Hi...

I was wondering if any of you have any suggestions of different ideas to help fund skating? Dd has been improving at an amazing rate lately and her coach keeps telling us she hopes we want to commit to this sport. Dd loves it and we definately want to do more for her, but I am trying to come up with different ways to help pay for things.

Last week when we were at the ice rink, someone mentioned how the skating director sometimes allows the more advanced skaters to help in the lower LTS classes(ie: Snow Plow Sam, Basic 1). They earn 1 freestyle session for doing this. If the skating director allows her to do that and she does it 4 times in a month(completely possible!), she will save us enough money for 1 private lesson.

Here are some of the other things we're doing now or wanting to try:

She can still take LTS classes(in the freeskate levels) and our rink includes a punch card for 5 free public sessions. They also allow us to use the punch card for Freestyle sessions, so it works out to be a great deal for us. Not to mention, once kids advance higher up, sometimes there are only a few kids in the class. That makes the lesson darn near semi-private. Summer LTS is 35 for 5 weeks and the rest of the year is 40 for 6 weeks. NOT a bad deal!

Dd wants to start a dog walking business. She'll also pet sit or check in on animals for people while they are out of town. She's 10, so it will always involve people we know.

Dd's grandma also lets her do simple chores for her to earn money. We're hoping she will continue to do this.

Last week we held a garage sale and it paid for dd's new skates. We'll do that again next summer.

Anyway, short of both dh and I getting second jobs(LOL!), do any of you have any other ideas? I'm liking that dd can get involved in this also. She is happy to do so and I think it will help her appreciate her skating more.

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

At 10 I would highly doubt she'll be allowed to help w/ LTS classes. At my rink the minimum age is 15.

The dog walking idea sounds good, as well as the chores for grandma....maybe other family members as well?

You didn't mention what level she's at / working on, and how much she currently skates and practices. That would be helpful.

Also at this age, I would beg of you NOT to take second jobs, go into debt, etc. unless your skater is showing an extraordinary amount of talent, such as landing double axels & working on triples already (and even then, not to be entered into lightly). If not, it is most definitely not worth a major lifestyle change for the whole family.

Before you go further, I would make a budget and talk to your coach. What does s/he mean by committing to the sport? For some coaches, that might mean 3 lessons a week; for others, many more plus specialized additional coaching in dance, stroking, skills (that's a Canadian term). For some, it might mean a lot of off-ice classes (strength, conditioning, flexibility, dance training); for others, that you agree to do 30 situps and run 30 minutes a day. For some it might mean that you buy $200 skates, for others, that you buy skates with $300 blades on the much more expensive boots.

I've seen a lot of parents who thought it was either UNmanageable because they didn't do a budget with the coach and thought it was more than it would be; others who got in over their head because they didn't do the research upfront on what "committing" meant to their coach. Parents and coach need to do a reality check on what can be afforded; (most) coaches would rather a parent be honest than to find six months down the line that the skater has to quit because the family can't keep up the payments. Coaches often will work with a skater and their family and be creative; they're (almost always) real people and they know all of the angles and opportunities that exist to help keep things feasible. Tell the coach the budget and ask what you can get for that.

What we do: group lessons for off-ice, not a private trainer; shop the sales for practice clothes; stone and decorate own dresses; DD and DS amateur coach for ice-time. I volunteer every possible hour at the arena and get credit for ice time too ...

Plus, they know that they are giving up vacations and things like restaurant meals, expensive birthday presents, video games, etc., which their friends get because of the cost of skating; this keeps it "real" for them. They have made skating the priority ... although they do have to "suck it up" when other kids rub it in about their fancy vacations, WIIs and 8-Gigabye ipods. We also resist things like Zuca bags, soakers-that-make-animal-noises, guards that light up ... and stick to basic, sturdy equipment that does the job ... but spend on what matters, like skates. Although, I do admit to splurging on a pink fuzzy skate drying towel with a bunny head on it ...

I agree, my dd is 7, almost landing an axel and well out of freeskate levels and is not having any trouble with the pre-juv MIF.

And she is not what I would consider a future Olympic Contender at 3 years your dds junior- meaning I would not put us in financial straight for this.

LTS is a great way to keep going, as are semi-private lessons. Some of the coaches in our rink take 3-4 kids at a time (or even 2 at similar levels helps). They also have what they call a junior program which is semi private.

Also, at 10, she is old enough for practice on her own. My dds coach made a practice card for her, and she follows it each time she skates.

Yes, my dd as well, and we also have a horse back rider, same rules. She does have an ipod, but she used stall shoveling money to get it. They all seem quite happy with their choices.

LOL, the second job thing was a joke. There will be no major life changing things at this stage! She's still very much begining.

As for helping in LTS classes, I've seen kids her age help. They don't get "paid" it's more of a trade thing. She won't be teaching... just helping. I mentioned ot her coach and she said she would likely be allowed to do that. If not, it's not a big deal. It's just an idea at this point, kwim?

She hasn't been skating long, 18 months at the most and the first 9 or so months of that time, she was only skating once a week maybe twice. Now she takes 1-2 private lessons a week and will be taking her LTS class once a week too. She also skates outside of that time too. The amount depends on how much time we have to go. If she had it her way, she'd skate 7 days a week.

Dd didn't have a lesson with her coach for 3 weeks, due to her coach being out of town. During that time, dd practiced 3 days a week for 1.5 hours. Dd's coach was extremely impressed because dd greatly improved while she was gone... all from practicing on her own. Anyway... thanks!

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Thank you! Having a sit down with her coach is exactly what I intend on doing. I am not sure what she means either. I think she might be talking more in the future. She says everytime she sees dd, she has improved. Dd is not afraid to try new things and dd works very hard too. She was so impressed with how much dd improved while she was gone... all because of dd's own determination.

DD has a Zuca bag, BUT she paid for most of it with her b-day money. I wasn't going to get it for her, but since she paid for a lot of it, we did it. She does love it. :-) I did crystal her comp dress and I think I ended up paying 60 total for her dress. I'm hoping to learn how to sew too. Then I can make her dresses.

Thanks again!

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

I honestly was joking about the second job thing. LOL! We're not willing to uproot our lives for skating at this point! I don't think dd is an Olympic contender either... please don't think I think that. :-)

I'd just like to be able to afford more comps and add in lessons if that is what dd wants. That's all. I seriously was kidding about getting a second job.
Dd currently takes 2 private lessons a week and will start a new LTS class next week. Plus we skate a lot as a family, so she has practice time also. She definately practices on her own... her coach was gone for 3 weeks and dd worked very hard and had improved a lot while her coach was gone. I'm proud of her for being so dedicated!

I don't think a kid has to be on the Olympic track in order to want to compete and improve more... so all that aside, all I wanted to know is what others do to help pay for skating. Dd does have some natural talent and while I highly doubt she'd ever be in the Olympics, I would like to allow her the chance to improve to the best of HER ability. That's all. :-)

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Yup... my dd has already started giving up some things and she IS happy to do it. She's also happy to do what she can to help pay for skating...

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Have you looked into having her referee for soccer or hockey? You do need to know the rules, of course, but you don't need to be a player to referee hockey, and the skating style required for refs is more like figure skating style (upright) than hockey style.
As an 11 year old last year, my son earned between $14-18 per game (1 hour)--great pay for anyone who's not in college yet, and as my son said, "Getting PAID to SKATE! This ROCKS!!!"
Not sure what the rates are for soccer refs but I believe they are similar.

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You miss 100% of the shots you never take.--Wayne Gretzky

if your daughter is 10 and has just recently started skating (well within the last couple of years) I don't think the costs will be that bad. Everything you have listed sounds like it will work. We never went on vacation, never had a new car, etc. My brother was a senior men's skater and his costs were 25,000-30,000. However we are talking about a high level elite skater so your costs will be nowhere near there.

I agree with others to sit down and talk with the coach. Semi private lessons are also a grea idea...in some sense they are a lot more fun as the skaters can work together.

Also remember that more lessons may not mean more progress. You need time to practice what you learn in a lesson so that it becomes ingrained in your brain and your muscles. The rule of thumb is that practice time should be equal to twice the lesson time. So for every half-hour lesson, you should have an additional hour of ice to practice what you learned.

I see way too many kids having daily lessons with barely any practice time at all and then the parents wonder why the skater isn't doing as well as they want to - and the parents buy more lesson time. In reality the skater would be better off with more practice time.

And practice time is cheaper than most lessons anyway.

To save money, I would consider flipping the 2 private lessons a week and instead as long as possible take LTS 2x a week.

My dd did that right up through to FS 6, then we have less options and had to pay for more privates.

She can improve a lot by taking an extra LTS each week and it, like you said, is very cost effective.

I've been thinking about this issue lately, because I find that a lot of younger skaters just can't stay focused on practice, even with a notebook or a doting parent standing at the boards.

Perhaps a "supervised practice" would be a solution. Not to teach or instruct (except in emergencies) but to just keep kids on task. For example: "For the next 10 minutes, we're doing Moves. Pre-prel practice () and Prel practice ()." Then move on to "Pick a spot and we're practicing spins for the next 10 minutes - you do two-foot, you work on your scratch spin, you're on sit spins." Organize the ice so they don't crash into each other, and let them go to town.

I'm not thinking about correcting or changing, so a coach isn't needed - a supervisor that can keep the kids focused, organized and practicing would really help both the lower-level skaters and the whole session run much better. I think 45 minutes would be enough "organized" activity; from there the skater can stay for the next freestyle or public session. (I think a followup public session would be best for lower-level skaters.)

This is something a CLUB volunteer could put together and charge a little money that goes towards the club treasury.

There's probably someone already doing this with a "Bridge" program or the like, but I think it's a great idea.

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I agree, and actually many kids resist anything their parent tells them to do! My 7 yo now has a list from her coach, and she is going to try and follow it and put a sticker on it when she finishes a grouping of things (ie moves, spins, jumps).

However, her coach does do a group of them- they are all recent passers of the LTS program (like in the past 6 months)- there are maybe 3-5 any given day, and it costs me between 8 and 10 dollars for half an hour.

It works pretty well. Also, having the other kids there is motivational- especially for my dd who is always the youngest and always wanting to prove she can do the stuff the older girls can do.

I do agree about the fact that kids do often not listen to what their parents are saying when teaching them. My friend has two kids who are now 19 and 22 and she taught them to ride (family business) and the amount of arguments it caused was phenomenal!! I would always think first before advising someone to teach their own kids (it does work sometimes) but the supervised practices sound like a good idea, where you can just give them an encouraging nudge to keep working instead of them keep getting distracted by friends too much and as the parent, you will have the best idea of how far you can push before the encouragement becomes counter productive. Good luck but I'm afraid I can't think of anything that can make extra money hat a ten year old can do. I used to work at the rink but we have one of the worlds few fixed ice shows so there were plenty of jobs in the tourist season. This is just a random thought but perhaps you could ask your daughter for ideas, like what is she happy to give up that you would normally pay for? Just a thought!!

That would be really cool! I often do exactly what you said with my daughter. However, lately, she has been working on her own and doing a good job! Still, I would love something like you described!

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

That sounds like a nice program! Wish we had osmethign like that as an option!

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Thanks! The dog walking business was her idea. Now I need to figure out how to advertise that she is interested in doing that. SOme people at work said they would be interested, so I may start there! Thanks for your feedback.

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Thanks for the suggestion! I thought about doing that also, but the problem is she can't go to both LTS sessions. One of the days conflicts with a church activity she is involved in and loves. In the fal, we will drop back down to likely private lesson a week. Her coach is a senior in college this year, so she will only be available certain days during the school yr. As for right now, she takes 1 1/2 hor lesson and then 1- 15 minute lesson(to save money).

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

I agree! I have seen her progress w/o a coach over the last few weeks(her coach was out of town) and it was mostly because she practiced about 3-4 hours a week. She's practiced 4.5 hours this week and this has all been HER idea. She would skate every day if she could!

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Thank you so much! No, we are no where NEAR the level of an elite skater. I don't know if dd will ever get to that level, but if she does, I am hoping we will find a way to fun it. LOL!

As for right now, we'll take it week to week and have a sit down with her coach to find out what she means by commiting. :-)

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

No, but she doesn't know the rules of either game. She's been to hockey games but that is because we drag her with us. LOL! I will however, keep this in the back of my head for my 7 year old! He just started playing hockey so by the time he is old enough to referee, he will have had a few yrs of play time under his belt! Thanks for the idea!

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Do refs see threats and verbal abuse, or physical abuse while seperating fighting players? Do dog walkers make house calls, possibly hazardous for a 10 year old girl? I don't know the answer to those questions, BTW.

LTS instructor is the best, because it will prepare her for work as a certified skating coach, which pays very well vs other part-time jobs. She has a much sought after opportunity to freely train and get the required references and experiences to join PSA. Go for it!

The experience could help her in other things - some work skills trainers get paid pretty well. It would be especially fabulous if her own coach is willing to help her become a coach herself.

If she is good at off-ice dance, stretch, strength or aerobics training, and is good at it, maybe she can talk to the teacher about helping with the beginners. (BTW YMCA teaches kids to be exercise instructors too.) If she becomes a skating coach, she can tell her students to take lessons from her in that too.

As with any job, I suppose there must be a few downsides. Once she becomes a pro, she may not be able to freely show her friends things, because it would look like a violation of the professional ethics which forbid her from trying to steal students from other coaches. And she has to keep teaching when she has other things to do, like preparing for school tests, for fear of losing her students. Even as a volunteer, I notice that some students and their parents are dificult to work with. But overall, I think it would be fun.

SOOOOOO true. You have to be a good people manager to do this, and/or be paired up one on one with a coach that is a good partner. DD had a little boy (around 3 or 4 yrs old) decide to skate up behind her and kiss her on the butt tonight. Then, he skated up and planted his face right in her crotch. Weirder things have happened to her in the past. Parents have yelled at her, thrown their kids at her to get them on the ice, she's been kicked in the leg and cut, wiped up snot and barf and tears, been punched in the "girls" by accident AND on purpose. Of course, there are also wonderful parents and kids and skaters, and many are a joy to coach, or at least reasonably pleasant ane trouble free.

Now, she's got enough aplomb (and maturity and age) to handle this type of thing - but, you know, that kind of thing does happen with little kids and dealing with parents can be very difficult. Some skaters working as assistants can handle it, some find it very strenuous and unpleasant; it also depends on the coach on the ice at the time. So, check with your DD to see if she thinks she can handle it (and do you think she could? What is the rink like? What are the sessions like?)