One thing I've just thought of

Don't get too involved, BuggieMom. Try and let your dd handle as much of this as possible.

Also - about inviting these girls over:

If they are older than your dd, they might not enjoy hanging around with her and might dislike her even more. Not every 12> year old would like to come round an 8/9 yr old's house to "hang out". They have their own interests. Now I don't know your daughter personally, but there are 2 types of teens, those who would hang out with her regardless of an age gap, and those who would not be seen dead with her just because they're older. I would advise against inviting them over unless your dd wants them to, but even then exercise caution.

But as I said, just try and let your dd sort it out, and of course try using my previous advice. Do not try and sort it all out for her because then she is losing important life lessons and they will not respect her if every time they say something to her she runs to Mommy.

Do tell me when/if you've tried my forementioned advice and how it worked.

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I don't know if this is available at your rink, or if you have the time or resources for it, but have you considered having your daughter try out for a synchro team? I never had any friends at my rink until I joined a team (then it was called a precision team). Since skating is such an individual sport, joining a synchro team would provide an entirely new - team - atmosphere. On a team, you have to either get along or at least put differences aside to succeed. It might also be a way for your daughter to meet skaters she doesn't know yet. If the girls who are bothering her are on the team, they might get to know her better and cut out the teasing. Joining a team made my skating experience as a kid so much nicer. While I was never really good friends with the girls on my team (we were more like skating buddies, I guess), team members always cheered each other on during singles events at competitions and talked at the rink when we were skating at the same time. Plus, the extra practice and the more intricate footwork improved my individual skating skills

I'll second that for supportiveness from synchro team members. I don't do synchro, but there are a few teams at one rink I skate at. During a very empty club ice session one time, they were practicing, and then I put on my music to do a run through. They all said, ooo, do you want an audience, and clapped and cheered for my run through even though it was slow, scratchy, and had a few mistakes in it. I also did group lessons with a bunch of those girls who now do synchro, and they're still very friendly. It's nice to see them coming along in the sport--some of them are accomplished ice dancers or high on their moves tests now, too.

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