I am full of comments this week.

Anyway, November is dd's home rink competition. Up until a few days ago, she was planning on competing in it. Then she decided she wanted to take a break from competing and will test that weekend instead. The test session is included with the competition and will take place the same day as some practice ice sessions and the day before the actual competition.

I happened to mention to someone at dd's club that she would be testing and not competing in November and she seemed surprised that dd was not going to participate in that competition. Is it "bad" that dd is not going to compete in her own club's competition? I figure she's still participating that weekend by testing and she will also be there watching her friends skate in addition to helping out at the competition. Dd wants to take a break and now is looking forward to her first test. Dd's coach is excited to have the chance to work on moves in addition to working on dd's jumps and spins too. Dd needs to work on her lutz and coach has told her once she has her lutz, they will start working on her axel. Dd is very excited(and scared!) about that! Taking a break from competing, will allow coach and dd to work on skills intead of only programs and program elements. Coach agrees that working on dd's moves will make her a better skater and will help improve the overall appearance of her skating. Hopefully we will see more fluidity and speed emerge by practicing these important skills. That's the goal, anyway.

I am comfortable with our decision and so is her coach. What I want to know is if it is bad to not compete in your home rink's comp? This is a very small competition(basic skills through Preliminary + a test session). I don't think we will change our minds, but I am curious if we will be looked down on if we don't skate in the competition. I'm still learning skating etiquette.

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Gosh no, I wouldn't think so. Honestly, up until my dd had all her full rotation jumps (except axel), she did only 1-2 basic skills competitions all year. I don't think it is odd at all at her level.

I know some people seem to expect that you'll compete at home, but this year I was my coach's only competitor. All her teenage competitive kids said no. They said there's too much pressure competing at home and they'd rather do a couple of the other local competitions. Frankly I agree with them, there is more expectation because they're at their home rink and it's rather nice being anonymous at a strange rink.

I don't know what it is like at your rink, so, I can only speak from personal experience. Because the home-rink competition is a money-making endeavour for the club, not participating means that you're not contributing - which can be a sensitive spot for some members. Also, depending on the attitude of your club, it can be perceived that you're not "supporting your club" - if there are other clubs participating, it means that your club doesn't maximize their team points.

Where we've not participated in club functions/competitions, we've gotten some negative feedback. Also, the kids felt left out because every one else was excited, and they weren't participating. So, we generally do if we can ... although, I would dump a competition for an important test myself, and just use it as a teachable moment for the kids on hard choices, as well as making my most profuse apologies and explanations to the competition organizers, all of whom are generally really good people who care about kids and want to see them succeed in their endeavours.

That said, I don't know how competitions are positioned at your club. This is just "our" club.

It sounds to me like you are just looking out for what's best for your daughter, and I sincerely hope no-one holds that against you. The timing may just not be right for her. If the competition is a fund raiser, you have already mentioned that your daughter will be helping out, so she is still contributing. I'm sure that they are happy to have the volunteer! If you still feel awkward, perhaps you could offer to supply snacks for the skaters/helpers or a couple of cases of pop or something.

I think it's generally expected that skaters will compete at their home competition, for reasons already stated. Your skater is testing, however, and you plan to help at the competition, so I don't think you will be perceived as not contributing to a major club activity. I've done it myself, although, as an adult skater, things are a little different - my events likely would have been exhibitions anyway. At my rink, the coaches plan to have the kids compete "at home" so that they avoid additional travel expenses. They try to test at home as much as possible, too.

Our club hosted a competition not too long ago and the weirdest thing happened- all the little kids competed, all the "big" kids competed/exhibited (junior, novice, intermediate) but two coaches took all their middle level kids to an out of state competition.

It was a big enough event that the club didn't need the money from the skaters, but I was really confused why these coaches went for another comp, and not the one that was right there. I don't recall the club being too wound up about it though.

No one can force your daughter to compete. Since she's testing, it's clear you are supporting the event.

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Thanks all. I can see how it could be precieved that she isn't supporting the club, but since she IS testing at the session being held during the competition, isn't she still supporting the club? Or does the club not get any money from that? We're also going to submit items for the skate swap which will help the club too. I tried to see if Dd wanted to do improv at the comp and she said, no. She has done it twice and the second time, she had a hard time with the music selection and I think it scarred her. LOL. I figure if she decides she wants to do that, I will sign her up for that. Honestly tho, I think we are making the right choice by not working on programs. Dd needs to work on moves, spins and jumps. The other thing is, I know last yr there were skaters who opted not to compete in our competition. One girl tested, another one said she was training and wasn't competing until winter games and another just didn't want to compete. There are a few kids in the club who aren't competitive at all and so of coarse, they wouldn't compete either. I figure, it's not fair to my daughter to put her in a competition she really doesn't want to do. Not to mention, giving her this time to work on her skating skills is important too. Otherwise, how can she improve on her other skills if she is always working on pograms. Some of these other kids have more lessons and ice time then my daughter does. My daughter has 2 lessons a week and is on the ice 5-6 hours a week. That's all we can do! The one gal I talked to, her kids are on the ice 5 days a week and have 2 private lessons a week, group lessons(with their coaches) and so forth. If my daughter did that, maybe she'd be able to work on more of her basic skills too, but in our case, we cannot do that. So, we want to work on her skating and also give her a chance to test and experience something different.

Thanks for all the replies! I appeciate it.

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

If I were you, I'd ask the competition organiser how best you and your daughter can help, given that she's not actually competing this time. In my experience, they'll fall on your neck with shouts of joy, as there is always a crying need for flower-girls, runners, people staffing reception desk and any stalls, and so on.

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Mrs Redboots
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We are going through this very situation this weekend. After changing coaches a few weeks ago, we decided that dd wouldn't be competing for the rest of the year. Well, this came at the same time as our home rink sponsors it's open competition. So to support the club, my wife and I both volunteered to put in a few hours each at the registration desk and music turn-in as well as dd volunteering as a runner for the same period. We also will be showing up there in a few hours with some food for the hospitality room. The organizers were just so appreciative for the help. Although the club may have lost funds from the entry fees we would have paid, they were in desperate need of assistance. I think some parents forget that the organizers of these events are just volunteer parents, whom being officers of the club, have really no choice but to give it their all. I was astonished to see how many parents weren't able or chose not to volunteer. The organizers need to be commended for what they have been able to accomplish. We stayed another 8 hours cheering on our club and will be there all day today to do the same and help out where we can.

Are we frowned upon for not participating in the event? I don't think so. As a matter of fact, I think most others didn't even notice that she wasn't competing as they kept asking when dd will be getting on the ice.

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Supporting my daughter's dream

We hosted a big annual competition in the area that bounces around from one rink to another every year. A lot of our kids didn't compete, but I don't think anyone thought anything of it. Most of our club members were too busy running things to notice (including a lot of the kids, who were runners, or in charge of making copies, making sure the judges' room was stocked with food, etc).

When I was younger, my home club hosted an annual competition (still does but it's no longer my home club) that was a big money maker. It was freestyle, juvenile and below, and literally every kid in the area at the lower levels competed. Most of our club back then actually consisted of synchro skaters who didn't practice or compete freestyle at all, so we were not expected to compete. However, since a lot of the money raised did go toward paying for the teams' ice time, our families and pretty much every skater age 12+ was expected to help out in some way. I think the coaches actually required the skaters on the higher level teams to be there and work.

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That person who said something was probably just surprised. Just about everyone at our rink participates in the 2 competitions (ISI) our rink sponsors. The rink sponsors the Annual Ice Show and encourages everyone to participate in them by requiring 2 ISI competitions for solos and features in the show. The USFS club that we belong to at our rink is maybe a 1/3 of all the skaters that skate there. However, we do most of the volunteer work with the running of the competitions. We used to get a check from the rink from our percentage of the proceeds, but now get ice credits.

This summer we sponsored our State Championship competition - USFS. A couple people asked me how my DD did or when she was competing. She didn't compete. She had tested the day before. They weren't saying it to be mean. They were trying to be nice and show interest in my DD.

So I don't think it's bad not to skate in your home club's competition. If almost everyone competes at your home club's competition, people may be surprised by that but nothing more.

Thanks to everyone that helps out even a little on competition days. I know it's hard getting your skater ready and you really want to leave when your skater is done. By helping out for a little while, you may be allowing someone else to get to see their skater compete.

I really did not think the person who said that to me was mean. She wasn't rude and it probably was surprise on her part. I posted here because I wanted to be sure my daughter would not be "labeled" for not competing. She will be helping and so will I. We'll likely sign up for as many things as we possibly can. We contribute regularly to club activities too. I also can related to having to juggle the volunteer time around your skater's competition schedule. BTDT! It'll actually be nice to NOT do that this time! LOL Thanks for the reply.

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven