Why Join a Figure Skating Club?

[FigureSpins]

The "Growing Figure Skating" and "Small Rink" topics made me wonder why people do or don't join figure skating clubs.  Many clubs cannot offer freestyle sessions for a variety of reasons and it makes me sad because there's a loss of comraderie and frankly, there's strength in numbers.  If enough people join a club and skate on that ice, it can be protected from turning into a hockey rental.

Someone commented "It would be nice if there was an evening freestyle for adults since Coffee Club is only during the day when I am at work."  I asked a first-time club parent if they were going to attend this weekend's Club meeting and it hadn't even been considered because they thought it was only for the high-level skaters who had been members for a long time. 

I was lucky to be in a club that had involved members and several ice sessions each week.  I wish I knew what their secret was to gaining and retaining.  I was also involved in two clubs that folded, which is also sad.

[FigureSpins]

I'll start the conversation with the elephant in the room: MONEY and ICE TIME

PRO:  Clubs that already have committed members can afford to pay for ice time up front, then collect payment from the members via dues.

CON:  Clubs that are just starting out usually don't have money in the bank to rent ice, so they lose comraderie by scattering skaters across sessions.


STRATEGIES:
. Have a potluck several times during the season, to catch up with each other and congratulate skaters on their achievements.
. Host events that are fun fundraisers for the Club, like organizing an Easter Egg hunt for little kids. (Skaters & Parents volunteer)

. Estimate what it would cost for the Club to rent ice once a month throughout the season for a members-only practice.
. Compare to the cost of the rink-run freestyle.
. Whichever is less, go with it and send out reminders the week before via email.

. Set up a social networking page and invite members to brag a little bit and share their spirit with a newsletter.

[jjane45]

Great topic! My rink does not have a club. Everything is rink-run from ISI lessons to freestyle sessions. From a socializing aspect I bet many adult skaters would like to hang out together, we already do it on adult freestyle sessions, adult classes, and adult numbers in our two ice shows. I am yet to find out what club membership has to offer for a recreational adult skater in such scenario.

[sarahspins]

I'm not a member of our local club and honestly I probably won't join until I want to test - mainly because it's expensive (nearly $200 a year) and there's only one club ice session a week... at a time I can't possibly attend, so there's little reason for me to join at this point.

I learned to skate at a rink that was ISI oriented, and the local skating club was really just for "serious" skaters.. things have changed a bit now with the two rinks we have both doing USFSA basic skills, so I think more skaters are pushed towards joining the club than before, but as a currently non-testing and non-competitive skater, there really doesn't seem to be much reason to join... if and when I need to, I will, but I may just join USFSA individually at that point, as it's less than half the cost of the local club membership.

I am lucky that our rinks offer adult sessions 4 days a week... and I usually skate 2 or 3 of those (along with one or two less-popular public sessions... so I don't feel like I'm missing out on any "social time" with other adult skaters by not being a club member.

[jjane45]

Bumping up an old thread. If not for tests / competitions, would you still be a member of your current USFS club?

[VAsk8r]

Our club can only buy an hour of ice a week for freestyle, and we lose tons of money on it. It was impossible to find a time that worked for very many skaters. For many, the rink is in the opposite direction of school, and the elementary school starts around 8. There's also a good number of people who don't want young/lower level skaters on that ice because they feel it's the only time they can work on dances or higher level moves.

We buy the ice largely because the owner and manager of our rink has made it clear that the club must be financially invested in the rink, or we will lose the freestyle times they give us.

So, to answer the original question, I join my club mainly to support figure skating in our relatively small town and small rink. We will likely not host a competition until next year (the last one was about 13 months ago), and we may not host a test session, either. We don't have enough active members, and there are enough other clubs within 1-2 hours driving distance that do offer comps and tests that we don't feel a void.

But if not for the club and the support we get from our president (a coach) and our rink's skating director, we wouldn't have freestyle, we wouldn't have as many students transitioning from Learn to Skate into figure skating, and we eventually wouldn't have any coaches. So I'm up for an officer position in my club (shouldn't have too much trouble winning since I'm the only one running for that office), and I would never dream of not renewing my membership.

The full membership is $75 for adults, and it's $60 for kids but a parent has to join as an associate member for $25. I think Basic Skills memberships are $30, and then there's a "friend of the club" option for $15 that doesn't make you a USFS member but gets you our freestyle session discounts (club members get $1 per hour off rink and freestyle ice) and you can participate in our exhibitions, parties and other activities.

[Clarice]

Yes, I would definitely still be a member of my club, even if I weren't testing/competing.  Clubs make the tests and competitions possible.  I think that the individual member option should only be exercised by those who cannot join a local club (as opposed to those who choose not to join a local club).  On the other hand, I think clubs should regularly reevaluate their fee structures and volunteer requirements to make sure that they are not making it too difficult for people to join.

Edited to add:  I guess I've strayed from jjane's original question.  My answer sort of assumes that the individual member is testing and competing.  If they're not, I guess I don't feel quite as strongly about it, although I myself would still choose to belong to my club.

[karne]

Why haven't I joined a club?

Pretty easy.

We don't have any. 

[jjane45]

OK guess it sort of relates to the thread... For testing purposes, I can choose between two USFS clubs, one is closer to me and cheaper in both introductory membership fees (by $20) and testing fees (by $5-15 per test).

The drawback is they have tests "only" quarterly, compared to the other club's monthly tests. Coach thinks the cheaper club will work just fine. Guess it depends on how many tests I realistically expect to take / retake.

Being closer to me (it's at my old rink), I may even benefit from the cheaper club's "perks", if any. (ETA: there isn't any, as anticipated. The only club ice offered is a dance ice that I have schedule conflict with, and more expensive than what I could get from my home rink)

[turnip]

My rink has two clubs, each has an hour session one weekend morning and puts on a gala every summer and a show at the outdoor rink in the winter. Patch ice, skate uk lessons and the christmas show are not done through either of the clubs.

PROs
- £5-£6 for an hour group lesson, including ice plus £20-£25 annual membership fee
- 25% of NISA membership
- meeting other skates (both clubs have decent numbers of adult skaters)
- initially it was a chance to experience the coaching style of several different coaches. Although I now rely on private lessons, it can still be useful to have a different view on something
- Chance to do a variety of different activities, including being silly sometimes

CONs
- Early on a weekend morning
- Don't know in advance what we're going to do or who will be the coach
- Can be chaotic when it's busy, as there are lots of skaters on the ice with a wide range of abilities

[taka]

My rink club holds an exhibition (anyone can enter - all levels... from beginners doing sculling, drags & 2 foot spins, all the way up to senior level!), skateUK competitions several times a year (for members & non members) and closed competition once a year (club members only). We also have silly games & costume days at Christmas / Halloween / Easter.

Patch ice is organised through the skating school rather than the club. Club costs £25/yr to join + £4.50 /week entry to our only session (1hr 45min).

Pros
- Spending time with my skating friends. It's one of the rare times we're on the ice at the same time anymore!
- 2 x 15 min dance intervals.
- 2x30 min lessons on a coned off bits of the rink included in the entry cost (1 aimed at skate UK level, 1 dance) I do the dance one.
- Club members can get a key to the club changing room. No more changing in the evily decorated loos after patch! Club room lockers = free which saves hiring one from the rink at a similar cost to the yearly club fee.

Cons
- Insanely busy. 50 skaters is the average I think! (half adults, half kids)
- simpler forward dances in the dance interval need emergency stops on a regular basis so you don't run people over as all abilities of skaters try them!
- Practicing anything that takes up a bit of room means you have to take it in turns to use the space... Means you get an audience praticing small jumps & spins etc and no chance of camel spins, spirals or fast entries to jumps unless you want to kill someone.
- All the coaches have to be in for the SkateUK lessons straight afterwards so they all coach this session too. (We have a dozen or so coaches!) Lots of lessons to try and avoid getting in the way of...

Both Pro and con!
- Drop in SkateUK lessons on straight after club so lots of people watching the last dance interval. Nice ego boost when it goes well... not so good when it goes horribly wrong in front of LOTS of people! 

[TreSk8sAZ]

Bumping up an old thread. If not for tests / competitions, would you still be a member of your current USFS club?

Well, as I'm just coming back from recovering from an injury for 3 years, I have a unique perspective. While I was injured, I dropped my club membership because I got absolutely no benefit from paying money while I wasn't skating. However, I did volunteer at the competitions and such even though I wasn't a club member to help out. Even though I've begun again, I won't join until July 1 as to get in at the beginning of the new season so I can test an compete. So no, I generally would not be a member of ANY club if not for the tests/competitions.

We have, I believe, 5-6 clubs in our metropolitan area. There is one with over 400 members, and the others are smaller. None of them have weekly club ice, all of the freestyles in all of the rinks are run by the rinks. Same with the Learn to Skate. The reason to join is the support you get and the comraderie with the other skaters, plus the ability to compete and test. While there is some club ice at times (maybe quarterly, at most), it isn't consistent, certainly. However, most of the clubs are at one individual rink (that's why 5-6 clubs, there are like 7 rinks in my area) so you get to know and skate with your club members often. This doesn't mean that people from different clubs don't skate at these rinks, just that the majority are in the same club at each rink.

[Adultsk8r509]

My rink has a club which I have not joined yet.  At 52, I don't really want to be out there among the 7-15 year olds.  I have heard that their FS sessions in the late afternoon can have up to 22 skaters.  I had to go to the rink yesterday to drop off my test application before the deadline and there were only 5-6 kids out there.  They were all skating with their Lilac Figure Skating Club jackets on and skating shorts!!!  My rink is freezing cold.  I can't imagine practicing in those shorts.  (not that you have to), but it made me laugh.  Back in my day we practiced in skating skirts and wrap around sweaters that tie in the back (ballet sweaters).

As far as cost goes... the annual membership fee for our club is just $100 which is less than an individual membership to USFSA at $120.  Membership at our club includes membership to USFSA.
So next year I will join the club for that reason.  Also when I test at my clubs test sessions I won't have to pay an extra $20 for being a non-club member.

However I will continue to skate primarily on the public session.  Because I am retired, I can skate during the morning public session from 11:15 to 12:45 when during school periods is empty.  Sometimes completely.... I have skated many days with 1-2 other skaters who eventually leave the ice and I end up with private ice... and I can buy an annual public session pass for $250 and skate as much as I want on publics.  The club ice time sells monthly cards which range in price depending on your test level starting at $95 a month for new members to $115 after Adult Bronze, $115 after Adult Silver and $195 after you pass Adult Gold free skates.  I can't see myself spending that kind of money to skate.  Frankly I don't know how other parents can afford it for their kids.  Skating has always been expensive, but nowadays it's really expensive.  That's just ice time not including coaching, training, boots and blades and sharpenings, skate bags, practice, test and competition dresses which ... have no ceiling on cost.  Coaching at my rink is also very reasonable.  Rates vary, but at my coaches fees are $1 a minute. 

I probably shouldn't let the cat out of the bag... everyone will move to Spokane WA!  Come one, come all... prepare to be very cold!  Last month I took a trip to California to visit family.  I skated at 3 different rinks, all of which were at least 10-15 degrees warmer.  (but the ice was softer)

[jjane45]

You join a skating club to find out the home address and phone number of your fellow skaters...

I am not kidding! My club apparently sends out member directory to new members and it includes name, USFS#, phone number, address, and email. I immediately requested not to include my address and phone number and the membership chair consented.

[Rachelsk8s]

You join a skating club to find out the home address and phone number of your fellow skaters...

I am not kidding! My club apparently sends out member directory to new members and it includes name, USFS#, phone number, address, and email. I immediately requested not to include my address and phone number and the membership chair consented.

Hmmm that's interesting.  I'm really not even sure what the club's do around here with sending out member's information, they might.  Since I returned to skating, I have not joined a club.  I have continued to remain an individual member.  The club's around here cost a lot of $$, which include the membership fees, but its more than an individual membership.  Plus members, including adults, need to volunteer X amount of hours per year or pay a certain fee, most clubs I've seen its about $100 or so.  Its not that I don't want to be part of the community, but its hard for me to volunteer during the season, I work full time, teach LTS about 4 times a week plus I skate on top of that 4-5 times per week.  I don't have enough time in the day lol There is one club however that doesn't require adults to volunteer, however they highly recommend it...I've been thinking about joining this one.  It would be nice to be part of a club

[Live2Sk8]

My club is very protective of member information.  They use blindcopy for email addresses whenever a club communication is sent and they do not provide or publish a member directory.  My previous club sent out a directory with the same info mentioned by jjane45 but they gave you an opportunity to hide any or all of the information before they published it.   

[VAsk8r]

I am not kidding! My club apparently sends out member directory to new members and it includes name, USFS#, phone number, address, and email. I immediately requested not to include my address and phone number and the membership chair consented.

This isn't as odd as you might think; my dad's church does the same thing, and it has way more members than most skating clubs. Quite a bit of this info can be found on the internet.

With that said, my club does not send out a member directory. As an officer, I do have a copy of our roster with all this information, but I've been given strict instructions to always blind copy everyone on emails and keep the roster in strict confidence. We do have voluntary sign-up lists for things like carpooling that are open to all who sign up.

[PinkLaces]

Our club has a membership directory, but you can opt out of it on the membership form.  It only includes - names, city, e-mail, and phone number.  For the kids, they include parents' names - this was requested so that parents could set up carpools (especially in summer with daytime ice).

[turnip]

Surely there are child protection issues with sending out a directory of member details?!?! that possibly wouldn't apply to a church with adult (or family) members.

[Skittl1321]

Surely there are child protection issues with sending out a directory of member details?!?! that possibly wouldn't apply to a church with adult (or family) members.

Not if it is embedded in the membership forms that they are going to do this.  (We can opt out on ours.)  Then the guardian signed that they could.

Except that I have no idea why anyone would need your USFS member number, I don't really have a problem.  Except maybe the email/cell phone everything else is extremely easy to find online-address/phone number are generally public information.

[techskater]

Some clubs only share the rosters with the BoD.  That's to be able to contact people to volunteer...