Number of Test Sessions per season?.

[isakswings]

I wasn't sure where to post this, so I chose this section to post my question. I am curious how often your areas have test sessions? We have quite a few rinks and clubs in our area and within an hour or so drive. Therefore, we have always had ample test sessions. Recently, we went to each club hosting a session once a year or with a competition. As far as I know, September is the only month without a test session. Anyway, the change was implemented to give our judges a break and to allow skaters to be better prepared for tests.  Now we have fuller test sessions and skaters are being bumped. From what I understand, we are LUCKY. Some people are having a hard time with this because there were months where there were 2 sessions a month. That would allow a retry to be re-skated the next month, depending on how many days fell between tests. Are we spoiled? I think I have read here that some of you only have a chance to test once or twice a year. We have never had dd test one session after the other, so the change does not bother me. However, some people are upset by the change. Since our judges are volunteers, I think we need to respect their wishes too. Any thoughts? And...again how many test sessions are available in your area?

[hopskipjump]

I think we have tests every four to 8 weeks.  We have fewer this time of year beginning late fall but starting late spring to summer at least once a month.  It gives skaters more chances to test up before regionals.

[TreSk8sAZ]

We have test sessions every 28 days at two different rinks. The exception is September, as there are no test sessions because the kids have already tested up and are preparing for Regionals. There are 3 or 4 other clubs at other rinks in town that hold test sessions throughout the year, but they don't have as many as the 2 main clubs. However, I know this is pretty rare. It comes from being in a large city and having 7 different ice rinks, each with their own club, and a number of local judges at all different levels.

[Skittl1321]

My club has had 1 test session the past couple of years but chose not to have any this year.
A club about an hour away has, I think, 1 each year.
A club about 30 minutes away has 1 each year, on occasion 2- but the extra one is often not open to the general public.
The club 2 hours away has 1 every year, but didn't hold it last year.

Tests are more plentiful with a 4 hour drive (Omaha, Chicago, Wisconsin, etc)- but always a risky venture in the winter, so not really viable- you send your money in not knowing if it will be safe to make the drive (so little snow this year, it would have probably been okay)

[isakswings]

We have test sessions every 28 days at two different rinks. The exception is September, as there are no test sessions because the kids have already tested up and are preparing for Regionals. There are 3 or 4 other clubs at other rinks in town that hold test sessions throughout the year, but they don't have as many as the 2 main clubs. However, I know this is pretty rare. It comes from being in a large city and having 7 different ice rinks, each with their own club, and a number of local judges at all different levels.

Your area sounds like ours. Our club used to host 2 a yr, as did a few other clubs but we have now dropped to one TS a yr. the reason we aren't having a TS in Sept is because the club hosting the comp that mo has one of the biggest comps in our area. It is too much for them to host both the comp and a TS. We have 6 to 7 rinks too. None more then a little over an hour away from us with most being 40 or less minutes away.

[sarahspins]

Our club has been trying to hold them every 6 weeks... so far that hasn't really happened.  Every 2-3 months seems to be average.  They've only had two "official" test sessions this membership year, with another coming up soon.  Last year I think they only had 3 or 4 test sessions - I know it prevented me from joining the club halfway through the year because they didn't have a session scheduled and didn't know when they would.  They did hold one in April and another in June, but at that point I figured it was worth waiting until the next membership year to re-join the club.

There are a LOT of clubs/rinks within a 3-4 hour drive though, so as long as you are willing to travel a little bit there are ample opportunities to test if you really need to take a test by a certain date.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if they had fewer test sessions as long as they announced the dates well in advance so they can be planned for better.  The typical pattern for our club is a test session is announced, and you have a week or less to decide if you want to test and get your application turned in.. for someone (like me) on the fence about whether or not to "aim" for the next test session, that kind of timeline doesn't really work well.

[FigureSpins]

Our Club sets the test schedule in the Spring for the upcoming season.  It's about five or six test sessions per season.  We have three other clubs within an hour's drive and they host appx. 2-3 sessions per year.  Our members rarely test at other rinks because of the extra costs of guest fees and travel.

Some skaters have tested on freestyle sessions because they needed to get a test passed before a deadline for their Synchro team.  I don't know the details, but it was a pricey option to get the deed done.

North Jersey FSC used to have a monthly test session on an early-morning freestyle - very informal and a lot of people liked it because of that.  Now, they host test sessions at multiple rinks, and it seems like it's almost monthly at each rink.  That's a lot of work to organize, but I guess there are only a few tests at each session, so it goes quickly.

[Skittl1321]

Personally, I wouldn't mind if they had fewer test sessions as long as they announced the dates well in advance so they can be planned for better.  The typical pattern for our club is a test session is announced, and you have a week or less to decide if you want to test and get your application turned in.. for someone (like me) on the fence about whether or not to "aim" for the next test session, that kind of timeline doesn't really work well.

That would drive me insane.  The nice thing is we know club X will have one in April and club Y in June.

So you can really plan and set goals to hit your test by that date.  In years past, it has always worked well for me to schedule that way- knowing what I had to do by April. (However, when you have 3 dances ready in November, it is a PITA to wait until April...kind of demoralizing.)

[CaraSkates]

My club has three a year - we discussed four but there wasn't enough interest in a November/Dec test session. We have them in March, May & August (before the regionals deadline.) Test sessions usually fill up and run from about 8am till 4pm. We work with four other clubs within 45 mins so that test sessions are offered almost every 28 days. Example - another club has Dec/Feb/April, we have March and May to fill in the gaps. I needed a test session in Jan and I had to drive an hour and a half but that is still not too bad.

Oh and at this point everyone knows that my club tries to follow a March/May/August schedule but the actual date isn't announced till the judges are confirmed so that varies. We are waiting on a judge for March so that hasn't been announced but May is already confirmed. Our biggest challenge is finding Gold/International Dance judges that aren't too far.

[fsk8r]

In the UK you enter the test and then the test session gets organised. You don't get to know the date in advance. My rink has a backlog of about 4months. Test sessions are generally about once every 2 months, however they could easily run once a month to clear the backlog. Higher level tests require double panel (lower level are just single) and those take longer to organise so the wait can be even longer, similarly there are more free tests than dance so dancers can end up waiting longer.
I don't think it's much better at the other local rinks as they're all very popular with waiting lists for test sessions.

[TreSk8sAZ]

Our members rarely test at other rinks because of the extra costs of guest fees and travel.

This made me think. There are no guest fees in any of the clubs in the state becaue they are all part of the Arizona Inter-Club Association. So you can test at whichever rink/club fits for you at the time. In our city, all 6 (7?) rinks are within 1 hour drive. There is also one 2 hours from me. We're spoiled.

[CaraSkates]

This made me think. There are no guest fees in any of the clubs in the state becaue they are all part of the Arizona Inter-Club Association. So you can test at whichever rink/club fits for you at the time. In our city, all 6 (7?) rinks are within 1 hour drive. There is also one 2 hours from me. We're spoiled.

We have something similar - five clubs in our area (all within 45-60mins of each other) have an agreement that members do not have to pay the non-member fee when testing there. This was arranged by our test chairs within the past four years - might be something for those of you with nearby clubs to think about.

[icedancer]

We have four rinks within an hour or so of each other. At the beginning of the year the state Skating Council sets the test dates - usually at one of the four rinks (in an even kind of way -) - some rinks it is easy to get ice and others it is not as easy.

There are two rinks outside of our immediate region - one is 2 hour drive and has a test session once a year at their rink.  The other rink is 5 hours away and has a test session once a year also.

If you are within the Skating Council region you do not have to pay extra to test at any of the rinks in our region.  If you go to another area, then you can test there but I believe you have to get permission and pay extra and all of that.

I doubt many states have a regional skating Council that oversees the clubs - but in New England there is New England Interstate Council which I believe also has that authority - when I lived there it seemed you could test wherever you wanted within the region.

[isakswings]

Our club has been trying to hold them every 6 weeks... so far that hasn't really happened.  Every 2-3 months seems to be average.  They've only had two "official" test sessions this membership year, with another coming up soon.  Last year I think they only had 3 or 4 test sessions - I know it prevented me from joining the club halfway through the year because they didn't have a session scheduled and didn't know when they would.  They did hold one in April and another in June, but at that point I figured it was worth waiting until the next membership year to re-join the club.

There are a LOT of clubs/rinks within a 3-4 hour drive though, so as long as you are willing to travel a little bit there are ample opportunities to test if you really need to take a test by a certain date.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if they had fewer test sessions as long as they announced the dates well in advance so they can be planned for better.  The typical pattern for our club is a test session is announced, and you have a week or less to decide if you want to test and get your application turned in.. for someone (like me) on the fence about whether or not to "aim" for the next test session, that kind of timeline doesn't really work well.

Wow. We have test sessions planned ahead annually. Our interclub board actually handles most of that. I believe clubs submit when they want to host TS, shows, comps, ect and the board will put together a calendar for all of the clubs in the interclub. I have it posted on our club bulletin board(I am our test chair). I thought all TS were planned way in advance since that is how we have always done it....unless it is an in-house session.

[isakswings]

Some skaters have tested on freestyle sessions because they needed to get a test passed before a deadline for their Synchro team.  I don't know the details, but it was a pricey option to get the deed done.

North Jersey FSC used to have a monthly test session on an early-morning freestyle - very informal and a lot of people liked it because of that.

Wow. Around here, that is not allowed. The only tests that can be done on non official TS are pre-prelim and prelim tests. Any test above that has to be done on a official TS. It is interesting to see how different people do TS.

[isakswings]

This made me think. There are no guest fees in any of the clubs in the state becaue they are all part of the Arizona Inter-Club Association. So you can test at whichever rink/club fits for you at the time. In our city, all 6 (7?) rinks are within 1 hour drive. There is also one 2 hours from me. We're spoiled.

That is how we do it around here too. The only skaters who have to pay an extra fee are skaters who belong to clubs not in our association. It is an extra 10 per test to do so.

[PinkLaces]

Our club hold test sessions 3 times per year...March, August, and November. We belong to a larger inter club council with 21 total clubs. Most of them are within 45 mins of my house, but a few are 2-2.5 hours away. There is a calendar with all the test sessions.  There are at least 5 per month. Summer months there are much more, sometimes as many as 3 per week. We have to pay the guest fee. In fact our council charges $3/test to the host club.  It goes for a really nice judges appreciation dinner in September. We also have a really large judging pool. Yes, we are spoiled.

[Skittl1321]

I don't know the details, but it was a pricey option to get the deed done.

I suppose for us there is always the option of buying private ice (or finding a dead session) and flying in 3 judges (no local ones) and having a test session whenever you want.  The club test chair would sign your paperwork, it would be the same as testing out of club as far as they are concerned.

[sarahspins]

For clubs with local judges holding a test during a freestyle is usually not as much trouble... lots of our skaters (including myself) did it last summer.

[taka]

I'm in the UK too. We have to apply (and pay our fee) to NISA directly, stating which rink we want to test at. They then forwards the test papers to the rink organiser(s). When there are enough test papers to hold a test the organiser can then set a date. Any changes of rinks are arranged by the 2 rink's organisers. Test papers once submitted are only valid for a year.

Free and Field moves
At my rink these have the same organiser and there are lots of people wanting to test these so tests end up being held every 2-3 months and are 5-6hrs long. There is sometimes a waiting list but if you don't get into one, you will the next.

Dance tests
We have a different organiser for this. Tests are arranged as soon as we meet NISA's minimum numbers rules which is usually once or twice a year. Our dance coaches try to work out between them who will need testing and when we will be likely to have enough people to hold a test. Skaters at rink ~hr away sometimes are transferred to here by their organiser in order to make up enough numbers which sometimes triggers tests earlier than expected by our coaches. We only get a couple of weeks notice unless a judge isn't local (eg for high level tests).

Some organisers across Scotland keep in touch in order to arrange things like high level tests (which need 2 judges) in a block, so an extra judge can be brought in from down south to travel round the rinks over a couple of days. (This happened in December here.)

We've had 4 tests since summer 2011 when I started dance, though really only 3 of those were "ours". The latest one was held here because a rink ~3hrs north had to cancel their test date and they couldn't get ice time in time for the kids to pass their levels so they could meet the Solo dance series criteria. We had ice time! (The series starts early March). It was held 29 days after our December test so one of our skaters could join in too and re-take the test she needed for it too!

Who knows when our next dance test will be! 

[isakswings]

For clubs with local judges holding a test during a freestyle is usually not as much trouble... lots of our skaters (including myself) did it last summer.

Out inter-club association would allow that for tests requiring only one judge but beyond that, skaters have to test on a regular session. Do they allow it for tests requiring 3 judges? Just curious how other regions do things.

Edited to add... We have 3 judges in our own club and many in our area. I had an adult test last mo on club ice, which was fine since it was the pre bronze tests.

[isakswings]

I'm in the UK too. We have to apply (and pay our fee) to NISA directly, stating which rink we want to test at. They then forwards the test papers to the rink organiser(s). When there are enough test papers to hold a test the organiser can then set a date. Any changes of rinks are arranged by the 2 rink's organisers. Test papers once submitted are only valid for a year.

Free and Field moves
At my rink these have the same organiser and there are lots of people wanting to test these so tests end up being held every 2-3 months and are 5-6hrs long. There is sometimes a waiting list but if you don't get into one, you will the next.

Dance tests
We have a different organiser for this. Tests are arranged as soon as we meet NISA's minimum numbers rules which is usually once or twice a year. Our dance coaches try to work out between them who will need testing and when we will be likely to have enough people to hold a test. Skaters at rink ~hr away sometimes are transferred to here by their organiser in order to make up enough numbers which sometimes triggers tests earlier than expected by our coaches. We only get a couple of weeks notice unless a judge isn't local (eg for high level tests).

Some organisers across Scotland keep in touch in order to arrange things like high level tests (which need 2 judges) in a block, so an extra judge can be brought in from down south to travel round the rinks over a couple of days. (This happened in December here.)

We've had 4 tests since summer 2011 when I started dance, though really only 3 of those were "ours". The latest one was held here because a rink ~3hrs north had to cancel their test date and they couldn't get ice time in time for the kids to pass their levels so they could meet the Solo dance series criteria. We had ice time! (The series starts early March). It was held 29 days after our December test so one of our skaters could join in too and re-take the test she needed for it too!

Who knows when our next dance test will be! 

Thanks for sharing! Interesting!

[VAsk8r]

Our club had been doing one about once a year. We missed a couple of years for a number of reasons (one year, the Zamboni broke the morning of the session), and now we're back on with trying to do it every year. There's another club an hour away that has maybe two a year, and one two hours away that might have 1-2 every year.

There are some other clubs within about a 2-hour drive that probably also have them a couple of times a year, but I don't hear about those as much.

Suffice to say, if you want to test, you might have to wait awhile. Convos between skaters and coaches about when to test usually go something like, "Club X is having one in six weeks, but that's on a Wednesday. Otherwise, I heard Club Y is talking about maybe doing one in three months."

I'm told finding nearby judges who are available is a big challenge.

[sarahspins]

Do they allow it for tests requiring 3 judges? Just curious how other regions do things.

I know we had at least one skater test juvenile free at the tail end of a freestyle (so everyone cleared out for them) because they needed the test in time for regionals, but it's hard to tell from the passed tests list who tested that way or who may have simply tested with another club and passed their test that way.