I am so sick of having to skate around children at both public sessions and freestyles sessions! My home club has PLENTY of adult skaters. Why arent we aggressively going after these rinks to give us some freestyle time of our own that is workable for adult skaters? I see they always have dance sessions that are mostly adults, why not adult-only freestyle? I am throwing way too much money at these rinks not to get a little time.

I know this will never happen but I am really frustrated right now! I got caught in traffic for over an hour last night trying to get to a lousy public session that I only got to use about 35 minutes of ice time while the skate guards allowed kids to jump over the cones and slide into the center of the ice where I am forced to try to do spins etc!!! UUUGGGGHHHH!

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Why are you skating so slowly? Get out of my way!

If you skate faster, it makes everything look better!

I dunno, I like skating with the kids. We have one noontime adult freestyle a week, and a bunch of noontime public sessions that are de facto adult sessions, but I can't attend because of work. Anyway, my daughter is also a skater (and a far better one than me!), so it's just more efficient if we skate the same sessions. Therefore, I've pretty much always worked on regular freestyles. It was definitely scary at first, but I've gotten faster and stronger and am much more aware of what goes on around me. I think I wouldn't have developed as fast if I were only on adult sessions. It's hard to ask a rink for dedicated adult sessions, since they're almost certainly going to lose money on them. Heck, they lose money on regular freestyles. At our prices, it would take 25 skaters on the ice to cover the cost of that hour. There's no way we could put 25 adults on the same hour on any kind of regular basis. Even if we had that many adult skaters, we would never be able to agree on a time.

My rink has one adult public session on Sundays. It costs $5 and a lot of people won't go because the time is inconvenient and they think it's pricey (typical daytime sessions are $2.50).

Most of the adults that skate at my rink tend to skate with their families.

It's hard to make it win-win for everyone (rink, skaters, etc).

I enjoy the quiet daytime sessions but I understand not everyone can adjust their work hours to attend.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Well public skate is not freestyle skate. In Canada, there are only a small number of rinks that will allow people to do figure skating on public ice. That ice is meant for the general public to skate around and have fun with family and friends. Buy freeskate ice and then you won't have that problem. If I want to bring my friends to the rink who can only skate around forwards, why should they have to deal with a freeskater? Same goes for hockey...if there are people out there playing shinny hockey during a public session, it becomes dangerous and people can't enjoy themselves.

As for an adult freeskate session...talk to your club executive about it. Usually you need about 10 people on the ice to make it cost effective. Also, adult ice is charged more than youth ice. In some places its quite a bit more. Again, talk to your club executive to see if they would purchase ice for you all.

You by chance wouldn't be referring to the 3:45 at Wheaton yesterday would you?

It just depends on what rink you go to maybe. Or depends on your locality. Some university rinks are open for lots of hours during the week days for recreational skate sessions, and the one I used to go to seriously had hardly anybody on the ice .... sometimes even nobody on the ice. And people that weren't affiliated with the university could still buy semester passes (very attractive prices) and skate there anytime they want. At the uni of colorado, I often skated all by myself on the full size rink for a couple of hours, and you could stick whatever music tapes or CDs into the audio machine at the music console. Actually, uni of colorado ice arena is one of the nicest rinks I've skated at very regularly. So if you do have any university rinks nearby, maybe you can check out what their policies are for non-student skaters.

While at my rink we are not allowed to do freestyle on public sessions, I wanted soooo badly to declare a moratorium on freestyle etiquitte at my rink yesterday for both coaches and skaters!

MSF, you are right- there are too many adult skaters in your neck of the woods to not have a adult freestyle session somewhere in the DC area. Issue is- can people commit to the time?
Rinks will not sell ice or have sessions if the numbers are not present.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

I suppose I am lucky. Although our rink doesn't put on specific ice times for adults (dance or free), I get to skate on the 9.30 a.m. patch when all the kids are at school. I hate sharing the ice with the kids during the school holidays though so you have my full sympathy.

Nicki

I guess I need a new job! I am a teacher so I can only skate when the little snots do!

No it was not Wheaton, It was Mt. Vernon. Come on DC area adult skaters! Lets unite! (MY NORMA R. MOMENT HAS FINALLY COME!)

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Why are you skating so slowly? Get out of my way!

If you skate faster, it makes everything look better!

Dear MusicSkateFan,

You sound like a CRAZY SKAYTEEENG PURSUNN!

Sounds like someone needs to run for the WFSC board next term. Either that, or stand in the middle of the ice holding a piece of cardboard with "UNION" written on it.

Love,
dcden

Seriously, jp1andonly has a good point... adult freestyle sessions sponsored by the club don't just happen, they have to have a groundswell of support. We used to have one in WFSC, don't know if we still do. You may want to talk to DEL SK8, she used to be on the board.

Too bad Wheaton no longer has its Wednesday night freestyles. I used to go to them in December and they were hardly crowded at all. However, Ashburn has an adult public session Wednesdays from 9-10pm... good folks on that session usually and not too crowded.

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Whatever!

sounds like a good quote for a t-shirt---can I use it???

I wish I could have an all adult session at my club-there would only be 3-4 people!!! We are lucky enough to have a club

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

We're fortunate that my Monday night rink offers an adult only public session. We have a good mix of freestylist, dance, hockey, and speed skaters. Because we're a mature group, the rink puts out no cones and we're allowed to skate anywhere.

The adult group of about 30 or so are regulars, so we all watch out for each other no matter what the discipline.

While you couldn't do a full program, you can practice all elements.

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

Only if you make me a shirt as well! Or, how about: "I'm a CRAYZEE ADDULTTT SKAYTURR"

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Whatever!

Except for Fridays, I skate before work at Reston. Usually only half a dozen skaters or less on the ice (although the number has crept up over the last couple years). Plus the morning freestyle/dance sessions are 2 for 1, in terms of pricing.

Normally about half of us are adults (including coaches) and half are kids.

The problem with booking a subscription session is getting sufficient subscribers and attendence to cover the cost of procuring the ice. Even more so, in the DC area (as well as others I'm sure), it can be difficult for the club to compete with all the other organizations wanting ice time at "popular" times (aka times when Adults who work a normal day-time schedule can attend). Unfortunately pads and pucks seem to reign.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

I don't know how many of us read it, but I love how the GGMB speak is filtering into this board!

I belong to the *other* club in the DC area, and we have club FS time Monday and Wednesday evenings at Fairfax. Monday night there's a late FS (8-9 pm), and most of the skaters are adults; Wednesday night the FS session is 7:30-8:15, and only a few people (maybe 5-6) skate on that one. The tradeoff is that these sessions are much more expensive than regular rink freestyles, because the club contracts the ice for the entire season (September - mid-June), and has to cover the cost. If you subscribe to the session for the whole season, the per-session cost is lower than the pick-up cost, but it's still expensive.

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Where are those knives when I need them?
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I need a detachable left foot!

Oh gosh, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to get away with some of that GGMB stuff here. I've tried to 'sell' GGMB to MusicSkateFan and DELSK8 (vanity plate, not a username) but AFAIK they haven't bitten yet.

If you don't mind politically incorrect humor, then give Gymnastics Gossip Message Board (with figure skating forum) your KONSIDERAYSHUN!!!

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Whatever!

I actually like sharing the ice with our elite skaters - they give me something to aim at. I'll never be like them in a zillion years, but at least I can look at X, a Primary dancer, and think, Oh, he looks better, what's he doing differently - oh, it's his posture. I see, that's how you're meant to stand, is it? Right, we can do that.....

Mind you, our rink is very adult-friendly. It's not uncommon for there to be several elite couples and the three adult couples all working hard on different things. And the only pairs we have are both adult and both well into middle-age - the third pair, also adult and even more elderly, had to give up, sadly. Although they both still skate regularly.

Mind you, most of the kids are leaving for school just as we get there. There's only the home-schooled ones and those who have already left school.

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

I am just not my calm self these days! That traffic jam last night really set me off!

dcden is probably right I am turning into a KRAZY SKATING PERRRSON! It was probably that Monday night session where I had a tryout with a pair partner! I was worried I would get hooked up with a Krazy Person and as it turns out the "KRAZY" person is the one looking at me in the mirror in the morning! (BUT YOU'RE LOOKING AT ME! "NO I AM NOT" YES YOU ARE! SHUT UP!)
All I want is a freestyle session on Wednesday that starts around 6:30-7:30pm for adults only....is that REALLY too much to ask for? Maybe there will be hope for the new rinks in Ballston Mall this spring!

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Why are you skating so slowly? Get out of my way!

If you skate faster, it makes everything look better!

Well, not to sound mean or stand-offish but if you really want that session than an option might be, as they say, to put your money where your mouth is and see if you can rent some private ice. At our rink here I think they charge $250 an hour for that... but if you could get enough people together that are as fed up and desperate as you are it might be worth it.

I totally agree. I hate skating around all the sprogs. Esepcially the crazy sprogs on those double blade runners. The moo thinks it's a good idea to allow sprog on double runners to skate near all the freestylers. Then when sprog falls moo has a fit and starts yelling at all the freestykers.

Hello you fat moo. The freestyler was working on strach and sit spins, (and so on). Everyone else in the middle were other freestylers at or near the same level. They don't expect nor should they put up with a sprog who has no skating experiance and is on double runners. It's not fair to them. Tell said sprog to go near the wall, don't ##### when said sprog gets hurt in the freestyle area. It's not their fault it is your fault.

My old rink back in homewood use to have an adult only session at night. 21 and up. I liked it, it was nice, and very few people were there.

If they aren't willing to offer adult only freestyle session, then offer adult only public sessions. So we can avoid the angry moo/sprog issue.

There is a time and place for children.

In the middle of a freestyle skating section while people are working on moves and getting ready for tests. Is neither the time nor the place.

***

On another note I had a sprog who had obviously no skating experiance. We all know the kind. They walk on the skates creating that annoying clapping sound. She crashed right in to me. So to save her from getting hurt, I had to fall forward. I had a huge knot on my head for days and was dizzy the rest of the day.

the moo called me a stupid selfish #####, said I didn;t belong on the ice because I was going to hurt her child.

This was during a public session. Needless to say I told the mother where to go, and thank god I knew the rink staff because they helped me with that fact. She and her daughter were removed from the ice.

Apparently they had told the mother to keep her daughter near the walls, but she failed to listen.

God for bid someone should get in the way of the next "Dorthy Hamil"

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http://www.joelisi.net
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MSF, TU MUCHO LOCO!!!

*sigh* I petition twice for the same thing at my home rink. Once it was to prevent it from being a hockey session. The following year, it was to prevent it from being an ice dance session. They finally succeed (sorta) by changing it to a general public session!!! I was still able to skate w/the adults but the kids have to show up too! Then again, I was able to skate with some nice kids from the synch team though, so it's not a loss for me!

If you don't mind taking some unsolicited advice from someone who's been thru this... think like the rink management!!! If there are enough adult skaters that are willing to show up at the time you are proposing and if it does not conflict with stuff like hockey or other things (like the ice is NOT used at all), THEN they might consider it!!! You have a good chance of making your case if you try to think of how the rink management might be thinking about this as far as $$$ is concerned. I suggest you find out how much it cost to rent the ice privately for an hour just to help you do the math.

Oh... enquiring minds wanna know... how did your pairs tryout went?

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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!!!

My club has an adult-only hour of freestyle every weekday from 10-11am.

But honestly, I oftentimes find greater enjoyment in regular freestyle sessions.

There are some really good adult skaters, but for the most part, the younger skaters tend to skate faster and/or more intensely, so they're more of a motivation to skate with. I also find that the emptier the ice, the lazier my skating is. Even though a freestyle session with 20+ people can feel pretty crowded, it gets me skating a lot better and trying more stuff even though there's less room for it - I guess I like the added challenge.

Public sessions are another story entirely, though I do enjoy them sometimes. Yeah, they're crowded, some things are really difficult to work on safely. But it can be great fun to just skate among that many people, and keeps one's alertness and reaction times honed. ;-)

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

I agree that it is a pain to practice on sessions with kiddies, unless they are serious figure skaters. I am fortunate that many of the rinks here have morning sessions from 9:30 or so until noon that are essentially adult freestyle. The sessions are so peaceful and productive for me, that I have arranged my work schedule around my morning skating time (what I call my Princess schedule). In the summers I am forced to skate on freestyle with the kids, but I improve with better skaters on the ice around me. Regular family public sessions however are difficult to focus and practice on. Have you checked schedules with all the rinks in your area?

Personally I love skating with the kids. What I hate is skating with folks, adults or kids, who skate like their the only folks at the rink. The rink is paid for and shared by all.

Chico

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"I truly believe, when God created skating, he patted himself on the back."