Registered MIF Rating

[CoachPA]

I am just beginning to seriously consider taking my oral exam for a Registered MIF Rating (RM), and I am seeking the advice and guidance of those of you who may have already taken this exam or have experience with taking any oral exam.

I have the opportunity to talk with one of my first coaches who is triple-master rated and welcomed me to use her as a mentor in preparing; however, I'd also like to network and get some advice from those of you who have experience with oral ratings at any level. After all, you can never have too much of a good thing!

My first coach who I spoke with said that I'd be fine with ratings and that they aren't as scary as what everyone says. A second coach, who is Senior rated in freestyle and MIF, told me the complete opposite: that the examiners are intimidating and will know right off the bat if you haven't had experience teaching a particular level; that ratings are about as much fun as going to the gyno; that you need to know what you teach (technique), why you teach it, common errors, etc.; that anything "odd" you say will give them an opportunity to jump on you; and basically, that any pride or sensitivity you have will go right out the window after an exam. She offered to help me prepare, and I will certainly take up her offer, but she also sort of scared the crap out of me. I don't know maybe she just had some bad experiences...ratings can't be that bad, right?

A brief background: I have been coaching roughly 9 years with experience in coaching moves in the field, freestyle, group lessons (ISI), ice dance, and some synchronized skating (beginner-level and open collegiate level).

In January 2009, I took and passed my Basic Accreditation exam and recently passed my First Aid for Coaches Exam. In addition, I just attended my first PSA Nationwide Seminar two weekends ago. I am a full member of the PSA, USFS, and ISI.

I have been skating for about 15 years with a background in USFS testing and competitions. I have my Gold in Senior MIF, and I am currently working on my Gold dances (two left until I get my second USFS Gold medal), International dances (just starting), and Novice free skate. I also spent two years skating for my university's open collegiate synchronized skating team.

Ideally, I would like to take my Registered MIF rating at the 2010 Conference in Colorado. That gives me roughly seven months to prepare. If that doesn't pan out, I'll take my oral at one of the oral rating sites, hopefully before the oral exams switch to include the new/revised MIF at the 2011 Conference. Granted, I need to take the Registered Sports Science and Medicine exam first, but I'm on my way having already ordered the Sports Science and Medicine study guide and the sample questions for the MIF rating exams.

What I'd like to know is:
- Is 7 months enough time to prepare for an oral exam?
- Does PACE help? Seminars?
- What is the best advice you can provide in preparing?
- Is there anyone willing to do e-mail correspondence with me to ask me questions pertaining to the Registered MIF rating and check my answers?

I'm sure I'll have many more questions as time goes by, but if anyone can start by helping me from this point, I'd greatly appreciate it!

[RachelSk8er]

I think you've got more than enough experience to succeed on the exam.

I don't have any moves ratings, but I can speak from general experience. I did my registered synchro after much less coaching experience (I had 13 yrs of skating experience including 5 at senior, always like helping out with our beginner/juvenile teams when I was a teenager, my collegiate team was 100% student-run and I ran a lot of the practices, worked on choreography, etc, and had one "official" year as the coach at the open junior and pre-juvenile levels).

To prepare, I didn't really "do" anything other than coaching. I did attend one PSA conference about 6 months prior (the one in conjunction with the annual synchro training festival, I took the basic exam there) for general coaching education. I think I signed up for the exam a few weeks before I took it. (I studied more for the sports medicine exam, but that was also REALLY easy, straight from the guide w/no surprises.)

I think the experience really depends on the panel you have. The oral exam for me was really a pleasant experience, I was never really nervous. I did it at an oral rating site. I already knew the coaches on my panel, it was really just a relaxed conversation about synchro. They asked questions which I felt were pretty basic/general, especially given that I had coached at the collegiate/open junior levels. (Someone who only worked with beginner/prelim could have passed.) This exam required us to show a video of my coaching/choreography and I had to explain the process I used to get the team from just a bunch of skaters to a team performing at the point they were at in the video (which was a video from a competition toward the end of the season), and they asked me to demonstrate various things or explan how I'd correct various issues (which is also stuff you learn from skating). Their ONLY criticism was on a regional terminology issue (they asked me to demonstrate a certain hold and they called it something different that what I had always heard it referred to at the clubs I skated at).

I know a lot of coaches who passed the first moves oral exam or two and said it wasn't that bad at all.

I think the level of competency will be similar to what I saw with the registered synchro--they aren't going to expect everyone to have the knowledge of a coach who works mainly with high level skaters, that expectation builds with the level of rating your're going for. I think this will be more geared toward lower level moves and more general issues (teaching how to check a 3 turn, how to teach/correct stroking, etc).