Christmas Gifts and Coaches

[hopskipjump]

What do you give your coach(es) for the holidays (male/female)?  What price range do you stick with?  If you also take group lessons do you give those coaches a gift?

[AgnesNitt]

I give my coach a cash gift of two week's lessons. In a nice card.
I've read elsewhere that one week is the norm.

I have a male coach 30 years younger than I am. I figure he'll be happier with cash. Although booze might be acceptable.

[davincisop]

I gave my coach a Starbucks card for Xmas last year bc we do morning lessons and she always brings coffee.

[jjane45]

If you also take group lessons do you give those coaches a gift?

Yes, if I befriend and highly respect the group lesson coach. Small list so far as my group lessons tend to have the same coaches. Not cash gifts though, something cute along with card.

I've always wondered about considerate coaching-related small gifts. Anyone used these adorable HEART SHAPE reusable hand warmer / heat pack? Reactivate by immersing in boiling water or (for some models) microwave!!

[kiwiskater]

I'm in LTS, I just stick to a card... for each coach I skate with or used to be with & still have a personal connection to. It doesn't break the bank & doesn't bring up those questions on price or suitability...

[AgnesNitt]

My rink changes LTS coaches every session. I don't gift them. A card is a nice gesture. Or maybe homemade cookies she/he can share.

[turnip]

I always get my coach a gift, thermal mugs (with skaters on) are popular, have given them to a couple of different coaches (I'm friends with a few). Also foot pampering stuff since they spend so long in skates. Both private coaches i've had have been obsessed with skating, so happy with any skating related stuff. it sounds odd, but some coaches aren't obsessed with everything figure skating related, so might get bored of the same stuff.

Because we're friends, I'd never give cash. Maybe a voucher, but i prefer to chose something myself.

And I know anything kids have made is extra special!

I'm currently staying with a friend who's a coach, and every day she seems to get given something or other! YEsterday it was halloween skeleton gloves, donuts and a toffee apple!

[FigureSpins]

From my side of the fence:

Group lessons - a card or note is wonderful, especially if it's a bit sentimental.  I still carry a Valentine's Day card hand-drawn for me by a group lesson student several years ago.  It was unexpected and very sweet.

Coffee Mugs - Make sure the mug can fit on the rink wall.  Some are very tall and top-heavy, so they get knocked over very easily.  (A student gave me a beautiful Thermos-brand mug.  I had to mop up four times during that first day of use.)

Gift Cards - I was going to say to make sure your recipient likes the chain, but I guess there's something for everyone at most places, right?  I don't like Starbucks' coffee (Dunkin' Donuts is my fav) but I do like Starbucks' bakery items. 

My DDs' coach is selfless: she spends our cash gifts on my kids.  I know she likes soups, so I think that will be part of our gift this year.

Other nice gifts I've received in the past:
. Boxed candies or homemade cookies/treats.
. Bottle of wine, that we served to guests at Christmas.  I also used it for cooking on New Year's Eve since we don't drink.
. Framed photos of my students or DDs from shows and competitions.
. Warm fleece gloves to match my coaching jacket.
. Monogrammed/"#1 Coach" skate drying towels.
. Ornaments or trinkets with penguins or skaters or penguins skating on them.
. Amazon gift card because I buy a lot of training DVDs, tools, etc. to assist my skaters.

 ...along those lines, gift subscriptions to sk8strong.com, icoachskating.com, icenetwork.com, or skatepsa.com/PSA-TV would probably be appreciated, if the coach is of the mind to use them.

[AgnesNitt]

I think it helps to know your coach's situation. My coach has a second job. Many coaches do. I might give a small gift, but if someone is trying to keep body and soul together, a bonus is good.

[Skittl1321]

I've always done top shelf booze for college age coaches, but my new one is only 20. He shows up with Starbucks all the time, so I guess gift card, but I'm not even sure where a starbucks is...

[nicklaszlo]

Obligatory:

http://xan-boni.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-to-get-coach-for-christmas.html

[kiwiskater]

My rink changes LTS coaches every session. I don't gift them. A card is a nice gesture. Or maybe homemade cookies she/he can share.

I've had only 3 coaches in my soon to be 5 terms of LTS, the same people tend to continue to coach on that same day but they tend to move around on the levels a bit (except the top group who usually get the same coach). LOL it doesn't have to be Xmas for the food to come out - my brother did some baking recently and posted it on FB, joke from the coach (who he's friends with on FB) that he had to bring some down to the rink, so a month or so later when he made the next batch of muffins, a few were saved and brought along to the lesson

[jjane45]

Alright I did it. Portable voice amplifier is Coach's early Christmas gift, hope it makes the last group number rehearsal. I felt terrible when he had to raise voice BADLY because students could not hear him from 5 feet away. I think it will benefit the lessons in general too IF he decides to use it. Any coach out there used amplifiers on ice?

[LilJen]

Gift cards. Both my coaches are Starbucks fans; plus I figure a gift card that's enough for a nice dinner out or a treat for oneself (Bath and Body Works, for example [both my coaches are women]). Or an iTunes card if your coach likes that. Or the prepaid Visa card that can be used anywhere.

[Skate@Delaware]

Alright I did it. Portable voice amplifier is Coach's early Christmas gift, hope it makes the last group number rehearsal. I felt terrible when he had to raise voice BADLY because students could not hear him from 5 feet away. I think it will benefit the lessons in general too IF he decides to use it. Any coach out there used amplifiers on ice?

once, for a gag gift, we got the rink director a bullhorn (think Sue Sylvester from Glee)...it was HILARIOUS!!! She used it during parades. She never had to use it for show practices-when the crowd was quiet, she would talk softer. If you missed something it was your fault.

I've no idea what to get my coach (new coach) for a gift. She is young and very classy. I like the iTunes gift card idea.

[karne]

I remember getting worked up about this last year - it was my first skating Christmas and I'd only been with my coach two months, and I didn't know what the protocol was. (This is the sort of thing that those "figure skating 101" guides DON'T mention.)

In the end I vowed I'd never get her chocolate - simply because it seemed that every other student was giving her chocolate! I got her a foot-pampering set instead, my logic being that she spent a large proportion of her day on her feet wearing skates. She loved it.

(I did break the chocolate vow this year - on the first anniversary of my first lesson. I gave her a box for what I called my "skating-versary"!)

Now I'm under the pump - how can I match last year's gift? 

[Bunny Hop]

The year before we left the UK (where we already had an inkling we'd be leaving) both coaches got cross stitched pictures of their favourite skaters (information husband teased from them months earlier). That was because we really appreciated all they'd done for us, and wanted to do something special. Normally, however, we do cards and chocolates, or something else small.

As I worked on them for months, may as well show them off...

[Skittl1321]

Wow. Those are amazing.

In the end, this year I went with Starbucks gift card and an appliqued skate blade towel... Has an ice skate and his name. Wish I took a picture.

[hopskipjump]

Those are REALLY amazing.  You did beautiful work!

[AgnesNitt]

Wow. Those are amazing.

In the end, this year I went with Starbucks gift card and an appliqued skate blade towel... Has an ice skate and his name. Wish I took a picture.

I gave coach a walloping big bonus as a thank you for getting me through Dutch Waltz. For  Christmas, I'm getting him a Starbucks card in a christmas card. Being a guy, he'll throw the christmas card away. It won't make it out of the locker room. Men, no sense of tradition.

[hopskipjump]

I'm embroidering (with dd) skate towels for her coaches.  They are getting gift cards as well, but we discovered the microfiber towels and love them and thought they should have one.  They really do get skates dry faster!

[turnip]

Oh my god, those cross stitch pictures are AMAZING!!!! Where on earth did you get the pattern?

[Bunny Hop]

Oh my god, those cross stitch pictures are AMAZING!!!! Where on earth did you get the pattern?

I used computer software that translates photos into cross stitch charts. You enter the dimensions/thread count that you need, and which brand of embroidery floss you wish to use, upload the photo, and it creates the pattern and tells you the thread colours.

And thanks for everyone's kind words as well!

[karne]

I ended up getting my coach two tubs of body butter - a special moisturising one, one lavender, one rose petal with vitamin E. She loved them. She likes creams and things. Jackpot! 

[SynchKat]

I got my son's learn to skate coaches chocolates.  I'll get them something at the end of the session too.  I used to teach and I always liked getting gifts (well I do in general) but if certainly makes you feel appreciated when you get anything, even a chocolate bar or coffee.

For our synchro coach we started a tradition of skipping Christmas and getting something big at the end of the year.  I took up a collection last year and got a ton for our coach so I know she likes candy and chocolate so I got a big gift basket of that and then a Visa cheque card and a gift certificate for a store I know she loves.  We also had enough money to get her mom a cowbell to ring at competitions. 

Really any recognition is thoughtful and appreciated I think.  I've noticed at the club where we skate we were the only family giving gifts.  Could be because I've been there, done that and I do kind of know the skating coaches but as I said it's nice just to know you are appreciated.