Do you sometimes find yourself wishing you could be just as good as skaters at...

[FSWer]

Ok people!!! This topic came to me yesterday while I was walking around my Rink at the Nutmeg Games noticing all the Skaters. The question I have for you all today is....Do you as a Learn to Skate Skater,or even just someone who comes to the Rink to Skate for fun, sometimes find yourself wishing when you look at the other Skates,or even talk with them,that you could acually be THAT good and compete,and even BELONG to a Skating Club? BOY!!! I must say that I sure do!!! I must admit that I can even feel it in me at the same time. I always wonder what it would be like. What about all of you?

[Clarice]

You don't have to be good to belong to a skating club, FSWer. In fact, you don't even have to be a skater at all. You do have to pay the club's dues, and perhaps do some volunteer work for them, depending on the particular club's rules. A lot of people don't want to pay to join the club until they're good enough to take tests or compete, though. Some clubs have "junior memberships" for skaters who aren't ready to do those things yet. My club lets skaters join for a lower fee until they're ready to test, for instance.

[Skittl1321]

My club lets skaters join for a lower fee until they're ready to test, for instance.

The two clubs in my area have "special olympics" and "special skater" categories. They are both much less expensive than regular membership- and at one of the clubs (which has an medal winning special Olympian skater as a member) the category is actually free!

FSWer- you should see if you club has something like this.

[Clarice]

The two clubs in my area have "special olympics" and "special skater" categories. They are both much less expensive than regular membership- and at one of the clubs (which has an medal winning special Olympian skater as a member) the category is actually free!


That is very cool! I would like for our club to offer something like that!

[Skittl1321]

That is very cool! I would like for our club to offer something like that!

I think it's really cool. The skater I'm thinking of participates in most of the exhibitions, often in duets. Her shoot the duck is incredible. I could never do one.

[icestalker]

When I see the other skaters talking with their mother it reminds me how my mother doesn't spend nearly as much on skating as their mothers do and how my mother won't sit and watch me skate for more than an hour unless she skates too. (Hence why I mainly practice in public skate, she skates during public with me.) Hey, at least their mothers actually buy them their skates.

My figure skating club is much too expensive to join, and requires 10 hours of volunteer work per year from the parents, which my mother simply does not have the time to do.

[Skate@Delaware]

My figure skating club is much too expensive to join, and requires 10 hours of volunteer work per year from the parents, which my mother simply does not have the time to do.
My club also requires 10 hours of time OR $100....which is a real bummer, as I'm in college full-time. I don't have much $$$$ or time. (the volunteer time is during the shows, I'm either skating or doing my college clinicals).

[ibreakhearts66]

When I see the other skaters talking with their mother it reminds me how my mother doesn't spend nearly as much on skating as their mothers do and how my mother won't sit and watch me skate for more than an hour unless she skates too. (Hence why I mainly practice in public skate, she skates during public with me.) Hey, at least their mothers actually buy them their skates.

My figure skating club is much too expensive to join, and requires 10 hours of volunteer work per year from the parents, which my mother simply does not have the time to do.

I relate. My mother was never interested in my skating. I wanted desperately for her to at least UNDERSTAND the sport. But now that I'm older and drive myself to the rink, it doesn't bother me as much. My mom rarely pays for anything skating related. When I was younger she wrote one or two checks, and she's paid for testing fees. I actually just needed her to write the check bc I don't have a checking account, and the plan was for the money to come out of savings account to pay her back, but she's been too distracted.

I DO have a father who has paid for my skates. If he weren't willing to get my skates and blades for Christmas or birthday presents, I would have been out of the sport a couple of years ago. I had custom Klingbeils which were all wrong for me and needed a pair of very pricey custom Harlicks less than a year later. When I was much younger he paid for my lessons, but for the past few years I've paid for lessons. At 80-120 dollars of lesson time a week, it meant I didn't really go shopping or even go out to eat, but it was worth it. Paying for my own skating as a teenager/young adult has made me appreciate it so much more. I never wasted time on the ice and was so thankful for every second I was out there. It made a huge difference on how quickly I improved because I had put my own money into it at a time when most people my age are blowing money on clothes, clubs, concerts and drugs.

Anyways, my club doesn't have a volunteering requirement, although I have really enjoyed volunteering. It made me feel like more of a member of the club. It's a HUGE club so I don't feel like everyone is super bonded, but I got to know some of the important people in the club who I'd only exchanged emails with.

Back to the original question--I often wish I could be more of a "part" of the SoCal skating community. I train at a rink with no elite skaters and am quite old for a skater doing standard, non-adult competitions. I REALLY wish I could be part of the "competitive team" and get a club jacket for competing at a qualifying level at regionals, but this year is definitely not going to be the year.

[FSWer]

I relate. My mother was never interested in my skating. I wanted desperately for her to at least UNDERSTAND the sport. But now that I'm older and drive myself to the rink, it doesn't bother me as much. My mom rarely pays for anything skating related. When I was younger she wrote one or two checks, and she's paid for testing fees. I actually just needed her to write the check bc I don't have a checking account, and the plan was for the money to come out of savings account to pay her back, but she's been too distracted.

I DO have a father who has paid for my skates. If he weren't willing to get my skates and blades for Christmas or birthday presents, I would have been out of the sport a couple of years ago. I had custom Klingbeils which were all wrong for me and needed a pair of very pricey custom Harlicks less than a year later. When I was much younger he paid for my lessons, but for the past few years I've paid for lessons. At 80-120 dollars of lesson time a week, it meant I didn't really go shopping or even go out to eat, but it was worth it. Paying for my own skating as a teenager/young adult has made me appreciate it so much more. I never wasted time on the ice and was so thankful for every second I was out there. It made a huge difference on how quickly I improved because I had put my own money into it at a time when most people my age are blowing money on clothes, clubs, concerts and drugs.

Anyways, my club doesn't have a volunteering requirement, although I have really enjoyed volunteering. It made me feel like more of a member of the club. It's a HUGE club so I don't feel like everyone is super bonded, but I got to know some of the important people in the club who I'd only exchanged emails with.

Back to the original question--I often wish I could be more of a "part" of the SoCal skating community. I train at a rink with no elite skaters and am quite old for a skater doing standard, non-adult competitions. I REALLY wish I could be part of the "competitive team" and get a club jacket for competing at a qualifying level at regionals, but this year is definitely not going to be the year.

Valenteer Requirement? It's GOOD to valenteer your time. But why would I be making a Requirement? BTW. ibreakheart66,YOU have the right idea to what I was asking.

[blue111moon]

My club has a requirement that all members and their parent, if they're under 18, volunteer five hours during our annual three-day competition. The reason this is mandatory is because the revenue that comes from the competition helps to pay for the the ice time the club buys during the year for practice, lessons and tests. Anything left over is returned to the skaters in the form of subsidies for jackets or sweaters, etc.

Since the club could not hold the competition without volunteers, and the compeltition benefits all the members, then the members have to support the competition. If a member does not volunteer during the competition, then the member loses home club test privileges for the following year.

In other words, if you don't support the club, the club doesn't support you.

As for the Special Olympian membership, if the club doesn't currently offer one, I'd ask if they would. Chances are, they'd come up with one. No one would want to discourage a Special Olympian.

[FSWer]

My club has a requirement that all members and their parent, if they're under 18, volunteer five hours during our annual three-day competition. The reason this is mandatory is because the revenue that comes from the competition helps to pay for the the ice time the club buys during the year for practice, lessons and tests. Anything left over is returned to the skaters in the form of subsidies for jackets or sweaters, etc.

Since the club could not hold the competition without volunteers, and the compeltition benefits all the members, then the members have to support the competition. If a member does not volunteer during the competition, then the member loses home club test privileges for the following year.

In other words, if you don't support the club, the club doesn't support you.

As for the Special Olympian membership, if the club doesn't currently offer one, I'd ask if they would. Chances are, they'd come up with one. No one would want to discourage a Special Olympian.

Can you explain more of what you mean? Let's say what?...an example.

[Clarice]

Do you mean examples of what people would do to volunteer?

Earlier this summer, my club hosted a competition. We needed lots of volunteers. Some people brought food for the judges. Some people picked the judges up at the airport and took them to their hotel, and then to the rink. Others helped at the registration desk, getting the skaters' music CDs and checking them in for the competition. Some people made food to sell to the spectators. Some took the result sheets to the accountant and then posted them on the wall for the skaters to see. Some announced the awards, and one man announced all the skaters' names and played their music when it was their turn to skate. There are lots and lots of jobs that need to be done to put on a competition, and everybody in the club needs to help if the event is going to be successful.

That's just one big project a club might need help for. Things like test sessions and shows need volunteer help, too.

[blue111moon]

Can you explain more of what you mean? Let's say what?...an example.

An example of what?

[FSWer]

An example of what?

Am example of more to what Bluemoon ment to why it's mandatory.

[Clarice]

Am example of more to what Bluemoon ment to why it's mandatory.

Well, I just listed a whole bunch of things that have to be done when a club has a competition. What if nobody volunteered to do any of that? My club does not have mandatory volunteer hours, because so far everybody has pitched in and helped. But if only a few people were doing all the work and nobody else was helping, we would probably make a rule that says they have to. There's just too much work for only a few people. And there's really no excuse, because there is something for everybody - people who can't work as ice monitors or at the registration desk because they have job conflicts or little kids can still donate food for the judges, for instance. Volunteering is a good thing to do, FSWer, and the right thing to do if you're part of a club, but not everybody is a nice person who does what they're supposed to do, so sometimes you have to make rules that force them to do the right thing. Certainly some people are able to do more than others, but everybody should help in some way.

[blue111moon]

Why volunteering at the competition is mandatory?

The competition profits fund the gap between what the club pays in ice bills and what is collected from skaters using the ice. If the club didn't have the competition, skaters would have to pay the enitr ice bill, which means we'd either have to charge more (and who's going to pay $25 - $30 for 50-minutes of pracitce?) or double the number of skaters we put on the ice (which would affect the safety of the skaters). Having the competition means that the costs of running club ice for the year are subsidized by the competitors from other clubs.

The competition needs volunteers to run it. Since everyone in the club gets the benefit of reasonably priced, reasonably safe ice time, then everyone in the club has to help out at the competion.

Frankly, the competition is so much work that if the club didn't need the money it generates, I don't think we'd bother to hold it.