It's immature to mention that I know who someone is?

Is that so? I happen to know Mel personally, and I can't imagine what kind of stories you're talking about.


The immaturity comes with the insinuations you're making. But you knew that already, didn't you?

This has gotten ridiculous! This is supposedly a thread related to adult skating and the last several posts have been incredibly childish. I am an adult skater, I like skating with adults (much better than the small kids who never look up from the ice) and while I don't agree with adult skaters (or kids, or non-skaters) who are overweight and not doing anything about it, I have come to realize that no matter what I do or say people are not going to change unless they want to. Having said that, maybe it is worthless to say that we could all benefit from taking a deep breath and previewing what we have written before posting it to the board. Lots of comments have gotten very snarky, from both sides of the argument and even from the moderators. I don't know about anyone else, but I am much more likely to listen to an argument/opinion that is backed up with facts or at least valid reasons for having that opinion. When someone reinforces their opinion by taking a cheap shot at someone else, they lose a lot of credibility. And by cheap shots I mean direct insults, thinly veiled sarcasm, or even a flippant comeback. These things have already driven at least one person away from the board. Why let it continue?

I'm an adult skater. I'd admit to being slightly overweight and not terribly inclined to do too much about it - along with skating, food is one of the pleasures of life! It doesn't mean I don't take my skating seriously. I have competed (and medalled, albeit at a low level) at the British Adult Championships. Possibly if I lost a few pounds I may look better in my skating dress but I am pretty sure it won't have a significant affect on my skating ability! What would improve my skating would be having more ice time - unfortunately with 2 kids (who also skate) and a home and a husband who is often away and a college course, I can't spare any more time than I do now.

As adults we take our skating as seriously as our circumstances will allow. These are often very different to those of a child (who has parental backup and support and no reponsibilities) or even a young adult who will have fewer responsibilities and may be yet to discover other things beyond skating which they could also become passionate about.

I fail to understand the attitude of the posters who seem to think only the young/fit/slim (take your pick - I can't recall the exact details of the posts) should do jumps and then seem to be berating adults for apparently limiting themselves and their skating aspirations.

Adults do have limitations due to aging bodies (older bones break easier and take longer to heal) and for adults there can be serious financial and lifestyle/family consequences to a fall. If I can't drive because I've broken something then it is a big problem for me. Therefore it is more likely to be fear affecting our performances than weight. Fear of falling is why it took me 2 years to decide to try Free skating as well as dance. However it was not jumps but practising spirals that did for my back!! A good chiropracter fixed that problem.

I don't think most adults are making excuses or accepting mediocrity. Most of us are striving to be the best we can in skating. But again for most of us it is not our number one priority as we have lives beyond skating too.

Many adults are skating in spite of health problems - some of which are quite serious ones and skating can be very therapeutic (see Irina Slutskaya!!).

Anyway I think the point of my post is that as adults we want our skating to be taken seriously but we want to be judged on our skating ability and not on our appearance. The judge was wrong to make the comments she did but judges are only human and we all make mistakes.

BTW In the UK there are no 'adult' tests so we have to take the same tests as the kids. I am happy with this but there are adults who have severe limitations on time or health who would still like to be able to mesure their progress in skating through testing and enjoy the sense of achievement a pass brings, so I can see a place for an adult test structure as an option though I think we are unlikely to get this here.

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'skating is not just a sport - it is an obsession'

They must be good, entertaining stories, as my rep in the skating community is pretty clean, and my competitive record is not bad. Matter of fact, if anyone wants to know a little bit about me or my club, feel free to visit www.SPFSA.com.

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Champagne in 2005, 2008, 2009 - who's next out of the pre-bronze club...?

Wang chung!

There's no call for remarks like this, and you know that perfectly well. I'm not sure why you thought it was so funny, as evidenced by the smilie you chose to use.

I, too, think this thread has gotten way out of hand, but now I know to skip over posts by Peaches and Fadedstardust in the future.

Pat

Batikat....nice post, and good try to bring this all back on track.

Mel, I've heard about you too....and can't wait to meet you!
I tried to go to your site and it must have had too much activity. It ceased up and wouldn't load.

Check out how many veiws this thread has had. Amazing!

I happen to personally know Mel too, and have for years. You obviously have the wrong Mel in mind. I can't imagine what stories you are talking about either.

Since I know and occasionally skate with Mel, I can tell you she is one of the nicest, warmest people I know. She's a dedicated worker and promotes ice skating for everyone. She pushes herself in her skating, but keeps a good humor about the elements she can do and the elements she's yet to master.

"Interesting stories"? If they were, then they are all good healthy stories usually with a little humor involved.

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Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

batikat, I agree with your post & attempt to put a more positive light on some of these issues. Although in the original example given in this topic, I don't think it sounded like the skating was being taken all that seriously if the test was put out when there were clearly technical problems with it.

There certainly have been some very intolerant comments here, made on both sides of the weight issue as well as the adult skater (us) vs "kids track" (them). FYI, it's not the "kids track" but the standard skating tests - double check the criteria for the tests & who is taking them. I don't get the general impression there is much interest at all from a lot of posters in this thread to come up with a creative solution to the original concern & problem & do anything positive about it. The thread has been transformed into nothing much more than a useless gripe session, without much respect for differing opinions, which doesn't make the greatest statement about either older adult skaters or intolerant junior/young adult skaters.

This may be off topic for this thread, but I can't help wondering whether a skater who takes up the sport at 12, skates 5-10 hours a week with maybe half an hour of lesson time, and whose skating goal is to reach intermediate level before going off to college is "accepting mediocrity."

There are plenty of teen skaters with that level of commitment, for whom skating is a serious hobby but for whom academics or a "well-rounded" lifestyle or not going into debt are more important than all skating all the time.

Such a skater can still strive to skate as well as she (or he) can given the limits of the time and financial resources available for her skating, knowing that she's never going to be an elite competitor.

Isn't the same true of adult skaters?

I agree Ellyn. That would not constitute mediocrity in my book. An example of what I would consider mediocrity as far as skaters I interact with at the rink would be those who are very much aware they are not skating at the level needed to pass a test, etc. but still insist on testing it anyways. And when they don't pass, it's blamed on the judges, the club, the USFSA, or anyone & everyone except the skater or coach who put out the sub par test. There is a huge difference between a skater putting their foot down & having a bad day vs not even trying to master the required skills. Often these tests are taken in an effort to "get it over with as soon as possible" or because "who cares about that part of skating anyways". The very intent from the beginning for a lot these skaters is to get as much value (i.e. higher test levels) on the poorest quality possible. They want to be "gold" test skaters in name, but don't really want to put the effort into learning gold test elements. I much prefer to see the skaters at the lower levels who master lesser skills to the point where there's beauty in the simplicity of them, rather than to see the sloppy skaters who have great expectations & demand it all with the poorest of intentions.

Yeap! I agree (at least based on the one time I did meet her!) Looks like her synch team is also a fun bunch too! She's very focused at competitions...but still very pleasant to talk to. And boy did they cheered for her at ISI Adult the year it was in SF!!!

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Okie dokie...I think this thread has run its course. Thanks, everyone; closing the door.

~flippet