Coaching Age Requirements??

[Courtney]

Does anyone know if there are age requirements to coach private lessons in the United States (set by ISI or USFS?)

There is a 14-year-old at our ice arena who is actively advertising to gain students and coach them privately. She currently has 6-10 skaters and continues to add skaters. I'm not sure if she can purchase liability insurance as a coach under the age of 16.

This 14-year-old is a double USFS gold medalist in moves and freeskate, but doesn't know how to break things down for others. For example, a skater struggling with crossovers? Just keeps demonstrating crossovers on the circle without any drills/or variation in instructions.

 

[gliese]

No competent club leadership would let someone coach without them being a member of the PSA and having insurance. However that doesn't mean that she actually can't coach.

It's possible she's competent at skating coaching but she's coaching without insurance and PSA training and that's not okay.

 

[Eltailandes]

In the United States I don't know, but in almost all countries if you are good at something you can freely teach it to others and benefit from it. All this regardless of how old you are.
In my case, I am Spanish and at the age of 16 I was a Muay Thai coach. I gave classes in a gym to younger people, clearly in Spain the minimum age to work is 16 years.

I hope they can mention the US laws so that they can clarify a little better.

All the best.

 

[Sunshine247]

I find it hard to believe it hasn’t caught the attention of others as well. Are you also a parent?

Ive noticed that things go on behind the scenes and most situations end up resolved in one way or another. Sometimes a bit more slowly than you would like but they do get resolved. Is this skater working with another coach? Maybe it’s not obvious yet. How do you know that the skater isn’t covered by any insurance or isn’t in the process of PSA testing? If you contact the professional skaters association they would have better advice. I honestly hope no one gets injured or any other negative consequences in the meantime.

 

[tstop4me]

No competent club leadership would let someone coach without them being a member of the PSA and having insurance. However that doesn't mean that she actually can't coach.

It's possible she's competent at skating coaching but she's coaching without insurance and PSA training and that's not okay.

<<Emphasis added.>> The OP doesn't indicate where she's at. In the rinks I've skated at in the US, coaches don't need to belong to a club. In fact, at my current home rink, we don't even have a club, but we do have coaches.

 

[Courtney]

I find it hard to believe it hasn’t caught the attention of others as well. Are you also a parent?

Ive noticed that things go on behind the scenes and most situations end up resolved in one way or another. Sometimes a bit more slowly than you would like but they do get resolved. Is this skater working with another coach? Maybe it’s not obvious yet. How do you know that the skater isn’t covered by any insurance or isn’t in the process of PSA testing? If you contact the professional skaters association they would have better advice. I honestly hope no one gets injured or any other negative consequences in the meantime.

It has definitely caught the attention of coaches and skaters at our rink. As you can imagine, it has caused a lot of chatter among families who are more involved in skating. I'm asking if she even can obtain liability insurance at her age. I found out that ISI requires a professional ISI membership for their insurance, and you have to be at least 16 to be eligible for a professional membership.

People have already witnessed this girl teaching skills which are inappropriate/unsafe for skaters' levels. She doesn't yet demonstrate an understanding of how to break down skills in order to build a solid foundation. There is no coaching mentor. Many people in the facility assume: high level skater = automatic high quality coach.

 

[Courtney]

It's a small rink in the south. Individual coaches at our rink are supposed to be certified with ISI or USFS, but not necessarily both. Other coaches have to submit proof of certification and liability insurance to coach private lessons. The concern is that this 14-year-old is not being held to the same standards and requirements as other coaches, and the whole thing is becoming toxic.

 

[gliese]

<<Emphasis added.>> The OP doesn't indicate where she's at. In the rinks I've skated at in the US, coaches don't need to belong to a club. In fact, at my current home rink, we don't even have a club, but we do have coaches.

That's why I added later that those rules doesn't mean she actually is not allowed to coach. Just that a competent club would not let her coach.

OP, Most clubs I've been at require you to have a coaching mentor if you are under 18. Other's also required you be high level in addition. Never skated at a club that only required high level but no mentorship.

 

[sandraskates]

It's a small rink in the south. Individual coaches at our rink are supposed to be certified with ISI or USFS, but not necessarily both. Other coaches have to submit proof of certification and liability insurance to coach private lessons. The concern is that this 14-year-old is not being held to the same standards and requirements as other coaches, and the whole thing is becoming toxic.

The situation created created by this 14-year-old “coach” is a slap in the face to all coaches who have to renew credentials every year, using their own income.

I logged into the Members Only section of US Figure Skating and could not find anything about age for insurance.
However, even if this “coach” is being mentored by an insured coach, only the insured coach is covered for any incident.

I have pm'd you insurance contact information I found with US Figure Skating.

Your rink really needs to get this resolved. I've worked at a rink where “coaching” like this was highly frowned upon and the skater coaching could get removed.

 

[silver.blades]

I can't speak for the US, but in Canada, coaches need to be at least 16. There are some clubs I know of that pay younger skaters as coaches, but if they are found out, their insurance (and the insurance of every other coach on that ice) is void.

 

[tstop4me]

Does anyone know if there are age requirements to coach private lessons in the United States (set by ISI or USFS?)

There is a 14-year-old at our ice arena who is actively advertising to gain students and coach them privately. She currently has 6-10 skaters and continues to add skaters. I'm not sure if she can purchase liability insurance as a coach under the age of 16. Our skating director isn't going to do anything because this 14-year-old is a high-level skater.

* "Requirements" presume that (1) the coach is operating under some official authority and (2) the official authority has requirements for coaches. So step one is to identify whether the coach is operating under an official authority.

* First, consider whether there are applicable governmental regulations (federal, state, or local) for the coach. Are there any that applies in your area?

* Second, consider whether there are requirements set by a sports organization. E.g., USFS has compliance requirements for coaches listed here: https://www.usfigureskating.org/support/coach/coach-compliance. But carefully note the wording in the first paragraph:

"U.S. Figure Skating requires coaches to be compliant in order to instruct/coach at the following sanctioned activities: international competitions on behalf of Team USA, developmental international competitions, qualifying and nonqualifying competitions, test sessions, all performances (including ice shows, exhibitions, recitals and carnivals) and any other sanctioned club activities (including club ice)." <<Emphasis added.>>

USFS compliance applies only for coaches at USFS sanctioned activities. Is the coach operating in a USFS sanctioned activity?

* Third, consider whether there are requirements set by a club, as has been discussed by other posters. But again, club requirements apply only for coaches operating in a club sanctioned activity. Is the coach operating in a club sanctioned activity?

* If none of the above applies, then that leaves requirements set by the rink management. If the rink management does indeed set requirements for coaches, and if the rink management does indeed enforce these requirements for all other coaches, but not for this one 14-yr old girl, then you have a legitimate complaint to take to the rink management. But before you do, verify what those requirements actually are. They differ widely from one rink to another. At one rink I go to, all private lessons are contracted through the rink management: a skater pays at the front desk, receives a receipt, and hands the receipt to the coach. At another rink I go to, there are essentially no rules as far as I've been able to ascertain.

* Also remember that liability insurance protects primarily the coach, only secondarily the skater. Coaches operating without liability insurance take the risk of having to pay damages from their own personal assets. But if a coach has little personal assets, the skater might not be able to collect much. Who knows what the legal and financial consequences are for a 14-yr old (and maybe her parents)? If the coach is required to have a minimum coverage for liability insurance though, then the skater will at least be able to collect something.

* A final consideration: What about the parents of the skaters who are paying for lessons with this girl? [I assume her skaters are all children. Is that correct?] Ultimately they bear responsibility for choosing a coach for their kid. Are they vetting her? If she has 6 to 10 students currently, and is adding more, why is she so successful? Is she simply charging way less than other coaches? Or ...?

 

[iceskating21]

Mt rink hires some teenager skaters to be coach assistant for group lessons. They have age requirement of 14+ basically because that's the age they can be paid. I don't think they need to buy insurance or finish coach training. It is not unusual that they get some little skaters from group lessons and start private lessons. Generally, they teach toddlers recreationally, like once a week or less in addition to group lessons. In other words, they don't take their skaters to test or compete. In this case, what USFSA regulations are don't matter either. But we are a small rink. That's what I see here.

 

[twirlingblades]

Mt rink hires some teenager skaters to be coach assistant for group lessons. They have age requirement of 14+ basically because that's the age they can be paid. I don't think they need to buy insurance or finish coach training. It is not unusual that they get some little skaters from group lessons and start private lessons. Generally, they teach toddlers recreationally, like once a week or less in addition to group lessons. In other words, they don't take their skaters to test or compete. In this case, what USFSA regulations are don't matter either. But we are a small rink. That's what I see here.

Yeah, we have 15-17 year olds either assisting group lessons, or teaching them on their own with a mentor (someone on the ice with them who is a coach and who is not teaching their own classes at the same time).

Group lessons are way different than teaching private lessons though.

 

[Query]

I know this is a somewhat old thread.

Not all coaches are insured through USFS[A] and/or PSA and/or ISI. Some rinks insure their coaches through another insurance company, which may have different requirements. I've skated at several rinks like that. She may have to pick and choose the rinks she teaches at. Plus, she can't drive a car to get places.

As others have indicated, if her students want to test or compete within the USFS[A], with a coach (I think there are some categories where you don't need a coach), her students might need to temporally use another coach for that.

I'm not sure about the ISI.

Breaking things down is somewhat of an analytic skill, and it isn't unusual for kids to have trouble doing that, though that isn't universal. But many young kids (and some adults) also have trouble learning analytically, so that isn't always bad. Some people with good visual memories (and I'm so jealous of them) can watch something, remember what they've seen, and do it. OTOH, a lot of very athletic people, including adults, lack the ability to teach analytically. It simply isn't the way they think or learn.

Some kids are very good teachers, and some show more maturity than others. Just like adults, some are better at teaching to people with certain learning styles better than others.

I once took some (group) lessons in whitewater kayaking from a kid who was 15 - 16 at the time, who was very, very good, both as an athlete (a few years later, he took 1st place at world level competitions) and as a teacher. He had both good maturity and excellent analytic skills. I suspect he did at age 14 too. I remember very well that an adult yelled at him once during a group lesson about something, which I think the adult was wrong about.) The adult asked him for the name of the person in charge of the organization he taught for. The kid stayed perfectly calm, and answered truthfully. Not many adults could have shown the same maturity.

In the U.S., whether or not a skater can coach is often up to the figure skating director, or rink director if there is none. You could take the matter up with the figure skating director if you think the young coach shouldn't teach.

 

[spinningdancer]

Being a double gold medalist doesn't make someone a good teacher. It sounds like she needs to be mentored on how to coach before she continues teaching anyone, whether she's doing group classes or private lessons. As for if she's allowed to coach, that will depend on the rink and how their insurance works. At my rink, when I taught group classes, I was covered by the rink's insurance, but when I decided to do private lessons, I needed to get my own liability insurance for that. It's possible some rinks cover both private and group lessons under their larger rink insurance policy. It also depends on if coaches are considered rink employees, or independent contractors. At my rink, we were employees for group classes, but contractors when we did private lessons.

 

[Query]

BTW, rink and club insurance is mostly to protect the rink or club from liability. It may or may not protect the coach. Also, many multi-sport facilities aren't satisfied with PSA, USFS[A], ISI, LTS USA, and USA Hockey insurance (though many hockey leagues require USA Hockey insurance, just like the USFS[A] requires certain insurance) because it doesn't protect them for all the activities performed there. But none of those insurance programs do much to protect the student, so I don't think students should worry about coach, rink or club insurance. But ideally they should have individual health insurance, of a type that includes athletic injuries.

BTW, I need analytic coaching, so she would probably be a terrible coach for me - but maybe not for everyone.

My view:

If her students are getting hurt more often or more seriously than other coaches' students, that would be a very big deal. In that case, she shouldn't be allowed to teach, or should only be allowed to teach under close supervision. Letting her continue to teach without appropriate supervision might ultimately create bad feelings among the customer base, and also exposes the rink, figure skating director and club (if she teaches in club sessions) to liability problems.

Also, look at whether her students advancing towards the eventual goals figure skaters are supposed to meet. Not the many intermediate standards the standard syllabus follows, but the ultimately "right" way of doing things. If her students are meeting those goals, and not getting hurt more often, she should be allowed to teach.

But other coaches might think she is teaching "inappropriate" and "unsafe" ways of doing things, because she might be teaching an ultimately "correct" way of doing them, rather than the standard syllabus approach of teaching a sequence of different methods of mastering skills. I hate the standard syllabus approach. It means you spend most of your time unlearning past skills, and relearning them all over again.