USFSA age requirement banter

I believe the only age limit is in ISU. I think this is a good step in the right direction. I think USFSA needs to follow in their footsteps and set some limits for national competitions. The current system is basically set up for kids to learn double and triple jumps as young as possible. You can not even compete as a juvenile if you are over 12 years old, and you are expected to compete all of the double jumps at that level, so should probably be landing triples in practice. It's hard as a parent to tell your child that they can't learn the next jump, but there is very little information out there on how to prevent injuries. I know, because I've looked.

I don't think there should be an age limit in skating. This is still very much an "after school" sport that only children have the time and resources necessary to devote to skating and competing. Unless a skater is a world champion and can secure work on a tour, it is very difficult for a skater to compete and live a "normal" life as an adult. Most of the older skaters who are compeing are subsidized heavily by their families and still live at home. Looking at the structure of GPs and invitationals, skating is not set up to be a sport that an adult competitor can do without supplementing with show income. The prize money just isn't there. I think that if a skater has a chance to win a title at 13 years old and then leaves the sport (either voluntarily or through injury) to do something else, there's nothing wrong with that. I do feel for the skaters like Klimkin who have devoted their lives to the sport and now there's really nothing else he can do. What's a 25 year old athlete going to do besides coach?

As for injuries, I have said time and time again that injuries happen even if you're nopt doing triples. There are kids who get injured doing doubles and adults who break a rib falling backward on crossovers (this happened to a friend of mine).

Doubles and triples are best learned while young. The kids have no fear and their bodies are capable of doing the jumps easily. They develop muscle memory and as they get older, ideally they get the confidence to do these elements in competition.

AS for lack of injuries in gymnastics, that's laughable. Despite all the padded mats, gymnasts have broken their necks and torn their achilles heels. Skating injuries pale in comparison to the volume and severity of injuries in gymnastics.

Doggygirl said:

Minor children are also the responsiblity of their PARENTS. I can't imagine how a governing body of anything (a sport in this example) could ever dictate what a minor child (or adult) chooses to practice. The governing body can implement rules for competition, but certainly cannot dictate practice. Because Tara (as a minor, under the responsibility of her parents) overtrained an element leading to injury, does that mean an element should be "outlawed" by a sport's governing body?? I think that's a little Big Brother for my taste, but that's just me.

Athletics by their very nature contain risk of injury. And that goes for casual as well as serious participants. Leaving your house every day contains risk of injury. At what point can people (or parents in the cases of minor children) make their own risk/reward decisions v. other people dictating that from afar?

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And then there is the "stage mom" parent who lets the hope of fame and fortune overtake their judgment. IMO, sometimes the child needs to be protected from their parent. While I hate the big brother thing SOMEONE has to put the best interest of the child first.......not that any sports federation is likely to do that either.

Actually it's that "I can do anything" attitude that kids have (before the first big injury) that gets them hurt in the first place. Take it from someone who's been there--the surest way to get a kid hurt is let them try what they THINK they're capable of. In my case, that meant serious falls and frankly only good luck kept it from being worse--ie the horse could have swerved right instead of left and trampled me, too. Psychologically, I would say that adults are in a much better position to learn things--they have mental discipline, plus, once they do get hurt, they're old enough to get over the panic attacks. I shrug off skating falls now because i know I'm going to get a bit bruised. As a preteen/teen, I ended up having full-on anxiety attacks if I pointed my horse at a jump. I got hurt at just the right time to have it stick deep psychologically.

As for devoting time, that depends on how much you're willing to sacrifice. Personally, I don't care if I don't have time for a social life. I'd rather be skating, and besides, you meet people at the rink. It may help I'm in an industry where working bizarre hours is the norm (it would not be unusual for me to start work around 4am and be home by 10am.) Sure, I need finanical help. I'd need that if I weren't skating. Might as well do something productive with it instead of just focus on school-job-and whatever else it is people are supposed to do when not training for something.

I don't think there should be an age limit in skating. This is still very much an "after school" sport that only children have the time and resources necessary to devote to skating and competing.

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Skating is actually an "instead of school" sport for most of the children who compete seriously. Most seriously competitive skater are either tutored or home schooled.

Unless a skater is a world champion and can secure work on a tour, it is very difficult for a skater to compete and live a "normal" life as an adult.

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It is also very difficult for a skater to compette and live a "normal" life as a child. Even if the skater is not "seriously" competing, by the time they finish homework, school, and enough time at the rink to continue to advance to even axels and double jumps, there is not time to do much else with their time. There are of course other benefits to skating, but it's not that the kids have all this free time and make no sacrifices for their skating.

sk8rmom97 said:

It is also very difficult for a skater to compette and live a "normal" life as a child. Even if the skater is not "seriously" competing, by the time they finish homework, school, and enough time at the rink to continue to advance to even axels and double jumps, there is not time to do much else with their time. There are of course other benefits to skating, but it's not that the kids have all this free time and make no sacrifices for their skating.

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I disagree with this. At least the kid has the option of rearranging the schooling to accommodate skating. As for a normal life, that life is very normal to kids at the rink (and kids in other sports as well) so there are peers to "share the experience with". Now an adult could rearrange work to suit skating, but most likely will not make enough money to cover living expenses and serious training. Also there aren't a lot of adults who make that choice, therefore it is hard to fit in with a peer group.

Then there is the desire to "grow up" and have a family that many adults experience. Skating doesn't accommodate that desire very well which is why many adult competitors are in limbo while they compete. Some are married and hold off having children. Others have families and they are not highly ranked. Then there are the kids who have the ideal bodies, ample time, and parental support who go out there and kill the competition.

Well, Tara has always said that it was worth it, even though she did end up injured.

I think the age rule is unfair. It should be about who has the ability, not how old they are. Had the truth about Tonya been figured out sooner, Kwan would have gone to the Olympics at 13. And this isnt such a new thing, either. Sonja Henie went to the Olympics at age 11 in 1924. She went on to have much success and I dont think was at all worse off because of going.

As for the whole school issue, I think a lot of tutored/home schooled kids are just as well educated (actually, many are more educated) than kids who attend full time school. Elite skaters tend to have amazing work ethic, and because of this they would most likely be bored in regular school because of waiting for their classmates to settle down, etc. So, these students will do better on their own with a tutor or parent where they can work as fast as they want.

As for a social life, I think its a personal choice. I never wanted much of that as a kid (although I wasnt skating then). Some kids need that more than others. But, for the skaters that do need it there is a lot of events at the rink and/or skating club for them to take part in.

Sonja Henie went to the Olympics at age 11 in 1924. She went on to have much success and I dont think was at all worse off because of going.

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Sure, but this was in the days before double jumps (I think, definitely definitely before triples). I can't imagine single jumps wearing and tearing on you as much as triples.

julietvalcouer said:

Actually it's that "I can do anything" attitude that kids have (before the first big injury) that gets them hurt in the first place. Take it from someone who's been there--the surest way to get a kid hurt is let them try what they THINK they're capable of. In my case, that meant serious falls and frankly only good luck kept it from being worse--ie the horse could have swerved right instead of left and trampled me, too. Psychologically, I would say that adults are in a much better position to learn things--they have mental discipline, plus, once they do get hurt, they're old enough to get over the panic attacks. I shrug off skating falls now because i know I'm going to get a bit bruised. As a preteen/teen, I ended up having full-on anxiety attacks if I pointed my horse at a jump. I got hurt at just the right time to have it stick deep psychologically.

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That's true that kids usually are reckless and single minded. I would hold the responsible to the coaches and parents around them. If USFSA can't set up the age limitation, then let coaches and parents do the job. Mostly probably the parents since coaches sometimes could be more tempted, but parents should always keep your child's life time well being/health in mind. Given so many injuries happened in sports already.

You can't compare Sonja Henie with todays skaters, Sonja was doing single rotation jumps and half axles, along with some spins and lots of spirals. And she skated very slowly by todays standards. If Sonja were skating today with the same technical skills, she'd never advace past the lowest levels of competition. She skated in a different age, and probably trained less than six months a year. Todays young skaters train hard all year long doing tricks that Sonja would have thought to be both impossible and too dangerous.

Although that is true, I was talking more about the mental aspect.

The pressure on skaters affects everyone differently. Some 14 year olds are less affected than some 25 years olds, and vice versa. That was my point.