Holiday coach etiquette

[bunnybarista]

I know the holiday season is still several weeks away, but I like to plan ahead... what kinds of gifts are appropriate/nice to give to a coach for the holidays? This is my first time having a private coach and I'm not sure about the etiquette of it. As an adult skater, my coach and I have what I'd like to think of as a burgeoning friendship off-ice, but not close enough that we would exchange gifts as friends. But within a professional context, I would like to give some kind of a present. I've seen some suggestions of a cash bonus, perhaps equivalent to the price of one lesson, while others suggest practical gifts like food, wine, iTunes/Starbucks gift cards, gloves, etc. Would love to hear thoughts on this!

 

[satine]

In my experience, some people find gift exchanging to be a burden. Two of my coworkers refuse to even accept a gift card because they feel like they're obliged to give something in return, which can be understandably stressful. If you can ask other students who may have been with this coach last year for the holidays about their experience, that would be a great help. If you can't find any information out that way, I'd suggest starting with something small, but practical, as others have suggested to you. Pre-boxed gift sets are already flying off the shelves where I live. They are a good value, plus they have a variety of items for every taste, so I find them to generally be a safe bet :thumbsup:

 

[bunnybarista]

In my experience, some people find gift exchanging to be a burden. Two of my coworkers refuse to even accept a gift card because they feel like they're obliged to give something in return, which can be understandably stressful. If you can ask other students who may have been with this coach last year for the holidays about their experience, that would be a great help. If you can't find any information out that way, I'd suggest starting with something small, but practical, as others have suggested to you. Pre-boxed gift sets are already flying off the shelves where I live. They are a good value, plus they have a variety of items for every taste, so I find them to generally be a safe bet :thumbsup:

I definitely don't want to get something "big" enough for my coach to feel obligated to give me something in return - just want to show my appreciation for all his hard work! I think it's a great idea to ask other students if they've gotten him anything in the past - thanks for that suggestion!

 

[karne]

I generally get my coach something I know she'd like. She has a tendency to get inundated with chocolates, so I'd recommend not chocolate. I've had a few different things: one year I got her a small beading kit because she likes to make bracelets and things in her spare time, I gave her home-made fudge one year (leaning close to the chocolate thing), but I think her most favourite thing so far has been nice creams and lotions, especially good for sore feet that have been standing in skates all day!

Sometimes she gives me a little trinket in return, but I generally don't expect one back. I think I'll get her some nice scarves this year; she does love her scarves and she deserves something nice for leaving my slot open for six and a half months while I was injured.

 

[bunnybarista]

I generally get my coach something I know she'd like. She has a tendency to get inundated with chocolates, so I'd recommend not chocolate. I've had a few different things: one year I got her a small beading kit because she likes to make bracelets and things in her spare time, I gave her home-made fudge one year (leaning close to the chocolate thing), but I think her most favourite thing so far has been nice creams and lotions, especially good for sore feet that have been standing in skates all day!

I was thinking about creams/lotions/spa-like products because god knows my coach spends 24/7 on skates in a freezing rink and could greatly benefit from using such things, but he's a guy and I don't know how receptive he would be towards such products... I might have to wait another year before I know him well enough to gauge if he'd actually use them.

 

[sandraskates]

Many people these days have fragrance sensitivity so if you go the lotions / creams / spa items route, keep that in mind.

If your coach has to pay for snack bar items (coffee, hot chocolate, snacks), a gift card from the rink could be a good gift.

 

[tstop4me]

I was thinking about creams/lotions/spa-like products because god knows my coach spends 24/7 on skates in a freezing rink and could greatly benefit from using such things, but he's a guy and I don't know how receptive he would be towards such products... I might have to wait another year before I know him well enough to gauge if he'd actually use them.

That's the problem with giving specific gifts (or gift cards) to someone whose tastes you really don't know. In the past, I made the mistake of giving an expensive box of chocolates to a secretary ... just to find out later she was enrolled in Weight Watchers. She did enjoy them, but told me I blew her point limit. When the rink engineer announced he was leaving, I was planning to give him a premium bottle of his favorite alcoholic drink (wine, whisky, vodka, whatever). Good thing I checked with one of his buddies, because he told me the rink engineer didn't like any wine or hard liquor, but loved beer. The rink engineer was Irish, so I bought him an assorted case of imported Irish beer. Big grin on his face when he opened it. He told others at the rink how much he loved it.

As for my coach, I give her a nice card with a personal message and a Benjamin Franklin portrait attached. Yeah, it's somewhat impersonal, but I'd rather she get something that I know for sure won't go wasted. The first year I did it, she protested that it was too much. But I told her she deserved it. She said OK. No complaints since; it'll be our fifth X-MAS coming up.

 

[bunnybarista]

That's the problem with giving specific gifts (or gift cards) to someone whose tastes you really don't know. In the past, I made the mistake of giving an expensive box of chocolates to a secretary ... just to find out later she was enrolled in Weight Watchers. She did enjoy them, but told me I blew her point limit. When the rink engineer announced he was leaving, I was planning to give him a premium bottle of his favorite alcoholic drink (wine, whisky, vodka, whatever). Good thing I checked with one of his buddies, because he told me the rink engineer didn't like any wine or hard liquor, but loved beer. The rink engineer was Irish, so I bought him an assorted case of imported Irish beer. Big grin on his face when he opened it. He told others at the rink how much he loved it.

As for my coach, I give her a nice card with a personal message and a Benjamin Franklin portrait attached. Yeah, it's somewhat impersonal, but I'd rather she get something that I know for sure won't go wasted. The first year I did it, she protested that it was too much. But I told her she deserved it. She said OK. No complaints since; it'll be our fifth X-MAS coming up.

Good point about about avoiding very specific gifts unless I know for sure that they'd be well-received. At least I know my coach's taste in food/drinks pretty well by now, so I'd probably be safe with picking a favorite there.

I don't know if I could do the whole cash in a card thing... I wouldn't do that to a friend, and I feel like the lines are a little blurred for me and thus I don't know if it would be awkward to give cash to my coach like that. I'm definitely overthinking it, though! It seems like a lot of people, yourself included, have had success in giving their coaches cash bonuses, and at least this way he could buy himself whatever he wanted... but there's part of me that's like "would this be a faux pas?" :shocked:

 

[christy]

I get my coaches food items that I know they like and a gift card for a local coffee shop that I know they visit. I wouldn't expect anything back, as it's my way of saying thank you for their help during the year.
If I didn't know them too well I'd probably go for a gift card for a coffee shop or similar.