I have a student who needs more ice time for lessons. The rink where I work has very limited ice available for FS. The parent wants me to coach her at another rink in addition to our home rink where I am on staff. I am not on staff at any other rinks presently. So I will have to register elsewhere as a guest/visiting pro. The rinks in my area charge higher commission to visiting pros than staff, which is fair. However, I cannot afford to lose money on lessons. I am planning to pass the expense along to my student in the form of a higher hourly fee. The family is not hurting for $, and I have only this one student who needs to do this, so I am doing it only for her.

What have other pros done in this situation?

Thanks for advice in advance.

Kay

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I was in a similar situation, but instead of a commission, there was a $4 bridge toll for one rink. Both rinks were about the same distance, so gas and mileage didn't matter.

I set a different rate for the second rink and it wasn't an issue.

Don't forget that you're accommodating their request.

After you've arranged it with the new rink, make sure to inform the skating director at your current rink. You don't want the director to think that you're taking students away from the home rink, so be clear that the parents asked you, not the other way around.

It's just courtesy and it will prevent misunderstandings in the long run. If you were in their shoes, you'd rather find out from the coach rather than through the grapevine, too.


Who knows? You might be asked to join the staff of the new rink too.

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Thanks for the good advice, Isk8NYC. Will do.
Kay

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When I was in college, we would bring in a guest coach from about an hour and a half away for dance partnering. He charged $2 more per 15 min lesson than his normal rate to cover his gas. We all had no problem with this. It would have cost more in gas and travel time for me to drive out to him for lessons, so it was well worth it. He was actually a coach who had been out of my rink and moved away around the same time I went away to college, so it worked perfectly for me because I didn't have to learn to partner with a new coach.

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