I know my rink has a LOT more than others because of young and immature management (and blameshifting instead of good PR skills), but why is it i can be at work and never get in trouble on my real job, and at my rink, there is always something crazy that people are out to get other people so much? I thought my dream had come true when i finally got a rink in my hometown, but i think back on it and i enjoyed it much more when it travelled!

Don't be so sure yours is the only rink suffering from those particular ills! My own theory is that figure skating is not a team sport. It is a winner take all, dog eat dog sport, and as such, does not grow good managers. You are more likely to get good management out of hockey, IMO, but probably not from sports at all when compared with other businesses. There is a general lack of education, and business education in particular, in the skating world - JMO. To date, the best run LTS program (and it has grown into advanced level circuit training) that I've seen is managed by a former high level figure skater who also has a college degree in Information Systems.

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I laughed when I saw this.. because my workplace is filled with drama and egos and competitiveness in ways I've never seen at other places I've worked. Going to my lesson-rink is always such a nice break from that, since everyone there gets along with very little drama. In fact, a couple weeks ago, one of the kids (she's about 7) was having a whiny meltdown because her mother wanted her to practice instead of getting off the ice and nearly everyone asked the family to "take it outside". That was probably the most "dramatic" moment at that rink in at least 3-4 years... and we're still talking about it there. My other rink has a little more drama.. but it's still much better than what goes on at work. Sorry to hear your rinks aren't as much of an oasis for you.

I have worked in places that have been nightmares! One of those places was a public school. IMO, when you are working w ppl's children you will inevitably deal w hysterical parents. Every parent thinks his kid is very gifted/talented. But that's another story...

I work in a rink now that seems to run scared of the parents. There is a teenage coach there who is afraid of letting parents see her teaching kids (in low level grp classes) the same skills week after wk. As though they don't need practice? The whole philosophy of the place is to keep the kids moving. Parents want to see the kids moving. I even heard a parent shouting at his kid from the boards: "keep moving!" Spastic movement is not quality movement and quality movement comes from instruction and practice. JMO. The skating director caught a kid showing off the spiral she learned herself and bawled me out. According to her that move is "forbidden" at the child's level. She could fall and get hurt. No kidding. Skating is a sport. I was not teaching the spiral, the kid was just showing off. Seems law suits must have happened at some pt and the place has a frantic policy to prevent them.

One coach walked out b/c she was sick of being "corrected" in front of her class. She was bawled out in the rink after classes by Director. This pro was a former nat'l competitor. Yup, rinks are full of drama.

I have also worked corporate. That place was a nut house! The constant re-organization, politics, boot-licking, fear of losing one's job, boredom interspersed w periods of insane business, you name it!

Welcome to the workforce.

Kay

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shrug. I've been in churches with more drama than our rink or club.

People are people.

j

Yes, like any other place

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Tim David's Website

Rink politics/church politics.... it's all the same. At least in churches people tend to try to get on with one another. Usually. Mind you, even St Paul had to write to two of the bickering ladies in one church and tell them to behave... so it's not like it's anything new.

All the same, I hate rink politics.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

It varies, but, you're right, the politics can be brutal - having been involved in more than one sport at the competitive level - one key point that I've seen is the "track" or "goals" of the athletes. Where you've got kids (and their parents ) with aspirations to being elite level or winning a lot of competitions, then, the politics seems to be higher ... rinks where the skater who goes 'competitive' gets more adulation than the one that goes 'test', and their coaches similarly get more 'status' from producing the successfully competitive kids; then, the parents get in their with their nudging and winking and superiority dances ... (I'm not cynical, am I? I'm hopeless at politics, and I hate what it does to kids and their parents).

Or, my favorite explanation: all that hairspray and glitter temporarily causes dysfunctions in the part of the brain that regulates kindness, perspective and sportsmanship. Which is why politics seem to be most heightened at test days and competitions.

part of it is, of course, the tone set by the executive of a club, and the way they recognize accomplishments, achievements, and whether they show favoritism or not ...

Plus, most skaters are teenagers (at least around here they are), who behave just like at highschool they do, with all kinds of pestering and emotional terrorism.

Like Thin-ice, generally I find my rink to be a haven of peace and tranquillity ... even on busy weekend sessions, I accept the hectic nature of public skate, and the occasional issues that arise, both on and off the ice. Something else that I do, is express my appreciation of a 'good' session, whether the ice is good, or the stewarding is astute, and I always thank the volunteer coaches who offer their services on club sessions.

Perhaps I just have rose-tinted glasses, but I think I like it that way !

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The impossible is just a journey away ...

With us, it isn't really "rink" politics. It's club politics. Bleeech!

MAYBE because we love it so much!!

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ITA!!
Our rink is a nice place, and the rink staff is great. Public sessions are fine and all get along. Freestyles are different though...stick a few of the club officers and their entitled teenagers into the mix, and it's a different story. You can just feel the change in the air when they sail in! I think spandex has a nullifying effect on ethics and morals. I have never seen so much stupid, senseless, meaningless drama anywhere else than I have at the rink. I have never seen people defend horrible behavior with such vehemence as I have seen at the rink.

But then again, maybe I just don't get out enough

JMO

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BuggieMom
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Some people are like a Slinky...not really good for anything,
but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs....

Attitudes happen at all work places in my opinion. I've been around long enough to understand this is true. Saying that, I've made it a habit not to get involved. If your willing to listen and participate folks will try to make you involved. Everyone has their opinion, which may be true for them, but doesn't make it the truth. I try to be kind to all, stay out of the baloney, and listen to little. If you don't listen it's easier to stay out of things. As for the rink peers competing. . .it does occur. However, I don't. I skate for me and this is the only person I worry about. As an adult, skating is part of my life, it's not my whole life. Many skaters and parents make it their whole. Very few will ever reach the point this needs to occur in my opinion.

teresa

Today was the first day back for most of my skating school staff - and I had a firm talk with them with drama and etc. I told them that strike one - you will be sent home, strike 2 - loose of day shift, strike 3 - see ya!!!!

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Tim David's Website

along the same lines, a lot of coaches who were elite skaters themselves never really got to be teenagers. i think that explains why some coaches are always surrounded by drama. it's like they never got to live out high school, so they're stuck in high school drama. don't get me wrong, i would say those coaches are in the minority, but i can think of a couple at my rink and near-by rinks that certainly belong in high school, emotionally.

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That makes sense! Thanks.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I think it is also more of a female thing. I've been to a gazillion rinks and have never had a problem (except once). I think it's because I tend to be in my own little world when I skate and I don't pay much attention to anybody except as common courtesy.

Kevin

I'm not even going there.

I think the latter part of your statement is the true reason: synchro aside, skating is an individual sport, just like swimming. Whenever you have a sport like that, skaters and their parents/coaches tend to rub others the wrong way in their pursuit of making sure they get what they think they're entitled to receive. (Ice time, right of way, club support, scholarships, etc. etc.)

The majority of skaters aren't shy about speaking up or being seen, so a tantrum is an opportunity to give a show, albeit a bad one. I've seen just as many MEN do this as I've seen women. Women usually start with backbiting and sniping, men go right for the blowup. lol The difference is that the men will get over it shortly, whereas the women hold grudges for life.

Add conflicting visions and you up the ante: the hockey coach-turned-rink manager gives away the ten-year Club session, the head figure skating coach demands an ice cut, the ice dance instructor doesn't leave the ice fast enough, and let's not even talk about "poaching students" among coaches of all disciplines.

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Well, if nothing else, this thread gives me a chuckle. The most frustrating thing where i am at is the poor pr skills of the rink, and the poor public feels they hit a wall when they have legit. complaints b/c their stuff isn't validated. So, right now i am choosing to travel (again) some to get out of the area where moms feel they have more rights (even though some of us know how things should be run b/c we've been to other rinks a lot) and it just goes on and on. So, for my sanity, i'll be traveling more even though there's a rink practically in my back yard. I will admit that although i am a very good natured person, i am struggling with anger issues right now.

Yesterday i bypassed Krispy kreme donuts in the store to avoid emotional eating, only to get an entire pacakge of eclairs at the bakery. Sad, but true....

Oh please. The most ridiculis, childish, unprofessional "Drama queen" trantrum I ever saw was thrown by a male coach so yea, don't even go there.

j

And, I hate to say it, yours has more than most IMHO!

In one sense, I'm glad to hear it, as it means not everywhere is as awful! Right now it's getting to the stage where I don't really want to skate any more. If it weren't for the Mountain Cup being the 10th anniversary edition, I'd hang up my boots, and if things don't improve I am seriously thinking about doing so after it.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I find inter-rink politics are just as bad as intra-rink politics in my area. It comes (for us) from having three clubs in one city, and seven ice rinks. I think part of the whole drama at the rink thing is territory and who's bringing in the money. Those bringing in the money feel they have the right to do as they wish, causing tension between them and the rest of the skaters. Also, generally a certain group of skaters skate together and know each other. When an "outsider" comes in, they band together to keep their space on the ice whether it's needed or not.

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"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass