Is anyone at the Conference? My dd is there in Chicago and having a blast - got to watch Brian Orser demonstrate footwork...she's tried out the new Moves....and had a dance seminar that was more advanced than she's teaching but was a good lesson for her.

j

I just got home from it a few hours ago. I missed Brian Orser's on-ice class because I had to go to a different presentation, but heard it was really great. I did not enjoy this conference as much as the previous one I attended. I really wanted to get my money's worth and not have to travel around for the next 3 years getting credits, so I went full out for all 28 (required in a 3 yr period to keep rating current), which kept me busy every day, and no time or energy to get online the whole time I was there. Plus, we were at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, meaning that Chicago was no more than a blip on the radar.

The last thing I did there was take the Power Skating and Hockey I certification tests, which were administered by Carol Rossignol. I handed in my affadavit to her, and asked if anyone might doubt the 28 credits I was claiming, and she replied "Oh no, I've seen you everywhere!" Big surprise to me, as there were 760 attendees this year! I guess she knows everyone, and I was an unfamiliar face.

I'll post a report on the conference after I've had a chance to relax a bit, unpack, and catch up on things at home.

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That sounds just like Carol!! I've done a number of courses that she facilitated or organized over the years. She is such a great person and probably would remember every one of the delegates taking her courses! Hope you learned a lot from her!

DD also really enjoyed Kathy Casey and added one of her quotes to her facebook - "You have to be careful with teenage athletes...don't hold them tight enough they fly away, hold them too tight and they crap in your hands" I guess she was a real hoot.

Kathey Casey does seminars over here every year, and our coaches always go with several of their pupils. Quite apart from the fact that the coaches have to go to a certain number of such seminars each year, they choose Kathy Casey because they, and their pupils, get so much out of her.

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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!

My coach went to the conference but I've not seen her since she got back. Kathy Casey is coming to our rink in August.

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School figures are skating's equivalent of the Latin Mass.

Did you go? Who skated in it? Pix/vidz anywhere?

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I went and Brian Orser's on-ice class was fabulous. Some of the footwork was more advanced than what my students can do but could easily be adapted, and his crossover warm-up was terrific! (Plus I got to stand next to Caryn Kadavy during the demonstrations.) Shirley Hughes, Ashley Wagner's coach, did a good on-ice program on basic jumps.

I took the power and hockey also--I was pretty disappointed. I was hoping to have a high-level power instructor show me some new drills and new ways to interest kids in skating, and instead I saw the same drills my kid has been doing for the last 3 years (and the same drills I taught to Mites last year and Squirts the year before). I wish I had gone to the Theatre on Ice presentations instead--that sounded really interesting.

I would go again although I was puzzled at the choice of location--O'Hare is a good 45 minutes by train from the city--I did go in twice, but it was frustrating not being able to get to a drug store, restaurant other than the hotel, or even take a walk without running into the freeway. It would have been better to have the conference in a suburb with good CTA or Metra access to the city, as long as we were being bussed to the rink anyway...

One of the problems with the power skating & hockey was that they were all run together. I had asked if I could stay for the hockey ll and was told no, since I hadn't registered for it, but then there was no end to hockey l, it just rolled right into hockey ll, so I was there anyway. I believe the presenter (I know him from iAIM operations & management courses) could have done higher level drills, etc, but I don't think he was very well prepared for the task.

Did you take the power skating and hockey certification tests? About half the questions on the power skating were not from any materials or presentations at all . Hope I guessed right enough times. Carol said passing on that one was only 50%.

ITA about the location - just awful! I was perpetually too tired to do anything later anyway, but would have liked the option to dine elsewhere. We went to Morton's on Sat night, as it was 2 blocks away. I'm over the steak thing now.

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None of the other suburbs have good CTA/Metra access to the city AND are close to an ice rink. So what you got was the best possible scenario.

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What about Skokie, Highland Park, or Evanston? They all have rinks although I know Evanston and Highland Park have limited hotel space. Don't know what the area is like around the McFetridge rink. It was just really suffocating being trapped in HotelLand!

I was only taking power and hockey I--if I'd known I was going to be taking hockey II anyway I would have signed up for it! I think the PSA needs to decide what audience they want to reach with the hockey program--some of the stuff was very basic and some of the hockey info was more than most people will ever need. (Like what size an NHL rink is, or extensive demonstrations of the difference between a wrist shot and a snap shot--probably not necessary to teach hockey basic skills!)The power skating needed to be pretty advanced to be helpful to some of those folks--one of the women who was in the class told me she coaches power skating for the Penn State women's hockey team, and I suspect the Russian guy who showed up the knee drop turns is pretty high level too. No offense to the guy teaching the course, who I'm sure is a great hockey coach, but they really need someone specializing in power skating to teach the class and teach others how to coach it--i.e., how to break the movements down to improve efficiency in skating.

I took the power and hockey I exams. I can't imagine where some of the power exam questions came from--whoever made up the exam must have had their own system and the questions came from there! I've taken power skating clinics, including Laura Stamm, and coached power skating and some of the questions made NO SENSE to me...like whether or not power pulls are being used in game situations nowadays? I was having trouble imagining that but I was afraid the answer was yes!

I'm really, really glad to hear the pass rate is 50%. That way I MIGHT have passed despite the many random guesses I made!!

Did you make suggestions on the course evaluation sheet? I made some but my coach told me to also write the PSA directly, so I'll probably do that at some point...

McFetridge is tucked in a residential neighborhood, quite a bit aways from hotels.

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Got my certificates today. I passed them both! I actually got 80% on the power skating . In general I'm a good test taker and would not be happy with an 80, but on that test, it feels more like a 95.

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Yay, well done!

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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!

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Requiring coaches to spend money on incomplete courses and educational materials but setting up the exam so that only half pass really rubs me the wrong way. Sounds like they need some "train the trainer" guidelines and certifications internally.

I'm getting very discouraged about coaching certifications.

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Thanks for the congrats. This was the only course/seminar that I've taken that was like that. I think it was because the instructor is not a PSA coach, and did not have the experience for this job, and/or lacked the prep time.

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Well, I'm planning to attend the PSA conference next year, so I'll consider this as an option. I would love to teach power skating.

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LOL! I stunned myself with an 86% on the power--I think I guessed at every single question! 100% on the hockey--they really need to change the way they do things--I could just as easily have passed both of them without taking the courses at all given that nothing on the power exam was in the book, the lecture, or the on-ice!!

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