All three of us will post on Mondays starting in April about the same subject from different angles. One of these joint posts we have planned is about the process of running a competition. Ice Coach is going to cover securing judges and setting it up, I’m going to write about strong-arming volunteers, and Ice Girl will talk about being a runner and how to have fun in a high-pressure situation.
We’ll also have a contest to kick off the launch with fabulous prizes. Not millions – we’re in figure skating. But you’ll like the contest – it’ll be funny, I promise.
Ask the Expert. On Wednesdays, I’m starting a new feature called, Ask the Expert. Each Wednesday, I’ll try to invite someone who knows way more than I do to write something and answer your questions in the comments.
Wednesday, March 24, Annette Thomas, a classically trained ballet instructor, will post about ballet. She wrote the book Fundamentals of Alignment & Classical Movement for Figure Skaters and she’s very knowledgeable. My questions for Annette were along the lines of: is ballet worth it? So, start thinking about what questions you’d have for a classical ballet teacher who knows a lot about figure skating, too. You can also send in your questions in advance to me (icemom.diane@gmail.com) and I’ll store them up for Annette to answer. Of course, you can also add them to the comments on March 24 for Annette to answer that day.
I’m lining up more guests: a former show skater, coach Xan of Xanboni! and Ice Coach, soon to be of icecoach.net, will answer questions about USFSA/ISI, and Allison Scott, Jeremy Abbott’s mom, will talk about interacting with judges.
As always, advertisements are independent of editorial content. These aren’t ads, anyway. They’re an opportunity to ask questions you’ve always wanted to ask of people who are really knowledgeable. Should be fun!
If you have a suggestion for an expert or you are an expert, e-mail me at icemom.diane@gmail.com. I’d love for you to let us know more about figure skating.
Also, if you have a suggestion for post ideas that you’d like the three of us (Ice Mom, Coach, and Girl) to write about, that would be fabulous! If you have other ideas for us, too, hey: we’ll take ’em! E-mail me at icemom.diane@gmail.com.
I dunno if it would be possible, but you could get one of the olympic skaters to do a guest post...Just a thought. :)
ReplyDeleteThat would indeed be a great idea, Anony. I want to wait until after Worlds and Stars on Ice before I start sending them requests. :)
ReplyDeleteIce Mom
Q for Annette:
ReplyDeleteWhen a mid-level skater has limited funds, how should it be distributed between on-ice, off-ice, and dance?
Why is it that some ballet teachers dislike it when their students start skating? I see that a lot in my rink and often the teachers will ask the skater to stop skating or ballet. They are serious about ballet, not to to the extend of making it a career. What do you tell the ballet teacher?
Icemom: Keep the the good work! I love all these experts posting. Perhaps one day you should get someone who is unfamiliar about figure skating to comment on the sport! Preferably from the men and women's perspectives!
=D
My Q for Annette: My daughter is a young skater, just starting out, but has been taking ballet/dance since she was 2. What should, if anything, we do differently now that she's skating? Should we be paying more attention to certain parts of dance. Will certain moves help more then others? Also, between ballet and gymnastics, which do you think helps with skating most?
ReplyDeleteIceMom~ You're headed for quite the undertaking. I'm very excited for you and for your readers. As a newbie skating mom, I would love to see more posts about the basics of skating, skate parenting, etc.
Thanks
Thanks so much Qi'En!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like the idea of asking experts their opinions!
Great questions for Annette! I'm going to pass them on to her in just a minute!
Good idea of putting a mirror up to the skating world and see how we're perceived. I'll have to think about who might be a good fit for it.
Ice Mom
Hey, Kate!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great questions for Annette. I'll be forwarding them to her shortly. Look for the answers in next week Wednesday's post.
Ice Coach is going to be starting her own blog on April 3. She runs a Basic Skills Learn to Skate, so she'll be writing a lot about the newbie experience, too. I'll keep your needs in mind as I develop my editiorial calendar.
If you have specific newbie questions, I encourage you to e-mail me: icemom.diane@gmail.com
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Ice Mom