't feel connected into the sport, then they can't convince their moms to staff the hot chocolate booth and their dad to build sets for the show. If it's not fun and the family says choose just one thing because that's all we can afford, they'll chose the fun thing.

And coaches have to quit thinking that there will always be an endless stream of students and that it is up to the club or the rink to maintain this endless supply of students. We had a couple of coaches who lost all their students this year. These coaches did nothing to make connections with their students or their students to the sport.

[Skate@Delaware]

Parents love watching their kids skate, whether it's an ice show or an exhibition. When my club ditched our annual exhibition skate a lot of kids were disappointed, as were the parents. It was a nice way for all the kids to show off their skills, whole ice, in a routine they did to music. Even if all they did was swizzle around. It was adorable!

We used to have an end-of-summer pool party which was a blast, but that ended with the previous club administration. At the pool party, awards were handed out to all the kids, and to the adult volunteers for their hard work. Our current board doesn't do anything like that. It's a shame-treat your volunteers like dirt, and you don't get people that want to volunteer.

Compare to the hockey: they have an annual awards banquet where all the kids are recognized, all the parents and coaches as well, and it's held at the rink (they get special permission to have it catered with outside food). Pictures are put in the paper. Big deal and lots of publicity. If the skating club did something like that, more people would know about us.

But at the very least, you have to have some incentive to join the skating club. Currently, there is none. If the rink's freestyle was all club ice and the cost was discounted to club member's only then yes, there would be incentive. But as it stands now, there is no incentive. No testing, no discounts, no preferred roles for ice shows, etc. So the kids don't really need to join. And the way the club board treats everyone, why should anyone, really?

[kayskate]

What I see at my rink is very few boys who stay in the FS LTS track. They move right to hockey w the intention of joining a team. There are many more girls in the FS track who progress through the levels. Still there is a high level of dropouts at the mid levels. usually b/c they cannot get a certain move. Or they drop out in summer. If a kid drops out of grp or private for the summer, we very often do not see them again. If you have a private student who "takes teh summer off", rarely do they come back. This may be due to econo. Once the expense is lifted, it stays out of the family budget. Also, girls have a lot of other sports options through school that are less expensive. I have lost students in spring b/c they have to choose b/w skating and softball or something else as both sports take place on the wknds, and they family has time constraints. School or community teams are less expensive than skating and allow much more oppy for competition in terms of games and meets.

Kay

[Skate@Delaware]

We have also found that skating classes seem to be at the same time as school sports practice. Many of the kids (both boys and girls) who play summer soccer, softball etc are committed through October for those sports. If they wanted to be in the Christmas ice show they've missed the sign-up time. Same deal for the spring ice show-tends to run about the same time as try-outs for spring sports and rehearsals are at the same time as sports practice (no excuses for sports)