Saturday, April 26, 2008

Newbie: first figure skating competition

Ice Girl attended her first figure skating competition this morning. She did well (first place in her event!), but I gathered some useful information about competitions and etiquette.
  1. Do not talk about other competitors in the audience. I didn't do this, I swear! However, two moms told me about videotaping their daughters' programs at a competition. When they reviewed the video from their living rooms, they could hear snarky parents sneering about different competitors. Eeew.
  2. Bring your wallet. They sell flowers ($1.50 each) to give to the girls. You can buy a photo package of your child standing on the awards podium. (The package I bought set me back $29.99.) You can also arrange for the photographer to take tons of photos of your daughter during the program. I didn't do this in time, so I'm not sure how much that would have cost me. A gal was selling dresses (I resisted), someone sold T-shirts, and another person had a wooden skate to display medals. Did I mention sugary and salty snacks from the concession stand? Video games and pop machines? I could have dropped $100 and I'm glad that I left having spent maybe $45.
  3. Dress warmly. This one's kind of obvious; however, the heaters went out in the judges' area and they froze, poor dears.
  4. Be thankful for the coach. The coach takes the skater through the whole competition process while the parent watches from the stands. I did hair, dress, make-up at 6 a.m., then watched from the stands. Very nice.

7 comments:

Aaron said...

Good grief! You need to plant a money tree in your back yard!

Anonymous said...

The coaches if they have alot of skaters or if they are helping run it ie an ISI comp, cant stay with the skaters as much. Imo anyway :}
Glad she had fun !!

Laura said...

Congrats to Ice Girl!!! I'm glad it went well!

Anonymous said...

ha. You'll be needing the money tree oh so much more the deeper in you get...

Good luck! I'm a fellow blogger and I was a competitive ice skater in my youth. I love the sport but there are lots of pitfalls to be wary of - if your daughter is considering seriously pursuing it, 1)be ready to spend lots of money, and 2)do everything you can to make sure her mental health is strong. Be supportive in just the right amount, and insulate her from the crazies as best you can. I've got lots more unsolicited advice about making it through the skating world where that came from, so if you're curious shoot me a message or visit my blog and leave me a comment.

And especially please be aware of the danger of eating disorders and the shear number of skaters with them.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your Blog. I'm a newbie to Figure Skating as well, with my daughter, she just started private lessons. I was aware before that this can be an expensive sport. For now, I think it's still OK. I've only taken 2 hours of practice instead of the 4 hours "recommended" by the coach..., Also, since I know two teens who used to compete, one has already gave me a dress for my daughter's first competition in February. I still can't believe my daughter, a very shy 9 year old, has agreed to do the competition, she told me from the start she only wanted to learn, but not do solos...I was a little disappointed by that, but surprisingly when she realized we had to get her a dress, she said yes to the competition... I know it will get more expensive very fast...she's due for a new pair of skates...and you can't just get those at walmart anymore, she needs very good skates, and I saw the difference with the pair I got her, they were slightly used, but they made a great difference when she started private lessons. I'm taking sewing classes to be able to make her dresses...hope she has a good experience with her first competition and want to do another one...so I can actually get to make her a dress...

Anyway I just wanted to thank you for your blog, I'll be sure to come by regularly...

vegaskatermom said...

I too have a figure skater, your ice coach fees or much cheaper than ours! I know what you mean by moving up. My daughter skated for a year and a half went to no test level and is just getting ready to get back at if hard as I had to have surgery! Good luck to you and Ice Girl I love this blog!

Ice Mom said...

Thanks for the kind words! I wish you a speedy recovery and your daughter happiness on the ice!