Testing at another club no coach present

[Adultsk8r509]

Well, I have signed up at another club to test my Bronze Free Skate Oct 25.  I have no idea what testing .. all alone .. will be like.  I couldn't wait till our club has a session in November .. in case I don't pass I want a few more opportunities elsewhere before the deadline for AN approaches.  I think I have until February - correct me if I am wrong. 

[Query]

Do I remember correctly that USFSA requires that you get prior permission from your home club to test outside the club, else the test doesn't count?

[FigureSpins]

 If you don't get the permission, the guest club won't let you test.

[sarahspins]

You will be fine on your own

Skaters test without coaches all the time, just make sure you get your music to the test chair (or whomever is in charge of the music, in our club it's almost always the test chair) so it can be played, and check in with the ice monitor so they know who you are when it's time for your warm up.

[jjane45]

I tested my first two fs tests out of club without coach present. quite an experience, not bad at all. that being said, I would have failed silver fs without coach's calming presence and patient instructions.

when you register for tests they ask for permission forms, just get it from home club test chair

[techskater]

^^^
Or if you have a club that provides one immediately every year, you can use that, too

[Adultsk8r509]

Thanks everyone.. my club already sent the letter/email to the testing club .. coach signs off tomorrow.  Now for the hard part ..... practice!

[techskater]

You will be just fine.  You can reskate 2 elements, the judges want you to pass!!

[tazsk8s]

^^^
Or if you have a club that provides one immediately every year, you can use that, too

My club provides those, but only to the "competitive" skaters. I am strictly working on tests, since I have not competed in several years they have me classified as "recreational". My last moves test was out of club and I had to chase someone down for permission. I was irritated....they can't just add all the names to a mail merge and generate the letters that way? 

[Query]

they can't just add all the names to a mail merge and generate the letters that way? 

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of requiring permission in the first place? [I don't know what that purpose is, but the rule must be there because someone thought there was a good one.]

[Adultsk8r509]

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of requiring permission in the first place? [I don't know what that purpose is, but the rule must be there because someone thought there was a good one.]

My guess is that so your club can let the other club know you are a member in good standing.  There must not be any online database for clubs to check the status of other clubs members.  But then... how about the Individual members...hmmm.  And while we are on the subject of that... I learned that clubs can apparently charge whatever they want for testing, non-member testing fees and hospitality charges.
I had originally thought I was going to skate in McCall Idaho at their Skate By The Lake Competition/Testing Session Oct 18-19 .. until I got on Entryeeze and found out their test fee was $60, $50 for non member and $5 for hospitality.  I thought that was a little steep.  My club wasn't having a test session until Dec 5 and I didn't want to wait that long.  So I checked around and found a test date in Missoula.  Fees there were $35 for the test, $15 for being a non-member and $15 for hospitality ... big difference.  They did not offer Entryeeze however, so I had to ask my club chair to email their club as to my status and I had to print off a test application for my coach to sign and send in a paper check.   I don't test of compete very often .. I can only imagine what the elite skaters go through in a season ... or even some of us more ambitious adult skaters at higher levels who compete 6 times a year.

diane@waltzjump.com

[alejeather]

Another option for you may be to have your coach or club arrange for a judge to come to a normal freestyle and do your test there. The bronze FS test only requires one judge and so it can be pretty easily set up to be done whenever. That's how I did mine. The drawbacks are that you may have other skaters on the ice with you during the test, but that may actually make it feel more like a normal run-through!

[jjane45]

last I checked, in southern California the out of club testing fees are routinely $50-60  in addition to what members pay.

[Adultsk8r509]

last I checked, in southern California the out of club testing fees are routinely $50-60  in addition to what members pay.

Wow, another reason I love my rink!

[tazsk8s]

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of requiring permission in the first place? [I don't know what that purpose is, but the rule must be there because someone thought there was a good one.]

Didn't do a great job of explaining that one.  My home club routinely emails the permission letters to all of their "competitive" skaters at renewal time, as well as posting them on the club website. So they don't have to chase anyone down for permission to test OOC or compete, they just print out the letter and attach it to their application. They won't prepare them for us lowly "recreational" skaters though (which they classify anyone who is not actively competing, even though we may or may not be testing). I have to track down a club officer to get a signature the "old" way, even though I am a member in good standing same as a "competitive" skater. Irritating.

[Jenna]

My club has an agreement with some of the other local clubs that forgoes the fees/permission slips to test.  The tests rotate between the clubs, so each club isn't having to crank out monthly test sessions like they were doing previously.  It's definitely a nice thing to have.

[sarahspins]

I learned that clubs can apparently charge whatever they want for testing, non-member testing fees and hospitality charges.

It makes sense if you think about it - ice costs vary considerably throughout the country, if USFS were to set fixed fees, you would either have the fees be much higher than they are now for most clubs, with a lot more paperwork/hassle involved, or you'd have clubs who can only offer test sessions at a considerable loss.  My club's fees seem to be higher than some, but if you break it down and do the math, they're not even breaking even on most test sessions unless they have multiple non-members testing (our non-member fee is $30, I've seen as high as $60 within my region, our hospitality fee is low and basically covers the cost of providing coffee and snacks in the judge's room).  I used to be a little irritated at the fees for tests (especially when I tested on a freestyle last summer - with no cost for ice to the club), but then I realized that for my 12 minutes on the ice, my club isn't charging enough to cover the cost of the ice.

The fees charged by USFS to register a test are relatively nominal compared to what the clubs charge to cover expenses, but I doubt there are really any clubs out there that actually make money on test sessions.

[PinkLaces]

Former test chair chiming in here.  Sarah is right that the cost of ice varies and the cost of the test rarely covers ice costs, mileage vouchers for the judges ($0.50/mile), food/coffee/snacks/Diet coke for judges, USFS test fee (it was $4 per test whether pass or retry) plus we also had to pay our larger local skating association $3/test to belong and were expected to give a small gift to the judges (under $10). Ice fees at my club rink are $205/hr. A moves test usually averages 12 minutes not including warm ups.

No club is getting rich off tests. Mostly they lose money. Most clubs cut a break to home members because they are paying a membership fee and maybe required to help with fundraising.

Permissions to test as I understand is was a way for clubs not to get stiffed money by skaters. Skater runs up a big ice bill with the club or a coach. Club says you can't test or compete until the bill is paid. Skater sends in test form at a different club. Even if the host test chair doesn't catch it, the home club can tell USFS that they didn't get permission and revoke the test. Doesn't matter if skater passed the test and paid $100. Too bad so sad.  Test chairs get an e-mail from USFS every time a test is registered by another club for one of their club skaters.

[sk8lady]

At one of our area clubs, I was charged $35 for the test; $10 hospitality fee; and a whopping $40 non-member testing fee.
I never tested there again--I'm an individual member so I would be paying the fee every time.

[jjane45]

I have never paid for or heard of hospitality fee before coming into this thread. What exactly is it and I wonder why the club has to separate it from other fees like administration / ice / USFS etc.

[CaraSkates]

I have never paid for or heard of hospitality fee before coming into this thread. What exactly is it and I wonder why the club has to separate it from other fees like administration / ice / USFS etc.

At my club, the hospitality fee goes towards food/coffee for the judges. Club members can opt out by donating food for the test session (our fee is only $6 and it's likely you would spend that buying food anyway). We have an ice fee of $10 (per skater, not per test) and a non member fee of $25. Our tests are average priced for this area and yes, we lose money on test sessions - even when we have 60+ tests in a day.

[TreSk8sAZ]

I have never paid for or heard of hospitality fee before coming into this thread. What exactly is it and I wonder why the club has to separate it from other fees like administration / ice / USFS etc.

Ours is built into the test fee, so it's not called out specifically. Our interclub has standard fees across all of the clubs in the state, so the hospitality fee is not a separate line item for us. The non-member fee is $35. However, our ice time here is expensive ($300-$400 per hour, depending on the time of year and time of day) so our test fees are also considerably higher than what most people have posted here.

[sarahspins]

Our ice time runs a whopping $450/hr at our "home" rink... and our test fees are higher than most, but not nearly as high as some other clubs within our region, and nowhere near what they'd need to be to break even.  The great irony is that the much nicer ice (it's better maintained, and always glass smooth) that our local hockey team uses at their arena is $100/hr cheaper when it's available, but they don't have ice available year round (Hockey season is what, October through April/May?) and when they do have ice, the lower level hockey leagues tend to buy it up rather quickly for practice and games.

Our next test session is at the arena.  I tested silver there last April so it shouldn't make me too nervous to think about testing gold there, especially since our next 2-3 test sessions are likely to be held there as well, but it's still different, and different = scary

[PinkLaces]

Our hospitality fee is $3.50. Our non-member fee is $15. Our fees are within $5.00 of other clubs in our area (some $5 more and some $5 less, some the same).