Hi everyone,

I have just come out of lurkdom, at last!

I am the mother of a figure skater and a hockey player, so many many hours of my life are spent in an arena! I never had the opportunity to skate as a child as my parents couldn't afford it, so I get to live vicariously through my daughter!

I am looking forward to tapping into the knowledge all of you share, as I am sure it will help me understanding all the intricacies of the skating world. So far, I am still quite green, and have sooooo much to learn. My daughter has all these goals that used to sound like a foreign language to me, but I am starting to understand, FINALLY, lol. At least now when she tells me she is working on Jr. Bronze FS and Sr. Bronze dances, I know what they are, lol.

I am sure I will have to call on some of you for occasional advice, and look forward to your responses.

Mom

How old is your daughter?

Having been a skatemom for years now, I do enjoy reading this part of the forum and adding advice when I can.

No need to live vicariously throught the accomplishments of your kids.....you can get on the ice and learn too! I started about the same time as my daughter, a few months before I turned 43. It's been a great experience, and when daughter has gone off to college, I'll still be on the ice hopefully!

It's never too late

Hi there,

Thank you for the greeting!

Candleonwater, my daughter will be 9 in September. She is skating at prelim level right now, with the goal being pre-juv next season.

Elsy2, I would love nothing more than to get out there and skate. Only 2 problems though - 1. I have extremely weak knees and know they could never handle it and 2. who has extra money when they have figure skater and a hockey player, lol!

Sorry about your knees.....that's too bad.

I was so glad that my son didn't stick with hockey actually.....The figure skating was expensive enough. He has taken up tennis though, and it's a bit pricey too.

Extra money? Nope!

I have multiple kids in ice sports and am at the rink every day for practices or a game, and we also travel to follow some of the Junior A teams. I build a rink in my yard every winter just because it's there, I guess, actually it's a way for the kids and their friends to keep busy.

About getting something out of skating for yourself:

I signed up for group lessons and I practice on public ice which is pretty empty. (my yard isn't *that* big ) Occasionally I'll take a private lesson, the best motivator for my one reluctant skater is "mom will take your lesson if you don't want it."

I consider skating to be exercise more than anything else so this is fine for me and to quote my orthopaedic surgeon "the best exercise for your bad knees is to have great thighs. Skating would be excellent exercise."

What doubles does your daughter have? How often does she skate? She'll need an axel and 3 doubles to be competitive at pre-juv.

Hi ArenaGal,

Kudos to you for providing ice for the neighbourhood kids!

As for my daughters skating level, she has had an axel since late January, and just started landing her dbl. sal at the end of the Spring session in April. She has been back on the ice for a week now and is working on the dbl. toe.
Her coach fully expects her to have the toe and loop by the end of this season.

She has only been skating for 2 years now, and this past year she started in October with only a sal and a toe loop. By Christmas she had the flip, loop, and lutz. Her spins were not nearly as strong as they needed to be, so they spent Spring session focusing on the spins. She now has 4/4 on the camel/ sit and 6 on her sit. She now also has a flying camel, but only with about 1 1/2 revolutions. As long as she continues to progress as she has been, pre Juv should not be out of the question. Fortunately, she is young, and still has plenty of time.

Thanks for the interest.

Mom

welcome !!!

Indeed, welcome. I'm another who took up skating when our daughter did - she was 14 at the time, though, and never got beyond the first UK test (which she found an excellent counter-irritant to public exams when she was 18), and now she has more or less given up skating for the time being, as she is living in a town that doesn't have a rink and working full-time. I expect if she moves to somewhere with a rink, she'll take it up again.

Meanwhile, my husband and I continue to skate and dance together, and have great fun. It's worth while learning at least the basics, if only so you know what your daughter has gone through - as a T-shirt I once owned said: "If more mothers skated, there'd be fewer skating mothers!" But I do see it can be expensive... but it's great exercise, and really does build up your knees.

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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'm also a parent that took up skating, I figured if I had to be there for the kids I might as well get some exercise. I passed some dance tests this winter, and when I get older (because I'm younger) I want to be just like Mrs. Redboots. The hard part for me is convincing my husband to don figure skates and to find his sense of timing.

The good thing about skating yourself is that you learn all the stuff that your kids do, and that a salchow is more complicated than it seems and that you have great appreciation for what they do, greater than someone that just sits in the stands (in my most biased opinion). Our coach likes that we know about skating technically, and we are very clear as to where the parent responsibilities lie and where the coach begins. We take skating year by year.

Welcome! There are lots of off- and on-ice skating parents on this forum. There are also many people willing to help and make suggestions. Here's mine: use the "Search" function to check out existing/archived discussions. There's a gold mine of information there.

I do have to echo the "living vicariously" remarks that have already been made. Don't wait, just get a good pair of skates and spend a few bucks on yourself. Doesn't have to be fancy freestyle time -- a general session or group lesson is sufficient.

The toughest part of being a skating parent is keeping your own emotions in check and letting your daughter have the skating emotions. It's tough to remain a good sporting parent when you're hurting for your own kid!

Again, welcome!

How kind! Actually, you're probably already a great deal better than I am.... that would seriously not be difficult. And thinner....

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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!

Welcome as well. I don't post much but my daughter is also 9 and a Juvenile. I actually started skating when she did and worked my way up to having an axel and double sal - work and her competitions (plus her sister's pre-pre stuff) has kept me off the ice most of the summer - hoping to get the motivation to go back when school starts (worried I'm going to be so awful I won't be able to stand it).

Having skated as an adult is great - and good to understand what the kids are going through to get where they are. It can also have its drawbacks ("hmm...I wonder if that double flip had the proper check") - but not many.