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IceDanceSk8er
05-06-2003, 05:07 PM
I'd like to know - as a parent myself - what has been the biggest surprise you've encountered with figure skating when you or your child started skating. Was is the cost of skates, blades, costumes? Not having enough knowledge about the sport?

Elsy2
05-06-2003, 09:02 PM
The first surprise probably was the cost of skates. I lucked out and found a used pair of Reidell's for my daughter that lasted all of 6 months, long enough to be hooked and wanting to continue. They cost me $75 and I though that was alot. I think most people are surprised at the cost of good skates. They come in thinking a $30 pair of recreational skates will suffice. Nope.

I really had no skating knowledge whatsoever. Learning that there was a testing structure within skating was all new....what the heck was that coach talking about? Moves in the field? What field?

I think overall the biggest shocker has been the required amount of time on the ice that this sport takes. When people hear that daughter skated 3 hours a day, they just think we are totally nuts....Well, she's down to 2 hours a day now! They still think we are nuts.

dbny
05-06-2003, 09:14 PM
The cost of the skates and the cost of ice time. High end recreational skates, which my coach told me my daughter needed after her second lesson, didn't fit her, and I had to spring for Riedell Silver Stars. It turned out to be a good choice, because she outgrew them about two weeks before breaking them down. The cost of ice time came as a total shock to me because when I had been a roller dancer as a kid, I knew that private lesson students could skate on any session when private lessons were being given at no additional cost. I'm quite sure my parents could not have afforded my skating otherwise; they barely managed as it was.

nycbumpkin
05-07-2003, 12:03 AM
top ten things that completely surprised me about this sport, about which i knew NOTHING before (watched once every 4 years, ladies long program, olympics!)

1. the cost of skates
2. the cost of lessons
3. the cost of ice time (you mean you have to pay separately for that when you are already paying for a lesson?)
4. the cost of dresses
5. the cost of off-ice stuff
6. the cost of travel (oops, i have to pay for the coach, too?)
7. the cost
8. the cost
9. the politics
10. the cost

Mrs Redboots
05-07-2003, 06:29 AM
I think what surprised us most of all was how much we loved it! And the biggest surprise of all was that we have carried on long after our daughter hung up her skates.... and that it has probably saved our marriage once that moved into the "empty nest" phase! :o

arena_gal
05-07-2003, 09:15 AM
The never ending cost of private lessons.

oh,

and the clique-ishness

Candleonwater
05-07-2003, 09:40 AM
Going in, I knew it was going to be an expensive "activity"... I HAD NO CLUE!

Oh, and let's not forget the plain old nastiness at the rink. I am constantly amazed at the number of pre-teens that will put down a 6 year old to make themselves feel better. And who would vandalize another childs locker?

tazsk8s
05-08-2003, 01:27 PM
Both the time and money commitment. Never, ever, did I think when we started this that we'd BOTH get hooked this badly and it would practically take over in our house.

I saw this mentioned in another thread, we noticed a HUGE jump in the time and money commitment when Taz Jr. switched over from ISI to USFSA. All of a sudden we are needing three times as much practice ice, additional lessons to learn things like Moves in the Field, and a new competition dress because the one that was fine for ISI isn't going to cut it for USFSA comp's. It seemed to start early - Jr. was maybe 6 yo and FS 2-ish when we switched.

So we just don't have a whole lot of time to watch TV and stuff like that. She also takes ballet, tap, and jazz dance at a studio, so what time she does have at home in the evenings is homework (which she thankfully does not get much of). I don't think she would trade the skating for anything, but I do suspect that the dance will probably largely bite the dust in the summer because it's become kind of a grind lately. The timing is actually good as she will be going to the middle school next fall, we expect that she will probably get a lot more homework and will probably have to back off somewhere anyway.

IceDanceSk8er
05-08-2003, 06:30 PM
After reading the comments on this thread, the cost seems to be the big shocker for most parents. Has anyone done anything different to control the cost of skating? It's difficult to cut back on skating, especially if your child is a competitor, and needs all the ice they can get or needs to work with another coach - say, a choreographer or an off-ice instructor.

My daughter works with three, sometimes four, other coaches during the course of a season. Our expenses for last season were about $30,000

1. ice time (5 days a week, 3 hours @day)
2. coaches fees
3. off-ice training coach
4. fitness club fees
5. skating club fees
6. travel expenses (hotel, air, and yes..you do have to pay for the coaches travel expenses and his fees for being there)
7. costumes (my daughter is an ice dancer so she has a minimum of 4 new outfits each year)
8. Online high school
9. Other incidental expenses too numerous to mention

I could complain about the expense, but my wife and I chose to support my daughter's figure skating as long as she wants to continue competing. Actually, I've grown to like eating Bohemian stew quite a bit :)

Anjelica
05-08-2003, 08:19 PM
I'd have to say #1 was the cost, #2 was the amount of time and total committment it required not only from the skater but from the skater's family as well; #3 was the lengths to which parents would go to try to achieve success for their child (paying for a partner's skating expenses, moving thousands of miles away, mortgaging their homes to pay for lessons, etc.)

Mrs Redboots
05-09-2003, 08:04 AM
All the same, it's cheaper than dressage - trust me, the cost of skating doesn't begin to come even close to the cost of having a child who is something rather special in dressage, as I'm given to understand my niece is.

lord farquad ;)
05-09-2003, 09:14 AM
Deffinately the price of coaching, and the skates. But it's every bit worth it! I love love love love skating!!!

And this year my team and I found the politics of this sport is a hard thing to take :P --sister act--:P

Oh and by the way what is dressage?

IceDanceSk8er
05-09-2003, 09:20 AM
Originally posted by lord farquad ;)
And this year my team and I found the politics of this sport is a hard thing to take :P --sister act--:P

Lord Farquad - can you tell us about the politics?

nycbumpkin
05-09-2003, 09:25 AM
is dressage the same thing as equestrian? ... i always heard that the only thing more expensive than figure skating was the horse sports

Francis71
05-09-2003, 12:16 PM
I think the politiks was the greatest shocker - the fact that competitions are pre-judged based on results of qualifiying competitions and that you have to crawl out of that spot rather than be judged on the skate of the day.

I also was surprised that kids had to carry their skates around because of fear that someone might damage or steal that part of their equipment.

IceDanceSk8er
05-09-2003, 12:32 PM
Originally posted by Francis71
I think the politiks was the greatest shocker - the fact that competitions are pre-judged based on results of qualifiying competitions and that you have to crawl out of that spot rather than be judged on the skate of the day. I also was surprised that kids had to carry their skates around because of fear that someone might damage or steal that part of their equipment.

There's no doubt that there are favorites that come out of qualifying competitions - most are skaters/teams that are known to the judges and this does have an influence on placement, but it also means that judges expect more from these skaters/teams. All skaters/teams should feel that the playing field is level when they go into a competition, but this isn't always the case. To me this is THE aspect of the sport that is detrimental to figure skating, but no one seems to know how to fix it. Judges are judging competitions on abilty as well as their knowledge of the skater/team, which is why so many coaches will try to get their skaters in front of as many judges as they can, either at competitions or critiques.

Mrs Redboots
05-09-2003, 03:56 PM
Originally posted by nycbumpkin
is dressage the same thing as equestrian? ... i always heard that the only thing more expensive than figure skating was the horse sports It's kind of like dancing on horseback (the horse does the dancing, not the rider!) - it's an Olympic sport, but not widely noticed.

Dolly
05-14-2003, 09:16 AM
1. Cost of coaching fees
2. The cliques
3. So many unknowns and no one to count on
4. The Politics
5. The secrecy (no one knows anything, or pretends to know nothing, not sure)
6. The jealousy (if your skater shows any talent, but she's only 8 - isn't this supposed to be fun?)
7. Lack of support if you are not in "the clique"
8. The pressure (financial, competitive)
9. Realizing Test stream (non-competitive) is best - more fun, less money, no jealousy, no cliques, no politics - a skater on her own terms, trying tests only, when SHE's ready .... and having a ball!!

BABYSKATES
05-14-2003, 04:38 PM
Skating is outrageously expensive but we are willing to work like slaves to keep our child in the sport they love. As the father of another figure skater I know once told me, *it's cheaper than bail*! :??

Even though the cost of skating was my biggest surprise (and it is a sneaky little surprise that creeps up on you!) the life lessons are priceless so I pay the tab.

WeBeEducated
05-18-2003, 05:48 PM
The big surprise for me was the..
1. EXPENSE!
2.The fact that many judges have never skated competitively in their lives yet are allowed to determine which skater is better!
8O
3.The lack of real assistance from the club, and from the USFSA .
Some clubs are charging members as much as $300-$600 per year, and give basically nothing in return that you cant get from a club that charges $50. per year.
4. The low level of professionalism among many coaches. I was shocked to see how they fight, maintain grudges, get insanely jealous over each others' students, and backstab each other. they seem money hungry.