Powerful clubs ?

[luv2lutz]

I was having an interesting conversation with someone today about clubs around the country and thought this may be an interesting topic. Who are the most powerful clubs in respect of sending skaters to Nationals, and having influential judges etc. Broadmoor would be an obvious choice.

[adrianchew]

I believe DSC (Detroit Skating Club) and UDFSC (University of Delaware Figure Skating Club) are definite powerhouses too.

[Trillian]

The amount of power a club has varies depending on the type of event. Some clubs might be pretty influential within a given region or even section, but not so much at the national level. As for why, it has a lot to do with how many prominent judges and officials belong to the club, since there's always a certain degree of politicking involved when a VIP wants to bring prestige to their club. As a New Englander I can tell you that the SC of Boston wields easily the most influence in this region (sorry, other clubs) and a fair amount nationally. A few others, particularly the Charter Oak FSC (CT) and New England FSC (MA) are very prominent locally but aren't quite as big a deal at the national level as the SCOB.

[A.H.Black]

If you are talking about sheer numbers of Nationals competitors, I think U of Del would have the most.

Club power seems to eb and flo with the fortunes of their coaches. Sometimes clubs (such as Detroit) increase their visibility a great deal when the management makes a decision to aggresively seek out top coaches and build programs. Other's, (such as Boston and Broadmoor) have a distinquished history and coaches and skaters are attracted there by that reputation.

[Arsenette]

They go back and forth.. some that were absolutely huge a few years back are practical ghost towns now..

[what?meworry?]

case in point, indiana/world skating academy. kelly and donnie are fine coaches but no one trains there anymore.

[luv2lutz]

good point about Indiana World Academy.

I would put DuPage Club into the HUGE category, but they don't really send many off to Nationals. they do have a few good judges, but not sure that they are really that influential.

[pattern99]

I'd just like to point out the fact that SCNY has 3 olympic champs to it's name! But in more recent years, definately Udel...

For now, go scny! lol!
*patt99*

[what?meworry?]

truth is, i think the old fashioned consept of "club" in figure skating is on its way out.

a club used to be able to provide an environment for development of all levels of skaters with a roster of quality coaches and club ice for them to practice. but it was expensive. that is to say, for the elitists with wealth to spend, and also for the established "elite" who frequently worked with one of the top coaches affiliated with the club.

today, more and more rinks have ice time available for all levels of skaters in all disciplines. smart rinks attract elite skaters with free ice. they get an elite-level coach and some high level skaters and procede to build a money-making program of up and coming skaters along with other quality coaches.

i think clubs need to redefine themselves within the usfsa structure. guidence, education of skaters, parents, and developement of coaches and judges regarding the competitive world. social events built around skating for all ages, etc., learn to skate and other outreach programs to develop tomorrows skaters are also valuable jobs for clubs.

i agree that the "power" is pretty well spread out over the country and not concentrated any longer in a few clubs. and because of that new thinking is needed regarding the functions of the clubs.

[Arsenette]

Case in point about the power of the old club system.. how many skaters actually SKATE at the skating club they supposedly represent? Many choose clubs so that it looks next to their name or they are in a better skating region.. but few actually skate in that region or for that club on their club ice.

[Spider68]

Good point by last two posters: Most skaters don't skate at the club rink they are members of. Look at the skaters that list Los Angeles FSC as their affiliation...and let's not forget Sasha Cohen. She lives and trains back East, but her loyalty is with the Orange County FSC.

I think the "power" is more at the regional level where the judges tend to be from the local powerhouse clubs. In SWP, it would be divided between LAFSC and AYFSC with a slight nod to All Year with it's younger stable of judges. These judges can influence who goes on to sectionals. Face it, no matter what, I believe that when it comes time to assign the ordinals, club loyalty could make the difference between a "3" and "4"...but that's another whole different thread! :lol:

[what?meworry?]

i'm shocked! shocked! to hear that judges would give an edge to their home club skater!

really, though, do you think judges would risk their credibility amongst their own ranks. if they mark too far out of line they are required to write a justification. if they do it too often, they could have problems with their peers and usfsa judging heirachy.

[Arsenette]

Heck.. spend some time in the Regional level and you see ordinals out of Neptune! :lol: I doubt they would care if anyone thought their scores were out of line. I don't think it rampant but Spider68 was right where it could mean 3 or 4 or even better.. out of the top 4 (to move to sectionals).

[Mazurka Girl]

Originally posted by Arsenette
Case in point about the power of the old club system.. how many skaters actually SKATE at the skating club they supposedly represent? Many choose clubs so that it looks next to their name or they are in a better skating region.. but few actually skate in that region or for that club on their club ice.
Actually, most USFSA skaters are still members of clubs in their area. Although there is a lot of switching around by some, it's noticed mostly at the regional comp level, but the total number who actually do it does not constitute anywhere near the majority of USFSA members. Also in larger metropolitan areas, clubs often have ice at more than one rink. A club in my area has ice contracted at 6 rinks, & even most the smaller clubs use 2, sometimes 3 rinks.

I would say today it's no longer as much about which coaches are teaching with your club, because many coaches teach at more than one club & rink. My feeling is that it's more about the level of USFSA committee/council involvement, the affiliated judges as previously stated, number of active delegates, & willingness & manpower availability to host some of the qualifying & larger USFSA events.

[what?meworry?]

hosting of competitions is really important but many of the hosting areas have associations of multiple clubs that handle that part of it. i believe nationals is being hosted by both dallas fsc and lone star fsc in cooperation.

[SkateGuard]

Originally posted by Mazurka Girl
Also in larger metropolitan areas, clubs often have ice at more than one rink. A club in my area has ice contracted at 6 rinks, & even most the smaller clubs use 2, sometimes 3 rinks.

And many rinks are affiliated with multiple clubs. I skate at a rink with members of DuPage, Chicago, Wagon Wheel, and Skokie Valley--I never know which club a skater belongs to.

Here, some of it is synch-related. There are skaters who have moved from Wagon Wheel to Chicago because they left the Starlets to join the Chicago Jazz. The Starlights is a new program out of Skokie Valley. So if someone doesn't make the Jazz, for example, she might make the Starlights and switch clubs.

BTW DuPage is a huge club, with skaters from Vernon Hills (about 1hr north of Chicago) to Naperville (about 1 hour west of Chicago). I think the bulk of non-synch skaters belong to DuPage in the Chicago metro area; that's why there are so many at UGL's.

Erin

[skateflo]

I will add one more component - money.

Some clubs are very supportive of their competitive skaters, i.e., paying their registration fees to major events, hold fund raisers to help the more advanced skaters with their expenses, etc. And some clubs have significant trophies to be won at their home club, which garners some prestige and sometimes money as well.....

Skaters have been known to change club affilitation just for the money package, or stay with a supportive one while training at a different rink with more elite coaches.

Clubs do like to boast that their club is the home club of so-and-so in hopes of attracting more members.

Since most skaters got their basic foundation at one club, I would like to see these skaters give recognition to their original coaches instead of always hearing about their elite coaches. Without the strong foundation, the elite coach would not have anything to work with.

In the new edition of the Sourcebook, Alice Berman lists major training centers:
CA 4 CO 1 CT 2 Del 1 MA 3 MI 2
NJ 1 NY 2 OH 1 VA 1
There may be subtle changes since this went to the printers..... but these training centers get skaters from all over and the skaters usually keep their local club status. Remember they have to compete at the regional level before national or until they meet other qualifications per the USFSA rulebook.