How many times a year do they attend competitions? Dd just started competing. She's still in the basic skills levels and I imagine will stay in the Freeskate basic skills until the end of this season. She'll be competing in the Freeskate 1 level(USFSA) in 5 weeks. She's participated in 2 competitions so far. One was in June and the other was just over a week ago(3rd and 1st place :-) ). These are local competitions and at her level, I think local comps are perfect. Anyway, like I said, she's been in 2 competitions so far. Those competitions were 3 months apart so she had time to practice and work on other skills in between them. The next competition is the second weekend in November and the next one after that will be at the end of January. After that, I am not sure she will be in one until June. She'll participate in her club's spring show in May. So, because I don't want to "over do it", what do those of you who have kids competiting do? Those of you who are coaches, what do you suggest to your students?

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

I do as I'm told by the coach; it's not my decision. They tell me when, and if they are to compete, based on their plans for training and testing; it's in the YPI. Generally, it's never more than every other month during the lead-up to peak season, then, maybe one a month for that point. The philosophy being that if you are training for competition continually, you don't get to step back on work on skills, jumps, etc. The program gets left aside for a few weeks, jumps, etc are focussed and improved, then the program gets ramped up leading up to the competition. Also, it's a matter of availability of competitions, and it is different in timing for the kids on the competitive vs. the test track in terms of when the "peak" season.

My daughter didn't compete until she had passed her Pre-Preliminary test. I think we did 4 or 5 competitions a year at that time, mostly local. Eventually that went up to around 8 a year. In her final season as a competitor, I think she did 2.

Thanks! Dd loves competing. I have no idea when the peak season is around here. Dd will be on the competitive track once she gets out of the basic skills section of competing.

Next year ought to be interesting. I don't know what level she will be. Her coach is saying she should have her single jumps(excluding the axel) by the end of this year. She has most of them right now... she needs a Lutz and something else I can't remember. The of coarse the axel. Anyway... thanks. I think we'll keep doing what we are and take it step by step.

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Thank you! Was it up to the coach or did you and your daughter decide? So far, these competitions have been my daughter's choice. She enjoys competing. I'm not sure what level she will be next season. She migh be ready to test then but I am not sure. Thanks again... we'll take it step by step.

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

My students typically compete 2-3 times a year, simply because there's not a lot of local competitions and parents aren't willing to drive out-of-state just yet or because some kids don't really enjoy competing.

My skaters who really get a kick out of competing tend to be my younger ones enjoy getting a medal. I guess you could say its their way of seeing the payoff of practicing, especially since they're not testing [USFS] quite yet. These are the ones who usually compete two or three times a year.

My older, or more experienced skaters, on the other hand, tend to be focused more on testing the USFS test, so they may compete once a year, usually at our rink's competition.

I would never force a skater to compete, but there are so many pros to getting out there in front of judges and an audience that I definitely encourage it.

Thanks! That makes sense. Her coach doesn't force her kids either. I don't know how things will go once she starts testing. I imagine that won't happen until at least next season. :-)

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Just to get them "into the swing of things" - our coach does TESTING at LTS level (CanSkate in Canada) - and they have to pass the skills in front of "judges" - i.e. a couple of coaches (some of whom are also judges - !). Of course, she also sends them off to comps, if they're ready, at the LTS stage - and the testing is the practice to see if they can manage under pressure at an early age.

Thanks! Before her 1st competition, her coach had my daughter participate in a "judges critique". It was a good experience for her. At that time, she had never skated alone on the ice before. It gave my daughter some idea of what to expect for the competition. I wasn't sure about having dd do that but it was a good experience for her and I would do it again. I looked up the required pre-pre elements and it certainly is possible that dd will be testing pre-pre in the next year. She can already do many of those elements. Some need a lot of work before testing and others need to be learned, but I candefinately see her testing in about a yr! YIKES!

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Do keep in mind that the elements you see on the test are only the minimums for what you will see in competition. (Although it sounds like your coach is aware of that, and will enter your daughter in the appropriate event.) My daughter's first coach had her test as soon as she could pass the elements on the test, but that was not nearly enough to do well in competition. All Basic Skills events are limited to the skills for that level, but that's not true once you get to the standard test levels. A solid Axel is necessary for Pre-Preliminary, unless you're doing a test-track or otherwise limited event (called Pre-Pre Low in some places).

Our coach generally suggested the competitions my daughter should go to. Most of our club attended most of the nearby ones, and we traveled further afield when she started going to Regionals. She made the decision to cut back on the number of competitions as she got older and more involved in other things. By that time she was more of a test-track skater than a competitive one, but she wanted to go to Regionals as a Senior skater at least once. She didn't really enjoy competing; she liked testing and shows much more.

That's totally against the purpose of Canskate as your coach should well know.

My kids did 2 comps a year. A fall warm up for sectionals and then sectionals, in later years, it was a winter warm up and then provincials. My kids were quick enough to catch onto that winning a medal at the "Somewhere Figure Skating Club Important Person Invitational" didn't mean much but a Provincial medal did.

Our coaches give us options on what comps to attend but its our choice as a family to really pick what we do during the year. I do agree with PGH coach, the more times they are out there the better for the skater.
When the kids were younger programs were changed often. Now its pretty much the same program for the whole year so it really doesnt take alot of time away from skills.It does give them a concrete goal to work for and keeps them motivated.
We have to travel for comps if they want the experience.This year we have done one ISI and 4 USFSA comps.They also have done a few exibitions.We would love to do to regionals this year but out of our budget.
HTH

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My dd has competed four times this year and another two are scheduled by year end with all but two of those events having been out of state. Although recently becoming a member of USFS, she has only competed ISI. Coach and I usually sit to discuss which comps we would like to attend. Next year she will be competing less as she transitions into USFS; The only competition we have scheduled is the State Games of America for which she has already qualified. I believe coach has plans to test her Pre-Pre in the first quarter of 2009.

DD loves to compete and loves the crowd. When I asked what it is she likes so much about competing, her reply was that she gets the ice to herself and can show everybody what she has learned. In contrast, my nerves are a complete wreck when she's competing.

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Supporting my daughter's dream

Me too! My family knows not to really expect me to respond to anything until after dd skates. I get so nervous that, by the times she's done, I am sure I am going to faint to throw up! She is competing in her first regionals mid Oct... I am going to be a complete WRECK by the time she is done, no matter how she skates. It's a good thing she is at the boards with her coach and doesn't see me go into meltdown-mode!

She has competed for almost 4 seasons now, and we usually do almost the same competitions every year. She did 5 last year, the most she has done, usually spaced out about 6 weeks apart. Not sure how many she will do this year, since we are switching coaches and haven't had that discussion yet. Up until now, coach has given us suggestions and has let us make the decisions.

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BuggieMom
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Some people are like a Slinky...not really good for anything,
but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs....

Yeah, her coach is pretty good about making sure they can do the elements well enough to compete at that level. As of now, she can do most of the elements required for the pre-pre test, but there is no way I would want her to test for that just yet. Next season, she might be ready but not yet. I have no idea if she will have her axel next year, but many of our local comps have pre-pre w/ axel and pre-pre w/o axel. We're not there yet, so I am not worried about that yet. :-) Also, our basic skills competitions allow you to add other elements in addition to the required elements BUT they cannot be elements above the level you are competing at. Anyway... thanks so much for the feedback! I won't want her to test until she is ready to compete at that level. I'd rather have her int he limited beginner/non-test for a bit if she isn't ready to compete at the pre-pre level neext yr. :-)

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Thanks! I'm hoping we will keep this program for awhile. She'll be competing in Freeskate 1 in a month. YIKES. Each time she's competed, we've moved up a level. If she does well in Freeskate 1, we'll have to move her up again but I am hoping we can keep her there for most of the season. It will depend on what she passes in her LTS class too. Thanks again.

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

My nerves were a total wreck this last competition! The week prior,dd kept forgetting her last spin in her program and would finish WAY too early. She did that consistantly that week and drove myself and her dad crazy! Finally, the week of the comeptition it came back. THEN she was out on the ice for her 5 minute warm up and she FORGOT 3 elements! My husband noticed, but I didn't. Thankfully once she got out to do her actual program everything fell into place and she did a GREAT job and came in 1st. "whew". I remember counting her crossovers as she did them and hoping she wouldn't leave one out. LOL!! Anyway... I don't know if I will ever stop being nervous but I try very hard not to let her know I am feeling that way. :-) I've seen your daughter's videos, she ia great skater!

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

I find myself focusing on every single step and counting every revolution of a spin, that I forget to just relax, watch and enjoy her program. It's a good thing we get them recorded so I can enjoy them later.

Thank you for the kind words.

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Supporting my daughter's dream

You are so welcome! She really looks like such a talented little girl! My little girl has come a long way in the last year. It's amazing to see the progression!

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

It is amazing to see the progression. I often watch the lower level skaters at my daughter's school and recall it wasn't all that long ago my little girl was learning back xo, or whatever they are practicing at the time. Sometimes a parent of one of the beginners will see my dd skate and ask how long she's been at it. When I tell them about 20 months, they are surprised. Then I become surprised at my own words and have to start counting the months. I always encourage the other parents, telling them it won't be long and their child will be doing the same.

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Supporting my daughter's dream

We get the same question. My dd first stepped on the ice the middle of October '06. She took LTS classes until the srping, was in the spring Ice Show and then we went out of town for the summer. She didn't step back on the ice for another 4 months. It was then that she started taking this more serious because the time she didn't skate, drove her NUTS! We plunged back into it last year. She was in basic 5 when she started with her coach and has progressed so much since then! Dd's best bud just landed her axel this week! It's amazing to see, honestly. We met dd's friend when she was in Basic 8(USFSA) so it has been fun watching her progress as well. My eyes teared up seeing her land that jump! I can't imagine what it will be like when my own dd lands it. I imagine it will be at least another yr before my dd lands hers... we're not there yet. :-) Anyway... good luck to your daughter! As I said, she is a beautiful skater who obviously has a lot of talent for this sport. She's progressed very fast!

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven