- Joined
- Dec 17, 2018
I'd love to hear opinions on how to handle a tricky situation. My two skaters started with a coach through the rink management/LTS after summer vacation was going to put them behind. They were in Basic 5. We got lucky with an excellent coach. Fast forward and my one skater is consistently landing an axel and the other is close. The problem is, we probably have outgrown her abilities even though we all love working with her. My one skater has really become passionate and loves competing. The beginning of school means setting up a schedule and now is the best time to make arrangements and changes.
I've thought about a switch for a while now, but its hard to manage it. Our rink has a great set of coaches who often team up or share students. Which is part of the issue. It's all kind of loosey goosey with primary coaches and supplemental coaches and students making their own arrangements. Not clearly defined enough for my comfort. And a recipe for disaster IMO. Nowhere near the situation the USFSA sets up in their guidelines for switching coaches. But maybe more of a norm elsewhere?
Our coach has actually set up sessions with other coaches for my skaters to work on specific skills, but has maintained the primary coaching responsibility and relationship. Previously we have always scheduled supplemental coaching through her. Lately she has been less likely to recommend my skaters work with others and it might be because she feels insecure about our changing? Over the summer a lot of coaches offered extra time(things got very flexible) and after letting my coach know, I did schedule one or two supplemental sessions. I tried to remain respectful and mostly did it for convenience since it was a lot to manage our schedules and theirs. Other skaters parents seem to schedule through individual coaches on their own throughout the whole year. Thus the whole "supplemental student" category. Emails go out with openings and parents schedule as they please. I'm not actually super comfortable with that, since it blurs the lines and definitely will lead to trouble soon. I fear it'll be us who causes a rift. So I could use some advice.
I am looking at scheduling for the new school year (and next season) so it is only fair that I come to a decision and address the issue either way. Right away! But I'm not really sure what to do. Things get tricky if we use her as a primary coach and then try to schedule regular lessons with another coach (one she's recommended previously especially). There are other coaches who work in teams but she doesn't have the same kind of relationship with them. Her skaters rarely work with others, and it's mostly due to their level. Once they get more advanced they typically switch. I also feel like the other coach might want to be the primary to control the lessons with my skaters. Eventually we will need to switch but it feels awkward to completely leave our current coach when co-coaching actually happens as the norm. To make matters more complicated, we have one last competition locally that most skaters attend. This takes place after the school year and potentially after a coaching change. My skaters are aware we potentially have to sit it out, out of respect to our current coach, but we have deadlines fast approaching. How do I proceed in this unclear situation? So far I've received emails from our coach and two other coaches about scheduling for the year as main and supplemental students. Ugh. I want our coach to feel respected and appreciated but I feel like she's avoiding talking it over with us and I am sad and uncertain myself. If coaches have requested emails from students would it be bad to reply to the email with my intention to use a supplemental coach and then just ask the other coach to add us to her schedule wherever we fit? Probably what other students do, but it doesn't sit too well with me. Especially when eventually we will need to switch. Our coach tends to e less organized and often schedules the last of anyone...last minute. So it makes things extra tricky. Maybe I'm hung up on something that doesn't really matter? Thanks in advance for any advice/recommendation.
I've thought about a switch for a while now, but its hard to manage it. Our rink has a great set of coaches who often team up or share students. Which is part of the issue. It's all kind of loosey goosey with primary coaches and supplemental coaches and students making their own arrangements. Not clearly defined enough for my comfort. And a recipe for disaster IMO. Nowhere near the situation the USFSA sets up in their guidelines for switching coaches. But maybe more of a norm elsewhere?
Our coach has actually set up sessions with other coaches for my skaters to work on specific skills, but has maintained the primary coaching responsibility and relationship. Previously we have always scheduled supplemental coaching through her. Lately she has been less likely to recommend my skaters work with others and it might be because she feels insecure about our changing? Over the summer a lot of coaches offered extra time(things got very flexible) and after letting my coach know, I did schedule one or two supplemental sessions. I tried to remain respectful and mostly did it for convenience since it was a lot to manage our schedules and theirs. Other skaters parents seem to schedule through individual coaches on their own throughout the whole year. Thus the whole "supplemental student" category. Emails go out with openings and parents schedule as they please. I'm not actually super comfortable with that, since it blurs the lines and definitely will lead to trouble soon. I fear it'll be us who causes a rift. So I could use some advice.
I am looking at scheduling for the new school year (and next season) so it is only fair that I come to a decision and address the issue either way. Right away! But I'm not really sure what to do. Things get tricky if we use her as a primary coach and then try to schedule regular lessons with another coach (one she's recommended previously especially). There are other coaches who work in teams but she doesn't have the same kind of relationship with them. Her skaters rarely work with others, and it's mostly due to their level. Once they get more advanced they typically switch. I also feel like the other coach might want to be the primary to control the lessons with my skaters. Eventually we will need to switch but it feels awkward to completely leave our current coach when co-coaching actually happens as the norm. To make matters more complicated, we have one last competition locally that most skaters attend. This takes place after the school year and potentially after a coaching change. My skaters are aware we potentially have to sit it out, out of respect to our current coach, but we have deadlines fast approaching. How do I proceed in this unclear situation? So far I've received emails from our coach and two other coaches about scheduling for the year as main and supplemental students. Ugh. I want our coach to feel respected and appreciated but I feel like she's avoiding talking it over with us and I am sad and uncertain myself. If coaches have requested emails from students would it be bad to reply to the email with my intention to use a supplemental coach and then just ask the other coach to add us to her schedule wherever we fit? Probably what other students do, but it doesn't sit too well with me. Especially when eventually we will need to switch. Our coach tends to e less organized and often schedules the last of anyone...last minute. So it makes things extra tricky. Maybe I'm hung up on something that doesn't really matter? Thanks in advance for any advice/recommendation.