Setting up a Skating Seminar

[AgnesNitt]

So, maybe you want to set up a seminar at your rink for some reason. Bring in an olympic coach, do it for the club, have a fun party. Here is my advice.

1.Start planning 6 months in advance.

2....for a summer seminar. 'Cause the rink won't have ice free during hockey season.

3. Prol'ly for July because hockey training starts in August

4. And most people will be on vacation in the summer, so scale down your attendence expectations accordingly.

5. Get the availability of the coach in advance with her/his open days.

6. Costing is important. Does the coach have a minimum fee that you'll have to pay regardless of the hours?

7. Get permission from the skating director for the coach to teach privates on freestyle.

8. If you aren't doing this for the club, contact the club to see if they want in on the action.

9. You may find that if you're bringing in a famous coach that the local rink will have some loud, opinionated coaches who won't like bringing in an outside coach because that coach will 'steal their students'.  So yes, the rink will have the same coaches circulating the same opinions and techniques even when you're trying to bring in an International, World, or Olympic coach to bring in some new techniques and knowledge. (see below for comment)

10. Set up ice time. If you are a regular at the rink you may be able to get a discount. I got 15% and considered myself lucky.

11. Touch base with the coach as time passes.

12. Get confirmations and payment from the attendees. I didn't have to worry about this.

13. Set up private lessons for the coach and make sure the cost etc is made clear to skaters wanting privates, and that they will have to pay even if they cancel.

14. As you get close to the date, make sure the ice time is on the schedule.

15. pay the ice time the day before the seminar (or earlier depending on your rink policies)

16. When the coach shows up, hand them a completed check immediately. Include mileage (AOT, .55 a mile)

17. Be there to get the private students to the coach,

18, Make a short introduction to the skaters before you get on the ice.

19. Have a good time!

(when the coach for the seminar showed up at my rink, one of the skating dad's asked me what it was about. I told him it was a private seminar for the adult skaters at the rink, and that the Club had turned down the opportunity to have a seminar for the kid skaters....he was mad. His kids missed the opportunity to take a seminar from a World and Nationals coach because the Club and some of the coaches didn't want to do it.)

[Bill_S]

(when the coach for the seminar showed up at my rink, one of the skating dad's asked me what it was about. I told him it was a private seminar for the adult skaters at the rink, and that the Club had turned down the opportunity to have a seminar for the kid skaters....he was mad. His kids missed the opportunity to take a seminar from a World coach because the Club and some of the coaches didn't want to do it.)

Unbelievable. That's truly sad because egos got in the way.

[Query]

AgnesNitt, since you are in the DC area, many rinks in our area run such seminars themselves. In fact, several have World and Olympic coaches who teach on a year-round basis. (For example, my rink at Laurel is either about to have a special set of lessons by a major ice theater group, or has been.) They often don't put info about these special classes and seminars on their web pages - you may have to contact each rink to find out about them.

Some of those coaches have won World and/or Olympic medals, or coached someone who did. In our area, as in many major metro areas with multiple rinks, skating or coaching at "Nationals" alone, without a medal, doesn't create much of a draw, because there are so many like that.

Some students' own coaches might be offended by a student going to someone else for a lesson. I wonder if the visiting coach might want you to handle the task of contacting each of those coaches to make sure it won't cause a problem between them and their students, because they don't want ill feelings - or maybe they would want contact info for those private coaches, to check for themselves.

Not all top level coaches are ideal for lessor students, and not all good private coaches are good at group clinics. But some world class local coaches, like Alexei Kiliakov, Elena Novak, and Audrey Weisiger (and here), did great jobs at group clinics I attended. And lots of really great coaches don't have such high competitive credentials.

BTW, at some rinks, hockey tournaments are every few months, because rinks like mine organize off-season leagues. But there are lots of rinks here to shop at for ice time and policies. Make sure that the rink or club is OK for group lessons from an outside coach too.

[AgnesNitt]

Query, there are times you need to back away from 'teaching' someone about something they know. This is one of them.

[axelwylie]

I have attended some of these seminars before, and one thing I learned is that they may allow your coach to come observe (either for free or a nominal fee). My private coach was able to observe a private lesson that I took from a famous coach. It was just as beneficial for her as it was for me.

[littlerain]

I have attended some of these seminars before, and one thing I learned is that they may allow your coach to come observe (either for free or a nominal fee). My private coach was able to observe a private lesson that I took from a famous coach. It was just as beneficial for her as it was for me.

How cool!

[amy1984]

Query, there are times you need to back away from 'teaching' someone about something they know. This is one of them.

Really?  Come on.  I think the poster was trying to add to what you'd written.  Maybe this is better suited for a blog post if you don't want anyone else's opinion on it. 

[davincisop]

I would love for my rink to host an adults seminar. We have enough of them to make it happen.

One thing I've seen at my current rink vs my old rink, I've had more opportunities to take lessons with the visiting coaches at my current rink. At my old rink, the sign up sheet for lesson times with the visiting coach was already 90% filled by the time they announced there were lessons because one coach would find out from her mom who worked the front desk and just sign all her students up for it. The only open times were the random mid-morning ones where I was at work at the time.

Love your breakdown of it, Agnes. Equal parts of humor and knowledge.

[FigureSpins]

I keep suggesting an adult clinic to our Board but even the adult singles skater doesn't show much enthusiasm for the idea.  All clinic/workshop discussions focus on the younger skaters.