Assigned to a coach?

Assigned to a coach?

Hey everyone,

A rink that I skate at has a skating school where they assign coaches to the skaters. All the young skaters, once they start private lessons, are assigned to a coach based on their skating ability and talent. The best skaters are put with the best coach and the next best skaters with the next best coach, and so on. Has anyone else experienced this?

This is new to me, I'm used to skaters choosing a coach based on a coaching style they prefer, and a personality they get along with.

It seems to me that this would create segregation within the skating school, and the less talented skaters may have less confidence knowing they aren't the best in the school. In my opinion, the only skaters who would benifit would be the talented ones at the top of the pack because they would have the best coaching and be encouraged and pushed the hardest to excel.

Has anyone experienced this? Does it work well? I'd like to hear everyones opinions!

Thanks!
Cassie

Re: Assigned to a coach?

This doesn't happen at our rink. When you sign up for group lessons you get who you get and it's not something we skaters have any control over. But when one of our skaters is ready for private lessons, the only factors that decide who coaches the skater are the coach's schedule i.e., is your skating time the same as his or her coaching time and whether or not the coach will agree to take you.
I think some coaches only want skaters with "a future" so it does seem like some coaches have "better" or "more serious" skaters but I think it mostly has to do with personality and who the student prefers. We are hardly a world class rink, being a park district facility primarily designed for recreational skating and hockey, so most of the coaches will take almost any student that fits in with their schedule and coaching philosophy. By the time our students are ready for private lessons, most of them have had a variety of coaches and know what to expect from each individual coach. For instance, if a skater doesn't want to do the hard work and have some personal drive to be really good (and probably leave our little rink for somewhere more elite), then the skater shouldn't sign on with Coach X. But if the skater wants to work on their skills enough to be on a team and maybe get some additional personal coaching time, then Coach Y will fit in more with their needs.

Re: Assigned to a coach?

Wow! That sounds really unfair! I think you should have the right to pick your own coach! That should be a right in the Figure Skating Constitution! Lol!