BellaZinga.Blog

Author: Jill Wismer

  • The Importance of “Culture” in Our Youth Sport Organizations

    The Importance of “Culture” in Our Youth Sport Organizations

    With thirty years of coaching experience, and ten years as a sport parent, I have been afforded many opportunities to create, implement,  observe, and critique different organizational cultures.

    If I am being entirely honest, one of the reasons I retired from coaching was my complete disillusionment surrounding the never-changing landscape of the culture we work in as figure skating coaches.

    Full disclosure: While I always did my best to create a positive culture, I have also been responsible for creating less than positive environments through mistakes I have made, either by reacting inappropriately to what I percieved as injustice or unfair criticism, or being so outspoken about organizational issues as to burn bridges behind me.

    Throughout my coaching life, I have worked for clubs with organizational cultures that felt so supportive and progressive I have deeply enjoyed coming to work because I felt so valued in my organization.  I cannot tell you how thankful I am that these clubs exist and I have had the pleasure of working in them. 

    I have worked in other clubs where the culture was simply average; drama and divisiveness with one executive, then support and cohesion with the next. This is more often the norm in figure skating clubs in Canada simply because of the nature of their structure.  For more on this, read my blog on some of the hardships endured by skating coaches in Canada.

    I have also had the displeasure of working with a couple of clubs that were quite toxic. 

    Photo by Kat Jayne on Pexels.com

    I cannot overstate enough the stress I experienced working with these clubs. One, in particular, stands out.  The anxiety I felt day in and day out was so bad it resulted in sleeplessness, nervous tics, weight gain, depression, self-doubt, and eventually burn-out. 

    Where I used to love going to work and didn’t even consider my coaching job as a “job,” I eventually became afraid to go to the rink because I always felt under attack. Even worse, it was plain the values I held dear were nowhere in evidence.

    The hardest part of all was to try and diagnose the problem.  Why was the club so toxic?  Was it me?  No matter how hard I tried to model clarity, to try to include people in my ideas, and to try to show professionalism, I seemed to fail at every turn.

    What made my slow descent into disenfranchisement even worse is that I could see that people in the organization were doing the best they could.  Yet somehow, the club became a place of division and strife. In the end, clarity in communication became non-existent, and trust had eroded to the point of being completely absent. There was little organizational structure to depend on, and skaters were leaving in droves.

    I speak often about how important the “culture” of any organization is, but when it comes down to it, it is a complicated concept that few people understand, and, in my humble opinion, even fewer value it as an important factor in the success of skating clubs.

    Before going any further, I want to give a shout-out to those clubs that do have wonderful, supportive, open, clear, and progressive cultures.  You can tell those clubs that put in the work; they are the ones that produce confident athletes, seem to have happy coaches who remain with the club for a long time, and in general, you just feel good being there. 

    Sadly, in my experience, you have a 50/50 shot of finding a skating club in Canada with a positive club culture.

    So what exactly IS organizational or club culture?

    Photo by Polina Zimmerman on Pexels.com

    Well, after consulting my wise colleague Google, there seem to be several similarities between the many definitions of “organizational culture.” 

    You can pare down the commonalities of organizational culture to these things:

    • There is a collective agreement on what things are important to that particular club or youth organization. This means that the leaders in the club gather and determine which things they wish to make a focal point for the day-to-day running of their organization.  These can include assumptions, beliefs, values, and practices.
    • The leaders of the organization are the ones that help to create and model these agreed-upon values or practices.
    • Workers in the organization are provided support in order to uphold these common beliefs or values, often in the form of incentives and also sometimes in the form of…ahem…punishment.
    • Leaders and workers alike work together to implement and maintain these beliefs, assumptions, values, or practices in order to create a harmonious and successful organization.

    So there it is, sounds easy right? 

    BWAH-HA-HA-HA……!  I hope that sound of my laughter in your ears isn’t too deafening.

    Creating and maintaining a strong and positive club or organizational culture is one of the most difficult things to do ever. 

    Full stop.

    With so many moving parts present in a figure skating club, like coaches, volunteers, parents, athletes, executive members, and administrative staff, just trying to get people to collectively commit to one set of shared values is nearly impossible.

    A full concerted effort has to be made by every single person in that skating club to commit to modeling the core values of that culture, as well as following the processes and procedures set in place in order to maintain these values.

    As someone who has always been fascinated by leadership styles (indeed, I am guilty of reading more books on leadership, mindset, and motivation by business leaders than your average bear), I have spent years trying to learn the “secret” to creating a positive club culture.

    I’ve had some success and just as many failures, but I can tell you from experience these are the things that every club needs to possess in order to create a positive culture.

    Clarity

    As someone who is late to hop on the Brene Brown train, I admit to always being skeptical of anything that smacks of self-help…but wow, this lady (sorry….Doctor!) blew me away.  Listening to her book “Dare to Lead” left me open-mouthed and wide-eyed from the sheer force of the multiple “a-ha” moments it provided.  (not to be confused with multiple orgasms, that’s another book and an entirely different type of author).

    While it would take too long to list all of the takeaways provided by this first-class researcher on vulnerability, courage, and shame in relationships AND in the workplace, one of the concepts that resonated the most deeply with me is: “clear is kind, and kind is clear.”

    Dr. Brown repeats this rule like a mantra, and indeed, it should be the mantra at every skating club or youth sports organization.

    Too often, we are too afraid to say what we are feeling. When we have a problem in our club, we hesitate to speak up for fear of sounding weak or, worse, like an emotional woman.

    Too often, we let wounds fester in our skating clubs, leaving rumours unaddressed and allowing issues to grow until the resentment between coaches or executive members is so great there is no hope of meeting with an open heart or mind, as Brown often recommends.

    I have always been clear. Perhaps too clear, and if I’m being candid, my delivery is not always as gentle as it could be. It has always been my belief that we have to name issues and do the hard work required to solve them in order to move forward productively.

    Unfortunately, everyone in the club has to “buy in” to this belief, and if you are the only one or one of the few who believes that “clear is kind,” then you will often find yourself in “unkind” waters for attempting to be transparent.

    Organization

    In order to have a successful club culture, there must be a system in place that everyone understands and trusts implicitly. For example, it is no use attempting to team coach when you have coaches who haven’t bought into the process and do everything in their power to undermine the program.

    Everyone in a productive organization must know their jobs and have the support necessary to carry them out to the best of their abilities. This leads me to my third point.

    Value Each Other

    Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com

    I can’t tell you how much a simple thing like “thank you” changes my day. Yet words like “thank you” or “I appreciate the job you did today” are very seldom used. When they are, they stand out.

    To value your fellow coaches and executive members means that you also trust them to do their job without micromanaging them.

    A club with a positive culture gives professionals and executive members alike the space they need to do their jobs well and the resources they need to do it.

    They also pay these individuals what they are worth and respect their time outside of the rink.

    A positive club culture is one that allows members to set healthy boundaries and maintain a work/life balance.

    Opportunity for Mentorship and Growth

    Every member of an organization or club needs a chance to grow within that organization. Opportunities for education and promotion should be regularly provided in order to keep members challenged and fulfilled in their careers.

    Novice coaches should be assigned a senior coach as a mentor to provide them support and guidance. The knowledge and experience mentor coaches can provide up-and-coming coaches are invaluable—particularly for female coaches—and will increase coach retention in the long run.

    Openness to Feedback

    No one likes receiving negative feedback. Myself the least of all. But in order to maintain and nurture a positive club culture, it is critical that all members in a skating club take a step back from their own egos and really LISTEN to feedback when it is offered. When members feel safe to open up about their concerns and feel valued and heard, the entire dynamic of the organization changes for the better.

    As an example, my daughter used to dance at a studio where I felt like I was always overreacting or being a hysterical female when I brought up my concerns to her instructors or the director. (I want to be accurate; there were two instructors that went over and above to help my daughter and recognized that she needed modifications; they were the reason we remained as long as we did).

    While lip service was paid to my concerns, nothing was ever changed, and I felt alienated and devalued, much like my daughter was feeling.

    As I later found out, my daughter was diagnosed with special needs, and we left that studio for one that has one of the best organizational cultures I have ever seen. Every time I have approached any of the teachers or the owner of our new studio about any concerns, I have been met with absolute openness and care, and best of all, action was immediately taken.

    This is what inspires people to remain loyal to your organization.

    Constant Vigilance

    As I mentioned above, it is not enough to simply write a mission statement about what the main values are for your organization. Now you have to “walk the walk.” This is where most organizations fall down.

    Photo by fotografierende on Pexels.com

    With so many changes in our executive members and sometimes coaching staff, the values and beliefs that are so integral to each figure skating club require constant care and follow-up in order to maintain. Positive club cultures are not a “one-and-done” thing.

    Another practical yet ground-breaking idea from Brene Brown is the idea of “rumbling with vulnerability.” Simply put, this is a meeting (on a continuous basis—I would recommend weekly) where everyone comes together with a total commitment to complete openness and vulnerability.

    Everyone is required to share a viewpoint and back it up; no one is allowed to sit back and coast. The idea is to set aside ego and come together, in understanding and vulnerability, to find workable solutions to any issues.

    I can’t state strongly enough how much I wish we had these at the skating clubs I have worked at. And yes, for those of us in the profession long enough, we are supposed to have coaches’ meetings, but are those really open?

    Do people feel they can be vulnerable and will be supported in sharing their issues? Are the executive members present at these meetings too? Shouldn’t they be?

    As you can see, creating and maintaining a positive culture in your youth sports organization or figure skating club can be a difficult process, but it is well worth it.

    If you are a club executive member, skating school director, dance studio owner, or club coach, I highly recommend reading any of Brene Brown’s books, particularly “Dare to Lead.” It may help you create a more positive club culture in your organization.

    If you want to hear more about organizational culture in youth sports, watch for our “Coaches on Edge” Podcast, where we dissect our experiences and thoughts concerning organizational, club, and studio culture. You can find us on Anchor, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts, and RadioPublic!

    We’ll be joined by Shawna Kwan, Owner of Elan Dance Arts: Dance Teacher, Choreographer, Business Mentor, and Entrepreneur, as we discuss the things we do to maintain a positive culture for our athletes.

    If you have any questions, comments, or pointers for creating your own positive culture you’d like us to discuss on our podcast, let us know in the comments below!

  • 6 Things I Learned from Starting a Podcast

    6 Things I Learned from Starting a Podcast

    I never thought I would be a retired skating coach. Skating was my passion, my life and my reason for getting up in the morning. Coaching quickly became my new passion after university, and I had always envisioned myself as one of those coaches sitting on a stool teaching from the boards at 90, still loving it and giving back.

    Circumstances changed, and demanded I “pivot” from my 30 year career in coaching. Truthfully, it was a struggle. So much of my identity was wrapped up in seeing myself as “coach” that when it was stripped away, I didn’t recognize myself.

    Even though I’d found a gig that paid my bills, it didn’t feed my soul and challenge me the way coaching did, and I floundered away from the sport. I knew I had more to say, but I didn’t know how to say it.

    One day, as I was aimlessly flipping through the available apps on my phone, I came across Anchor, an app designed to let anyone start their own podcast with zero cost and minimal equipment.

    After floating the idea by a couple of coaching friends we were in business and we are now three podcasts in and loving the process.

    Along the way, I’ve learned a LOT about myself and thought I would share some of my realizations with you. So without ado, here are 6 things I have learned about myself by recording a podcast.

    1. My Imposter Syndrome is Alive and Well

    Photo by Ibolya Toldi from Pexels

    I’ve always suffered from low self-esteem and imposter syndrome. Therapy, self-talk and affirmations (things every coach is VERY familiar with) have helped me with my self-image to the point where if I’m having a bad day, I can “fake it” perfectly with no one the wiser.

    There is always a little voice inside my head that surfaces when I am trying something new or putting myself out there that asks, (in it’s insipid voice), “who do you think you are?” or, “why do you think people would want to listen to you?”

    When you podcast, you’re sharing a little bit of yourself to the entire world (well, at the very least, our 5 subscribers…hey…we’re new!) It’s scary to be that vulnerable, knowing that you could be opening yourself up to criticism. Each podcast gets a little easier, but it’s still there.

    2. My Love of Skating is NOT Dead

    I’ve made no secret concerning my opinions on the issues I see systemically within our sport system in Canada, particularly for coaches working in smaller centres. After thirty years of coaching, and in particular the last nine years in a place that seems to be a hotbed of rumor, back-channeling, and toxicity, I was drained and disillusioned.

    I felt that there MUST be something wrong with me, because no matter how hard I worked, or how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to make things better. As the saying goes, “same shit, different pile.” There is nothing worse than doubting yourself at every turn and walking on eggshells. When you add to that a history of chronically being undervalued and underpaid, as so many of us are, it results in burnout.

    Over a year ago, I made the decision to NOT return to coaching, and it was like a weight had lifted off of my chest. I had no idea how much I had let the culture around me affect my mental and emotional health. And to be frank, I didn’t have much good to say about our profession in general.

    I now know that was the depression and anxiety talking, and that my love of the sport is NOT DEAD; the lessons I have learned from doing it, and how I FEEL when I help young athletes learn, have kept my passion and interest alive. By sharing my thoughts, concerns and feelings in a safe environment with my trusted coaching friends, I am slowly finding my love of the sport again.

    3. I Needed Grown-Up Time

    Not that we need reminding, but, this year has felt like a zombie-fucking-apocolypse y’all, and the isolation was really starting to get to me. Like, having-entire-conversations-with-my-daughter’s-LOL-dolls and breaking-into-show-numbers-from-Hamilton-at-any-given-moment kind of getting to me.

    Just being able to schedule an hour of intelligent, constructive, ADULT conversation with friends who absolutely “get” the world of coaching is GOLD.

    4. I Need to Learn to Enunciate

    I had always thought of myself as fairly articulate, both in the written word AND speaking. Turns out…not so much. In our last podcast we were chatting and comparing the two skating styles of the US skater Nathan Chen, and our Canadian icon Patrick Chan.

    Now, I KNOW that their last names are “CHEN” and “CHAN” respectively, and I know when we were chatting about these two skaters I said Nathan Chen and Patrick Chan, but upon listening to the playback, I quickly realized that I was not very clear when it came to pronouncing the short “A” sound in Chan.

    SIGH…..diction lessons for me it is. You will find me reciting “the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plane” a la “My Fair Lady” for the next little while. The irony is I actually teach English as a second language every morning and spend countless hours helping young kids learn how to properly pronounce those same sounds!

    So for anyone listening to our third podcast, I am in fact saying “Nathan CHEN, and Patrick CHAN”….. but you just can’t tell.

    5. I Am Blessed to be Surrounded by Intelligent Friends

    I am blessed in my life. Every single one of my friends teaches me something every time I interact with them, and my co-hosts on our podcast are no exception. I learn something new about myself, the sport of figure skating, and coaching in general by our frank discussion.

    Photo by APG Graphics on Pexels.com

    I’ve always been a believer that sharing ideas and opinions is the best way to learn and grow, and this podcast has only reinforced that belief. Picking topics and sharing viewpoints, whether you are in agreement or not, opens your mind and helps you grow as individuals.

    6. It Really Matters to Me That This Podcast Can Inform and Inspire New Coaches

    As you get older, you always wonder what you will leave behind. Have I made life better for at least one person? Have I made a difference in the lives of my students, my friends, or my child?

    With each podcast I realize I have a forum that my friends and I can utilize to inform others about the positives and negatives related to professional coaching. I’m hopeful we can do it in a funny, candid and constructive way, and provide some degree of mentorship and inspiration.

    As senior coaches, and particularly as women in coaching, it’s our job to open doors and support those coming after us. It’s the least we can do for our sport, and to repay those that helped us along the way.

    It’s always scary to put myself out there, but I’m so glad I did. I’m enjoying creating our podcast so much, and I encourage you to listen and become part of the conversation!

    Check us out: Coaches On Edge on Anchor, Spotify, Google Podcasts, RadioPublic, Breaker, PocketCasts, and Overcast.

    Have you stepped out of your comfort zone with any new ventures lately? Share your experience and what you’ve learned in the comments!

  • Coaching Neurodiverse Athletes

    Coaching Neurodiverse Athletes

    I have a confession to make. I used to be one of those coaches who did not believe ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder) was a real “thing.” I cringe as I write this, but there it is.

    I can remember YEARS ago as I was in the midst of coaching a group of young boys for an ice show number. The boys were a handful, and I had been informed that several of them had ADHD.

    “Right,” I thought to myself, “all these kids need are a strong hand and firm boundaries….seriously.”

    So I cracked down. I was firm, and strict. Hell, I ran that practice like a drill sergeant. And those poor kids had no fun whatsoever.

    When I think back to that time, I can’t believe how ignorant I was…..I had no knowledge of ADHD, and just assumed in my hubris that it was the result of inadequate parental discipline. I still shudder to think of my lack of empathy and understanding for those poor kids suffering with invisible conditions, as well as the parents doing their best to help them.

    Fate has a twisted sense of humor, and she decided I was in need of a serious karmic tune-up. The first person put in my path to teach me valuable lessons was a competitive skater. I had worked with many recreational skaters in the past with ADHD and other special needs, but I had not had the pleasure and the challenge to work closely for a long period of time with a higher level athlete.

    It was an eye-opening experience. There were so many behaviors I observed over the course of our years together that I was to learn were simply not in my athletes’ control, and I experienced first-hand the struggles faced physically, mentally and emotionally these brave kiddos face every-single-day.

    I also learned that despite all of my coaching experience, my university degree, and my thousands of dollars spent on my NCCP coaching courses over the years, I had received virtually no training in 20 years of coaching with my association, (up until that point in time) on how to coach neurodiverse athletes.

    It was an aha! moment, and I immediately went to work to learn as much as I could about conditions like ADHD, ASD, giftedness, dyslexia, processing disorders, executive function issues and so many others…..and let me tell you, there is a LOT to learn.,

    After taking courses in Learning Disabilities and ADHD with different associations and colleges, I felt better equipped to be the best coach I could be for my skater.

    Then fate hit me with the second of it’s one-two punch.

    I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. My miracle baby after years of infertility. And it quickly became apparent that there was something different about her; not better or worse, (although she certainly demanded MORE of me than other babies and toddlers her age seemed to demand of other parents)…..just….different.

    Sure enough, after years of research, advocating, homeschooling and fighting against judgement and stereotyping…..I had a diagnosis….well, one of possibly many diagnoses….my daughter has ADHD. And anxiety. And executive function issues….and possibly Aspergers. Let’s not forget possible dysgraphia. Or the possibility of processing issues….oh yeah…and pretty sure she’s gifted too!

    (note: I am aware Aspergers has now been grouped under the autism umbrella and categorized as an Autism Spectrum Disorder–ASD–but Asperger’s and “Aspie” is the term we have chosen to use.)

    Holy fuck.

    On a personal level, I found out just how amazing, wonderful, frustrating, overwhelming and draining it feels to be the parent of a kiddo with an invisible disability and superpower like ADHD.

    Not gonna lie though, sometimes it feels like I am drowning.

    Over the course of the years, as my daughter tried different activities like skating, karate, soccer, and dance, I was able to observe many different types of teachers, coaches and dance instructors as they worked with my daughter.

    I felt I had a unique viewpoint given my many years coaching, and my years parenting a neurodiverse child to REALLY understand what it takes to teach kiddos with unseen disabilities.

    And I was, unfortunately, often disappointed.

    I say this with the utmost respect to those amazing teachers and individuals I have encountered who were fully educated about my daughters needs, and those who went over and above to help her and really individualize her learning experience.

    Some of my best friends are teachers, educational assistants and coaches to special needs kiddos, so I see and appreciate those who actively work to make a difference every day.

    Unfortunately, most teachers, coaches and dance instructors simply don’t have the tools in their toolbox, the knowledge, or even the motivation to learn the techniques required to work with these kids.

    And even MORE UNFORTUNATELY, most sports and educational institututions don’t supply adequate training or compensation for their teachers/instructors who deal with children with special needs, and are equally lacking with resources and supports for those who need it most.

    I remember clearly my daughter coming home sobbing from school, not understanding why her teacher got mad at her for not finishing her work on time, or taking off her outside clothes after recess before she was late for class. Even though I stressed that my daughter struggled with executive functioning, working memory, and fine motor skills, all of which required more time and assistance to complete most tasks, her teacher was not able to give her the time, grace or help she needed.

    I also remember a couple of my daughters’ dance teachers making the students sit on the studio floor for long lectures, a task that is painful for kids with ADHD. I also watched them giving long lists of instructions or corrections that were difficult for my daughter to follow and, in my opinion-the cruelest thing of all-telling the kids that only the students that could sit still and be quiet enough would be the ones who would get the best parts in the dance.

    My daughter felt unseen, unheard and unworthy. She still has nightmares about that particular dance studio. We have since changed studios and are with a wonderful, inclusive studio where my daughter has found her love of dance again.

    But the damage was done.

    So in an effort to save my fellow coaches some time as they work with athletes that may have these invisible disabilities, I thought I’d compile a list of the things I’ve experienced and information I’ve researched in an effort to better help YOU help YOUR students.

    Before we get started, I’d like to impart a few words of caution.

    When talking to your athletes parents about what you are seeing with their children, don’t normalize the behavior in an attempt to make them feel better. How often have you heard or been part of a conversation like this?

    Tired parent: “So how did Sally do in her lesson today?”

    Coach: “She did well, but she was pretty busy, she had trouble standing still and listening to me giving directions.“

    Tired parent: “Sorry, she has a hard time maintaining attention, but she is listening….(sigh), she’s just very busy and it takes a lot of work to keep her on track.“

    Coach: “All kids are busy, but she just needs to pay attention to the instructions so she knows what to do in the lesson.“

    Sounds okay, right? The coach didn’t sound mean, just explaining what behavior is required in the lesson. I mean, we’re taught to be clear about our expectations, right?

    The problem lies with the “all kids are busy” part.

    You may think by down-playing that child’s hyperactivity you are making the parent feel better by pointing out that all kids are busy, or have difficulty paying attention.

    But you aren’t making them feel better. In actual fact, you are making them feel awful.

    Think about it. Kids with invisible disabilities have an actual, proven, neurobiological and physical disability. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. They simply are MORE, and because of these deficits they demand MORE from parents and coaches.

    Would you tell a parent of a child with cerebral palsy, “it’s okay, all children have trouble with movement and muscle tone.”

    Pretty sure you wouldn’t. But when you tell a parent of a child with an invisible condition that “all children” are like that you are devaluing their entire experience of parenting their child. You are in actuality giving credence to the judgment they hear every day from people with no knowledge of the biological reasons for their children’s differences.

    You are, in effect, saying that if all children are like that, then it must be an issue with the environment or parenting.

    And that’s just shitty. Even when it’s meant with the best of intentions, it still hurts. The shame and recrimination we feel and think every day as the parent of a neurodiverse kiddo is a pretty heavy burden. Trust me, we already judge ourselves more harshly than other parents. So don’t add to that guilt, okay?

    Next, as the saying goes, “if you’ve met one individual with autism, you’ve met one individual with autism.” (Steven Shore)

    This means that no two neurodiverse athletes will have the same characteristics, strengths and weaknesses as the other. Every neurodiverse individual is unique, as coaches it is our job to figure out what works, what doesn’t and how to adapt our teaching styles to best accommodate them. It’s not their job to accommodate us…..they are physically unable to do so.

    You have to approach every neurodiverse student as if they are a puzzle to figure out. You have to observe their behavior, discuss their needs with their parents who are often the BEST source of information, research their conditions, talk with other coaches or teachers who have had success with their own special needs students, and finally, use trial and error in your approach to coaching them.

    Coaching students with invisible special needs is not for the faint of heart. These kids can try your patience and knowledge to the Nth degree, but when you figure out how they learn best, you will be richly rewarded. Without further ado, here are a few common sense and easily applied strategies you can use in your every day coaching these athletes.

    1. Keep Your Instructions Short

    Really short.

    THIS.SHORT.

    Seriously guys, I can not stress this enough. Asking kids with attention deficits to sit through long lectures, explanations or any instructions longer than a few chunks of information is actually not only unrealistic, it is almost cruel to them.

    Give instructions in short, easy to remember chunks. Then send your student off to try it.

    If you use “cue” or “key” words when you teach (and you should, because…hello!) then you need to try to use the same 4-5 keywords for everything.

    I know, this is hard to do….especially if you are working on two very different skills in a lesson, but do your best. It is critical that you make your instructions as easily accessible for their brains as possible.

    Think about it, learning is an incredibly complex process-when you learn something new you have to be able to access and rehearse the information as you hold it in your working memory, and then incorporate it into your motor program carefully enough so that you myelinate the correct pathway!

    And let’s not forget that the brain also has to convert that information from your short-term/working memory to long-term memory, and then be able to figure out where you stored the correct information when you need to access it in subsequent practices.

    And of course, if you struggle with regulating attention, this will hamper the process of encoding the information….this is what happens when you have students who have seemingly grasped a skill or concept one day, then appear to have no knowledge of the skill the next. It feels like you are re-teaching skills constantly and can get quite frustrating. This leads me to my next point.

    2. More Patience, More Understanding, More Kindness

    Imagine what the learning process feels like for your neurodiverse students. These athletes are giving you every effort they can, doing their best to attend and learn, and they still struggle to retain skills from one day to the next, watching their neurotypical counterparts pick up the skills more rapidly and with less effort.

    It’s not fair, and as a coach, you absolutely have to give support and empathy to these athletes. They will require more understanding, more patience, and more kindness than you may have ever thought you have.

    Don’t think you have that level of support in you? Trust me, you will find wells of empathy you never knew you had, because when these kids finally achieve a skill they have worked and cried and literally bled for, it will feel like they have won the freaking Olympics.

    (For a great infographic on how we encode, store and retrieve information, check out learnupon.com)

    The learning process for any new skill is hard enough for a neurotypical learner, let alone a child who has a deficit in the brain processes required for these tasks…which leads me to my next point, kids with processing disorders.

    3. Give the Gift of Time

    A neurodiverse athlete or learner will often have difficulty in any one of the steps required to encode, store or retrieve information.

    Often, upon hearing verbal instructions, students with processing issues require time for the auditory input to reach their brain. I think of it as that swirling circle you see when you type information into your web browser and are waiting for it to load.

    You have to give your neurodiverse athletes more time then you would normally give your neurotypical athletes when you give instructions. If working in a group setting, give the instruction, using only a few chunks of information (remember, SHORT instructions) and send your neurotypical athletes out first to practice the skill.

    Then, use the time with your neurodiverse kiddos to check for understanding. You can ask them to repeat what you said, and if you detect they are having difficulty you can repeat, rephrase, or reform your instructions, perhaps drawing a picture, or demonstrating the skill yourself while stressing the cue words.

    Even more helpful would be pictures of the instructions posted for them to refer back to when necessary.

    Too often, I see coaches blaming kiddos for not paying attention, or not caring, when they don’t understand given instructions. Remember, A CHILD WILL DO WELL IF THEY CAN, if they cannot, it is our job to help them to do well.

    Talking louder and repeating the same instruction to your athlete when they struggled to understand it the first time will. not. help. It only creates anxiety and frustration in the learner.

    I heard a brilliant analogy of this from the “Leaky Brakes” Brake Shop Webinar offered from the Child and Parent Resource Institute in London Ontario. I highly stress you check them out, because it will CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK about kids with impulse control problems.

    Here’s the analogy: Imagine you have a beautiful sports car. This car is the top of the line, it can drive faster than any car on the road. Now imagine, there’s a leak in the brake line of this beautiful car. This car simply cannot stop when it needs to.

    Will yelling at the car and repeating “stop, stop, stop!” help the car to stop?

    Will threatening to take away the best oil from the car if the car doesn’t stop help the car to stop?

    No, identifying that there is a problem with the brake line, that the car is physically UNABLE to stop at this time, and figuring out how to fix the brake line is how you fix the problem.

    We have to change how we approach and work with these kids, realizing we cannot have the same expectations from them as we have from neurotypical kids.

    And we absolutely cannot use the same language, motivation, or discipline techniques with our neurodiverse athletes as we do with our neurotypical athletes.

    It just won’t work.

    4. Help Them Prioritize

    Often, athletes who seem to not give their best effort in a task are not procrastinating out of disinterest, they are unsure how to begin. Many neurodiverse athletes have deficits with executive functioning, which impedes how they access information to complete tasks.

    In order to complete any task, we must be able to organize our thoughts enough to pick a beginning point. This involves prioritizing the elements of a task and picking the most important to complete first, organizing each subsequent element of a task in sequence, and finally, accomplishing the appropriate portion last.

    This act of determining which elements of a skill must be practiced or completed first is sometimes the biggest obstacle to a neurodiverse athlete as they attempt to learn new skills and incorporate instructions.

    In order to help, first, keep instructions short, and repeat them as many times as necessary for the athlete to remember. Where you might teach a skill with the “whole-part-whole” approach for a neurotypical athlete, when it comes to dealing with students who think differently, you must parse your instructions down even more.

    Lower your expectations with regard to the time it takes to learn new tasks, and break skills down into chunks involving only 2 chunks of information or physical actions at a time.

    Next, give your instructions using this phrase: “First…….then….”

    Giving instructions in this format helps neurodiverse kiddos pick the most important step to begin with, and the next step to do after they have accomplished the first.

    This gives them a clear path to learning the skill with much less use of brain power on their part, allowing them more enjoyment in the learning process itself.

    I also highly recommend writing these instructions down where they are easily accessible, such as laminated lists you can re-use daily. Having instructions posted where neurodiverse learners can see them helps them when they lose focus and become distracted.

    5. Dial It Down

    Many student athletes have “sensory processing” disorders, which deals with the way a body receives and processes sensory information from the outside world. Children that have sensory issues often experience stimuli more strongly than others, and things like loud noises or bright lights can be painful for them.

    If you know or suspect that an athlete may have sensory issues, you might want adapt their learning environment, choosing times when there is less stimuli, less people, and less noise. If you are teaching a sport in an environment that requires music, then watch the volume of the music, and make sure to modify it if it causes issues for the athlete in question.

    Teaching group lessons with students who struggle with distraction may be difficult, however, kids that struggle with social cues learn so much about how to interact with their peers when they are working with a group of friends toward a common goal and under the guidance of an instructor.

    I recommend a balance of group lessons for work on social skills and private for intensive skill work in order to provide the best benefit for your neurodiverse athletes, but remember, every neurodiverse kiddo is different, so trust your instinct for what you feel will work best for them.

    From taste, touch, pressure, sight and hearing, be prepared for your neurodiverse athletes to exhibit sensitivity in any of these areas, and work to lessen the discomfort so they can train free of distractions.

    6. Delayed Development

    All coaches have received training concerning the difference between chronological age (years) and developmental age (maturity). When working with neurodiverse children, it is important to remember two things:

    First, it is very common to see delayed development in kiddos that have hidden disabilities like ADHD or ASD. Children can often lag behind several years from their counterparts.

    This means that while you might be teaching a student who looks 12, he or she may be up to 3 years behind their counterparts in not only physical, but also social or emotional development.

    As coaches, we have to recognize this lag and adjust our expectations on everything from emotional control to reading social cues.

    Second, development in children with hidden disabilities and issues is often ASYNCHRONOUS, particularly in children with multiple special needs-often called twice- exceptional children.

    This means that you could be dealing with a gifted 8 year old child who knows more than you about the Canadian political system, yet struggles to grasp basic time management each practice, and may have the emotional control of a 6 year old.

    Be prepared to meet your neurodiverse athlete on all levels in order to best engage them as they learn.

    7. Embrace Anxiety

    This sounds funny I know, after all, who wants to embrace anxiety? What I mean is, as a coach, you have to realize that anxiety goes hand-in-hand with neurodiversity. Children who suffer with invisible disabilities often know they are different before they are even diagnosed. They know things are harder for them, and they feel shame and anxiety about not fitting in.

    Often anxiety will show up as perfectionism, negative self-talk, crying, or reluctance to practice. Even more often, the anxiety about failure, or being different, will manifest in stomache aches, headaches, aches, pains and melt downs.

    It is important to remember that if you have a child athlete that exhibits these symptoms often, and all possible physical causes are ruled out, then you are likely looking at a physical expression of their psychological turmoil.

    Don’t accuse them of making excuses or trying to get out of work. They didn’t ask for this. Instead do what you can to alleviate their anxiety.

    Help them name their fears, if they can’t express how they are feeling then they can’t address how to control those feelings.

    Once your neurodiverse athletes have named their fears, don’t discount them or issue the typical “stop worrying” advice that we so often hear. While it is important to recognize your students’ anxiety, it is equally important to not try to fix it, or tell them to stop worrying. Doing this invalidates your athletes feelings, after all, they are allowed to feel what they feel.

    Instead, start teaching mindfulness, growth mindset and relaxation strategies EARLY and OFTEN. Then practice, practice, practice.

    I can’t stress this enough. As a coach of neurodiverse athletes, you must stay on top of their mental training….it will be as important as their physical training.

    Once you have the basis of these strategies, stress to your athlete that anxiety is natural, but they have the tools to cope with it and you have faith they can do it.

    Anxiety is a tricky monster for neurodiverse athletes, but it CAN be controlled with CONSISTENT EFFORT from them, and CONSTANT support from you, their coach.

    8. Change Your Thinking

    As coaches, we have this belief about what it takes for kids to be coachable. We’ve all seen those memes we circulate on Facebook, hell, I’ve even circulated some of them.

    I know you all know the ones I’m referring to, memes that start like this:

    Ten things that have require zero talent.

    Being on time. (ten times harder for kids with executive function issues.)

    Work ethic. (hard for kids with ADHD or ASD that are prone to distraction, which is often mistaken for laziness.)

    Effort (often neurodiverse kids are so riddled with anxiety they give up, or they don’t even know where to begin due to executive function or processing disorders.)

    I hope you are all starting to see what I am talking about here. It’s time to stop posting these motivational memes. We need to stop applying these neurotypical expectations to our neurodiverse athletes because they shame those athletes for which these behaviors are ten times harder.

    We have to adjust our expectations when teaching kiddos that think differently. This means:

    Stop asking them to look you in the eye when you are talking to them, often this makes it HARDER for neurodiverse kiddos to focus.

    Stop asking them to stand up straight and stop fidgeting when you are explaining a task to them. Many kiddos have balance or coordination issues that require them to lean on something for support, and some have chemical imbalances that make it next to impossible to not fidget.

    Stop asking kiddos to stand in line and wait their turn. Aside from just poor coaching (yes, I said it) asking neurodiverse children to stand in a formation and do nothing but wait their turn is not realistic and sets them up for failure.

    As coaches, we need to change our beliefs about how we teach our students and what we expect from them. There are more neurodiverse athletes out there than we realize, and we simply haven’t adapted our teaching techniques to accommodate their needs.

    It’s time we let go of outdated practices, and started really exploring how to best help this underserved population of athlete.

    Sports can be a life-saver for kids struggling with invisible disabilites, following these simple tips can change lives for the better, both yours and your students.

    If you have any tips for teaching and supporting neurodiverse athletes, feel free to share!

  • 25 Tips and Apps for Homeschooling During the Coronavirus

    25 Tips and Apps for Homeschooling During the Coronavirus

    When I made my decision to homeschool my daughter, I had the luxury of time. I debated pros and cons, researched everything I could lay my hands on, and made the choice that was best for my daughter.

    The key word there is choice.

    I had a choice.

    I can’t imagine what it must feel like to have the choice of homeschooling thrust on you out of a necessity to stay alive, and I empathize with every single parent out there who finds themselves homeschooling during the Coronavirus.

    I mean, it’s not like we aren’t stressed out enough, why not add the extra responsibility of taking over our children’s education while we’re at it?

    In order to lessen your load, and hopefully make the homeschooling process easier along the way, I want to impart some tips, and a long list some of the many websites and resources I have utilized for the past two years in our homeschooling journey. (I’m sure I have missed many, it’s been a long homeschooling journey for us, and I’ve tried everything!)

    I won’t lie to you, homeschooling, and ESPECIALLY homeschooling during COVID-19, isn’t easy. But, for those of you trying to homeschool during the coronavirus, read on for help from someone who has been there, done that.

    1. To Schedule or Not to Schedule

    When I first began to homeschool, I bought a planner, and created a wonderful, comprehensive schedule. It had EVERYTHING: second languages, dance, music theory, interactive math, geography, I mean, it was a freaking thing of beauty.

    And it was totally and utterly useless.

    I quickly found out that children often don’t like to follow schedules, and my neurodiverse and gifted child REALLY, REALLY, REALLY did not like to follow schedules.

    So I had a choice: I either spend endless amounts of time and pull out chunks of hair in frustration as I try to make my child comply to me, OR I could focus on where she wanted to go, and what she wanted to learn each day.

    It was like night and day.

    Suddenly I had a child who was eager to learn and curious about the world around her.

    Look, you do you, if you need to make a schedule and follow it, and your child responds well to the routine, then go for it. But first ask yourself, is the schedule for them or for me?

    These are crazy times. We all have to adapt. And if you are trying to homeschool during the coronavirus, I think adaptability may take top priority.

    2. Make it Fun

    Look, they may not show it, but our kids are listening, and taking in more then they are letting on. They know things are different, and they feel the stress and energy we are all carrying, whether you think you are showing it or not.

    That’s why it is more important than ever to make learning fun. Keep it tactile. Make games out of it. Find as many interactive apps and programs as you can, change from video, to written work, to crafts, to dance and back as often as you need to to keep them happy and engaged.

    You might just keep yourself happy and engaged in the process.

    3. You Don’t Need As Much Lesson Time as Brick and Mortar Schools Provide

    Because your children are getting focused, personal attention from you as they learn, you will find you do not need to devote as much time each day learning as they do at regular school.

    The school day is often taken up by outdoor activities like recess, as well as transitioning between classes, busy work, or simply shifting focus from lesson to lesson.

    You don’t need to homeschool for very long each day to achieve the same results as you would in regular school.

    In fact, due to the anxiety caused by our current zombie apocalypse COVID-19 pandemic, I would recommend to keep sessions short and the overall lesson time short as well.

    In most homeschooling blogs, you will see a general rule of thumb of 30 minutes recommended lesson time per grade, starting with Kindergarten. Hence a 1st grader would only need an hour of homeschooling daily. A 2nd grader would only need an hour and a half, a 3rd grader would need two hours, and so on, and so on.

    Given the stress of our current pandemic, I would recommend keeping it even lighter than this, at 20 minutes per grade daily.

    Again, keep in mind, if your child is keen on a certain day, let them learn as much and for as long as they want. And if they are reluctant, then don’t force it, give them the day off.

    4. Keep the Sessions Short

    I found that for my daughter, we had to do short mini-lessons of no more than 10 minutes each when we were dealing with subjects she wasn’t passionate about, and I had to intersperse them with physical activity, games or other breaks in order to give her time to re-group.

    However, if we were dealing with a subject my kiddo was passionate about, it wasn’t abnormal for us to spend a day on that one particular subject.

    Take your cue from your children. Follow where they lead, and you’ll be the better for it, I promise you.

    5. Give Your Kiddo(s) a Sense of Control

    Speaking of letting your kiddos take the lead, I recommend allowing THEM to be in charge of organizing the schedule and picking what they want to learn. I used laminated clipart to represent each possible thing we could do for homeschool every day, from a sewing machine icon for sewing lessons, to numbers for math. Every morning, I will pick out a handful that I feel we should cover for the day, and then I will allow my daughter to swap out any she’s not keen on and put them in the order she would like to do them.

    This allows your homeschooler to play an active part in their own education. When they feel valued, respected and heard, they will be more willing to learn and follow direction later.

    6. Incorporate ALL Their Senses When Learning

    We all know there are many types of learners; visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and those that prefer to receive their information through reading and writing, so it stands to reason that you appeal to as many senses as you can when teaching your kiddos.

    This means you use worksheets, videos, games, dance, singing, art or any other medium that appeals to them. My daughter and I improve her throwing skills and practice counting by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5,’s etc. with each catch.

    7. Learning Takes Place OUTSIDE of Lesson Time Too

    If your kiddos are having a bad day, don’t sweat it. The beauty of homeschooling is you can improvise and make it up as you go. If they don’t want to homeschool today, then slip some learnin’ in when you cut up an apple for a snack, it’s a great time to learn fractions.

    If it’s a sunny day, you can look for clouds in the sky and talk about cloud formation.

    Everything is an opportunity for learning and everywhere is your classroom. Once you figure that out, you’re off to the races.

    Without further ado, I will switch from tips for how to homeschool, and provide my list of resources, programs and apps that I’ve found to be particularly helpful.

    8. Reading Eggs

    Reading Eggs was one of the first English and grammar programs I was introduced to in my homeschooling journey and we are still using it. With different levels for different ages, you will find Reading Eggs Junior for kids 2-4 years old, Reading Eggs for kids 3-7, and Reading Eggspress for kids 7-13 years old.

    I can’t say enough about this program y’all. For my neurodiverse kiddo, it checks all the boxes.

    From fun animated characters, organized lessons, quizzes and progress reports, this app does a LOT of the heavy lifting for you. And my daughter loves, loves, loves the reward system! Every task and lesson completed earns your child eggs, which they can use to outfit their very own apartment. Not to mention the cool trading cards they can receive for lessons completed!

    In addition, there is a great library for your child to access, as well as separate tasks designed for specific spelling and word study.

    I highly recommend this app, I access it on my PC but you can also download the app in Google Play and the App Store.

    9. MathSeeds

    Offered in conjunction with Reading Eggs, Math Seeds provides online math lessons for ages 3-9. As with Reading Eggs, this program is designed to be colorful, dynamic and fun, building steadily from one concept to the next, and breaking each down to easy-to-understand parts.

    Just like Reading Eggs, all progress is tracked, and you can take a test to figure out which level to start your kiddo at. Rewards are abundant, and this time, your kiddo can totally outfit their very own tree house, cuz, you know…..TREE HOUSE!

    Math Seeds is offered on Google Play and the App Store and is accessible through the Reading Eggs web page or App. The only catch is you may have to buy a Reading Eggs Subscription in order to receive Mathseeds. The price is affordable, starting at about $7 Canadian monthly.

    10. Education.com

    Another great program available and offering free basic subscriptions during the COVID-19 pandemic is Education .com. With fun and engaging interactive lessons from grades pre-kindergarten up to grade five in Reading, Writing, Math and Typing, plus a MILLION worksheets and downloadable workbooks, PLUS fun ribbons for rewards, this is another great way to learn and not even know you’re learning.

    Oh yeah, they’ll keep track of your child’s progress, provide assessments, and also give daily suggestions of downloads for science, art and social studies too!

    11. Zorbits Math Adventure

    My sister-in-law, who is a teacher, tipped me off to this math program, and I’m so glad she did. Imagine you are an explorer and you get to land on different planets and help the inhabitants by doing math problems. That’s the premise for this program, and it comes with so many other bells and whistles, from colorful interactive lessons, to complete lesson plans with accompanying worksheets and activities, it has it all.

    And the best thing yet, they are providing free learning bundles during this challenging time. Check out Zorbits.com here for your free learning bundle.

    12. BrainPop and BrainPop Jr.

    Science? They’ve got it. English? Oh Yeah! Arts and Music? Check. Engineering and Tech? Yup. You will find ALL of these on BrainPop or BrainPop Jr. (K-3)

    From video lessons on digital technology, to social and emotional learning, to quizzes and games, and even templates to form reports, these programs are informative and well-rounded.

    Oh yeah, and they are free during the pandemic. SCORE!

    You can find BrainPop and Brain Pop Jr. on the Google Play and the App Store. They also have a new app called BrainPop ELL which looks to be an English program/app. We haven’t tried this yet, but if it’s free, I would suggest you give it a try and let me know how you like it.

    13. Adventure Academy

    If you want an adventure, then I’ve got the perfect one for you! This program is completely immersive and interactive. Your kiddo gets to create an avatar and wander around the Adventure Academy universe, which is fully tailored to learning. From physics, to math, to English to social studies, your learner will be sent on quests and assigned tasks daily, all designed to promote learning.

    Now, for those of you worried about online predators, there is a chat function, but you can set the privacy settings to wherever you would like for your own comfort.

    The depth of material and content is truly remarkable, and it is a completely engaging way to get your homeschooler some socialization time combined with LOTS of learning.

    You can find the Adventure Academy App on Google Play and the App Store.

    14. Lingo Bus

    If you’re looking for something new to introduce to your kiddo, you can try Chinese. Lingo Bus provides fully immersive Chinese lessons with a native Chinese speaker, along with tons of lesson materials, work books and videos on YouTube.

    You can book lessons on your time, when it is convenient, and then you’re off and running.

    The only drawback is price, Lingo Bus runs around $18 a lesson, but, personally I have found it to be well worth it. Once you have enrolled, there are review materials for each lesson, plus tons of printables and supplementary materials to help your child along the way.

    I would recommend if you do enroll in LingoBus that you do your prep and review for each lesson on the iPad app, the PC program isn’t as responsive and tends to be glitchy. The online class platform works well on both PC and tablet platforms however.

    15. Kodable

    If you’re looking to get your child interested in coding, you should check out Kodable. For grades K-5, you’ll find this to be a great introduction to coding and programming language. The kids get to create their own “Fuzz” characters, and use them as they play games and develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.

    Tons of fun, this program utilizes drag and drop programming to allow you to design your own games, allowing the kids a chance to show their creative side too!

    Check out these FREE COVID-19 resources they are offering!

    You can download the app on the App Store.

    16. BrightWorld Adventures

    From Ocean Forests to Amazing Amphibians, these apps are so realistic and immersive it makes you feel like you’re actually there, watching a moray eel spring out of the rocks at the bottom of the ocean, or learning about the lifecycle of frogs in our wetlands. These apps are outstanding for providing immersive reading and science experiences.

    17. RosiMosi Learning Games

    From science to grammar, and everything in between, the RosiMosi Learning Games apps for Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 6 are great for mini-lessons. All you need to do is download the app from the App Store!

    18. Dragon Box

    These games are a personal favorite of mine. Teach your kids algebra and other math concepts through simple games designed to teach them the basics….and beyond. Before you know it, they’ll be doing advanced algebra!

    And they won’t even know they are learning, which , let’s be honest, is the goal, right?

    19. Crazy Gears

    Introduce your kids to mechanical engineering in the funnest way possible! In order to make the screen slide to each new stage, they first have to use problem solving to piece together simple machines, using gears and chains.

    My daughter was entranced the first time we played this, and still loves to lose herself in this.

    20. GoNoodle Kids

    This is a must have. Seriously, go download it now.

    I’ll wait……….

    Did you download? Sigh…..

    Go do it!

    GoNoodle Kids is a must have for getting your kids moving and grooving, singing and dancing, and having a great time. Keep them active and OUT OF YOUR HAIR ( I knew that would get your attention) with GoNoodle.

    21. Mindful Powers

    Let’s not forget about our kids emotional health as we all hunker down. According to the Mindful Powers App, it is a “kid first, holistic approach to building social emotional learning.”

    Teach your child mindfulness and meditation through a series of relaxing exercises developed specifically for children.

    Great for bedtime, or anytime, you can get it on the App Store.

    22. iTrace

    For your little ones, or your older kids that need help with printing and forming letters, this is an incredibly handy app to have. You can get it in the App Store but it is also available for android on Google Play.

    23. Royal Academy of Dance

    If you have a budding ballet dancer in your midst, and you want to help them keep up their skills, the Royal Academy of Dance has downloadable dance exercises and lessons all grouped by Grade and Level. Use these videos to develop balance, coordination and creativity, not to mention good posture and great life skills! Available on Google Play and The App Store.

    24. Garage Band

    Keeping with the music and dance theme, why not dedicate some time to laying down some tracks and mixing some beats! Explore your kids creative side with this fun and interactive way to experiment with creating awesome music! Great for young and old alike, it’s never too early for music awareness. Let your child be their own composer AND conductor!

    25. Stop Breathe &Think Kids

    Help your child get quiet, restful sleep, and be more more focused and relaxed when they’re awake with this amazing app. Designed so your child can pick the appropriate story/meditation depending on their mood, I guarantee a delightful, tranquil experience.

    Addendum: In my haste to get this blog out in answer to the requests from some of my non-homeschooling friends, I missed a few websites we’ve used in the past.

    Without further ado, they are: Draw So Cute-a great YouTube video series designed to teach your child how to draw the CUTEST characters (hence the name), Froguts BioLearning-an absolutely fantastic way teach your child biology and anatomy through the coolest virtual dissection ever, Duolingo-for learning any second language of your choice, and MineCraft-which, I’m sure everyone knows by now, but did you also know they have an entire Education Edition?

    The upside to all of my additions? They are ALL free or have FREE content during our lockdown…score!

    Summary

    I hope you find these tips and programs as useful as I have as you embark on your journey of homeschooling during the coronavirus. While not exhaustive, they should be enough to get you started.

    Just remember, take it day by day, be gentle with yourself and your kids, and breathe.

    You’ve got this!

    If you have any apps or curriculum you want to share with everyone, please feel free to share and comment below!

  • Coaching Chronicles: Keep Your Chin Up Coaching Friends

    Coaching Chronicles: Keep Your Chin Up Coaching Friends

    Originally posted February 2018

    A coaching friend of mine texted me last week.  I hadn’t heard from her in a while, but I had worked with her for a decade, and we keep in touch as often as our busy lives allow.

    This friend is an accomplished skater and coach.  In many ways, she exemplifies what the spirit of coaching is about; someone who passionately gives of themselves to their clubs and their skaters, often at the expense of their own well-being. In short, this is a person who has earned my admiration through the quality of her words and actions on the ice, everyday, for a decade.

    My friend is the kind of coach who is capable of teaching every level with ease. She has a wealth of technical know-how, a calm and supportive demeanor and a heart that guides her to volunteer most of her expertise and time to run some of the most successful programs in her club.

    And when I spoke with her, it broke my heart.

    You see, my coaching friend is usually steady, unflappable and self-assured.  And I could hear the pain, incredulity and disbelief in her voice as it cracked, on the verge of tears, as she told me about what was happening.

    It seems that after years of selfless devotion, of coaching athletes to gold levels, producing stellar results, leading the way by providing a shining light of volunteerism and excellence, and steadily growing the numbers of members in her organization, the club that should have had her back had decided to demean her, belittle her, and strong arm her with loss of work, all over a small issue that could have been addressed through simple communication.

    As I listened to my friend break over the phone, my heart ached for her. I wish I could tell you that this was an anomaly.  But the sad truth is, coaches are often the brunt of terrible disrespect, harassment, verbal abuse and manipulation by executives and clubs that should be showing them respect and deference.  And the reason they can get away with this is that we have a system in our country that allows it.

    Full stop.

    I’ll say it again.

    Our system is broken and does. not. support. coaches in smaller clubs.

    I’m not making this up.  One of the top officials in our section said to a room full of us in a seminar I attended a few years back that “he didn’t care about the clubs”.  The tone of the lecture was very much that he was delivering a slap to the wrist to all of us coaches who weren’t doing our jobs to get skaters interested in competing.  I know this was the tone because I made it a point to ask other coaches who attended what they thought, and they too felt they were being spoken down to and reprimanded.

    Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels

    It also did NOT escape my attention that the majority of coaches in that room were women.  I can’t help but wonder, if it was a room full of men would the tone of that meeting have changed?

    So, is it any wonder that this style of leadership filters down to the clubs that work underneath them?

    The culture of any organization starts from the top down, it’s not rocket science.

    When you create a system that puts more and more onus on coaches to pay through the nose for training and insurance, and you restrict their ability to work anywhere else but under the umbrella of your organization, you now have a monopoly where anything goes, and people look the other way.

    And then to rub salt in the wound, when you have procedures set up within that system for harassment and abuse of power that don’t work because the organization that is supposed to help you and you have been paying into for your entire career doesn’t have the manpower or the resources to follow through on it…there is no accountability.

    This means there are no repercussions for these volunteers with little to no knowledge of our sport when they decide to manipulate, strong arm, defame, disrespect and take financial advantage of the coaches that work for them.  It is striking how much it happens.  And it makes me furious.

    I want to be careful here.  I have met many, many, amazing volunteers and executive members, and when clubs work, they are excellent.  I want to make sure I don’t lump the good with the bad, because there are many ethical, caring and wonderful people whom I have been honored to work with.  Sadly, though, it’s about a 50/50 split between the good and the not so good.  And that’s when the coaches bear the brunt of the abuse.

    I can remember working for a small club in the mid 2000’s.  I was proposing a new program, called the Junior Gliders, and wanted it to be a new version of group programming that would promote accelerated progress and skating excellence for the beginners who had a passion and an affinity for the sport.

    Photo by bongkarn thanyakij from Pexels

    I spent well over 100 hours in devising the program, structuring it in much the same way as our current Star Program in SkateCanada.  We divided the mini-lessons into disciplines, with approx. 6.5 minutes of each station spent on either dance, jumps, turns, spins, edges, or moves in the field.  I also devised stroking exercises, each set to its own specific piece of music, so that when it was time to rotate, the kids would practice different skating skills as a full group based on whatever music was music playing before they switched to their next circuit and their smaller group formation again.

    We started the session with basic exercises on lanes for a warm up, rotated through three to four mini-lessons each day and followed up with theatre and four-lane high-way exercises for our cool down.  Twice weekly we offered this program, and we also provided an extra session called Junior Plus for those kids that wanted three days a week of skating. 

    On the third day, we encouraged the skaters and their parents to hire a private coach for some semi-private or small group lessons and some free practice time.  Of course, we also provided practice plans in books for each child who could read, AND pictures around the boards for those who weren’t old enough to read yet.

    The amount of work it took to run this program was staggering.  Particularly because I went the extra step of planning each lesson for each discipline for every single day of the year, complete with progressions, teaching tips, diagrams, and circuits.  I also coordinated the lessons, so that what a coach was teaching in one mini-lesson with one group (for example outside edges) would then coordinate with what the other coaches would teach i.e., outside three turns in the turns lesson, forward one-foot spin with spiralling entry in the spins mini-lesson, and salchows for the jump mini-lesson.

    Then of course, there was the music.  By the end of the season I had recorded at least 10 different hour-long CD’s, complete with musical cues for warm-ups, station switches, theatre, seasonal and holiday themes, you name it.

    I worked hard on this program.  And it was amazing.  I know it’s not considered cool (particularly for a woman) to brag about their accomplishments, but it was ahead of it’s time.  In fact, I often wonder about the similarities between that program and the Star program and Canskate programs SkateCanada uses now, because there are many.

    The reason I have explained this to you in such detail is because you need to know just how much work goes into creating and delivering a quality program.

    After creating the program, printing up all the lessons and materials, and organizing the entire program so it could virtually run itself, I then presented it to the executive.  The total cost of the work I had put in to create and develop the idea, with the time spent on the ice coaching and overseeing it combined with time spent preparing off the ice for it’s delivery from September through until the end of April would have cost at minimum $14,000. Of course, I knew there was NO way our club could afford this much, so I then told them I would do it for as little as $8,000 spread out over the course of the 8-month period it would run.

    I SHOULD have been paid $1000 a month for the work I put into the program. 

    They offered me much less. Much…. MUCH less.

    Slap-in-the-face-total-disrespect-for-the-work-I-had-done-or-the-innovativeness-of-the-program-insultingly-less. Now, I did go back and argue my case, and I ended up receiving slightly more than the initial offer….but it was still not congruent with what I should have been paid.

    You see, the sad fact is, very few people who aren’t involved with skating have any understanding of how much work we put in as coaches.  There is this misconception that it is just a hobby; something we do on the side to make a little extra money. I mean, it’s not a real career, is it?

    For some of us that may be true.

    But for most of us, to be a skating coach means you are a highly dedicated individual with years of training and expertise that very few people have. We spend hours online, getting our certifications, being assessed, filling out workbooks, networking, studying, and reading to hone our craft.

    So now, put those highly qualified people in the hands of a group of volunteers who have total power over our careers.

    Let me say that again.  These people have the power to demand that we work for less than we are worth.  If you live in a small town, and you need to work, this means you have little to no recourse other than to accept their terms…. I mean, a coach has to eat right?

    Basically, our options become; work for less and be exploited by people with no respect for the work we do or the sacrifices we make, or don’t coach at all.

    I’ve seen it happen over, and over, and over. To too many coaches to count, and I’ve had it happen to me more than I can say.

    It’s frustrating and infuriating.  We work in a system that allows this type of abuse of power and exploitation of arguably its second most important asset. (the first being its athletes of course).

    How does this make sense?

    So, I wanted to write this blog to reassure my friend that I and all the other coaches who have gone through this have her back.  That she has made a difference to me and how I coach, and to all the students she has coached or who have learned their skills through programs she has run.

    Just yesterday, as I was teaching one of my Canskate students in a private lesson, I used a technique I learned from her. It worked like a charm.

    You see, sometimes the only reward we get is the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, we have made a difference.  Maybe we’ve left our students better skaters, and better people because of what we’ve taught them.  Maybe somewhere, someone glides a little faster and holds their head a little higher because of the example we set for them.

    Sometimes it’s only that knowledge that keeps us lacing up our skates each day.

    My friend, your influence reaches farther than you know.  Never doubt your worth, and never let people with no regard for what we do as coaches take that away from you.

    Sound familiar? Sound off below!

    I want to hear your experiences, let’s start a revolution!

  • Suggestions to Increase SkateCanada Coach Satisfaction and Longevity

    Suggestions to Increase SkateCanada Coach Satisfaction and Longevity

    It happened again.

    For what seems like the millionth time, I am watching a coaching colleague go through the ringer in their skating club. Devalued, underappreciated, and gas-lighted, my friend is on the verge of leaving behind a successful coaching career because of the anxiety that seems to surround the profession.

    Two years ago, I wrote a similar blog about the experiences of another coaching friend. And here we are again.

    I know how they feel.

    Nearly a year ago now, I hung up my skates. I was so disillusioned and disenfranchised with our profession, and with SkateCanada as a whole, that I swore I would not pay another DIME of my hard-earned money toward an association that did not value their coaches.

    So why do so many SkateCanada coaches fall by the wayside? Why are so many figure skating coaches victimized, traumatized and exploited by our association, our clubs, our executive, and sadly even our skating coworkers?

    Well, it’s hard to come up with a short answer here. As you can imagine, there are many dynamics at play, and the answer is multi-layered. Before I proceed, I want to stipulate that I am only talking about my experiences with coaching for 30 years in the SkateCanada figure skating club system. I have mostly worked with smaller, less competitive clubs, and have no idea what it would be like to work in a larger, busier club that could offer more money and resources and boasts a positive club culture to boot…..(and blade…see what I did there?)

    I also want to stress that what I am about to write is an honest, and unbiased (as unbiased as I can get) representation of my 30 years experience in the Canadian figure skating coaching industry, as well as a summary of the hardships I have witnessed my coaching friends endure over the years.

    Read on to find out what problems figure skating coaches face while working in the SkateCanada figure skating club system, and what suggestions I have to fix them!

    Problem 1: We Don’t Get Paid What We’re Worth

    When you coach figure skating, you are a private contractor, so you are by definition self-employed. This means you don’t get sick days, you don’t get benefits, there is no pension for you to pay into, and there is no holiday pay.

    In itself, this is not a problem, the number of things we can write off as expenses for our business helps greatly with regard to taxes, but the problem lies in the perception that people have of figure skating coaches in general.

    AAANNNNDDD by people I am referring to those people who serve on the executives of figure skating clubs.

    There seems to be an assumption by many people who volunteer to serve on the board/executive of skating clubs that coaches:

    1. Make so much money an hour that we must be rich.
    2. That coaching is our hobby, and not our main source of income.

    Some coaches are lucky enough to coach as a hobby, (and how I wish I was one of them), but for many of us, coaching is our profession, our passion, and our main source of income.

    Some of us, like me, are single parents to kids with special needs, who rely on that money we make from our coaching to feed and clothe our children and put a roof over their head.

    The other misconception is that my fee, which currently is around $40 hourly for group work due to my qualifications, should be enough to sustain me.

    Hmmm…..to check out the amount of hours I spent OFF the ice in preparation for my ON ICE time, I actually used a time tracker app from December to February last year. For three months, I scrupulously tracked every minute I spent running the SkateCanada Canskate program.

    I spent 6 hours performing work off of the ice for every hour I spent on the ice. Now, to be fair, the club was paying me a higher hourly rate for coordinating the program. I was getting paid $80 an hour for every hour on the ice spent coordinating.

    So, let’s do the math…..when all was said and done, I was being paid $11 an hour.

    Now add to that that I was only teaching 2 hours of Canskate a week because it was a small club.

    That means I was working 14 hours a week, for $11 an hour.

    Think you could live on that?

    How do you think your self worth would be if you worked for that after spending 30 years taking courses to better yourself in your craft?

    But WAIT…it gets even better!

    I was only paid that rate for each hour I was on the ice for coordinating. So, when we lost ice due to a holiday or a hockey tournament, even though I was still doing paperwork and admin work at home to make sure the program ran smoothly, I received….duh, duh, DUH…. NOTHING, because I was not ACTUALLY on the ice coaching.

    I want to clarify something. These were not bad people. They honestly thought they were paying me a good and decent rate. The problem was, they had no idea what the job entailed, and unfortunately, they weren’t interested in finding out.

    They got their moneys worth out of me, that’s for sure. But you know what? I was an idiot for accepting that hourly rate instead of a salary for coordinating, so that’s MY BAD.

    Sometimes we get so caught up in wanting to create a great program, in showing loyalty to our club, and in wanting to create something good for the skaters that we forget to look after our own best interests…..

    And it’s exactly this work ethic, attention to detail and love of skating that makes skating coaches easy prey for clubs that expect tons of work for little pay.

    The other excuse figure skating coaches in small clubs hear constantly is that the club can’t afford to pay them the rate they should be paid at.

    Really? I’ve seen the books for most of these small clubs. They could pay for us, they just don’t. The truth is, if you truly regard coaches as one of the most important assets of an organization, then you will move heaven and earth to figure out a way to price your programs and organize your ice time so you CAN pay them.

    It’s all about priorities. Hiring and retaining good coaches should be the #1 first priority for a skating club.

    A coach who actually cares about setting up a program that will promote excellence and longevity in your membership is an asset that skating clubs need to keep around, and figure skating clubs need to pay their good coaches whatever they need to remain in their clubs.

    Solution to this Problem?

    1. Educate every. single. new. executive member about your SkateCanada coaches, their qualifications and years of experience, and the going rate for said qualifications.
    2. Pay your coaches what they are worth, then go back and pay them a little more. Seriously. Do it. According to this entrepreneur.com article, you should pay your good employees “anywhere from 20 percent to 40 percent over market rate.”
    3. In order to afford paying your coaches what they are worth, price your programs intelligently, and book ice accordingly. If you don’t have good coaches, you won’t have good programs, and your club won’t grow, it’s that simple. Find the money, somehow. You’ll be glad you did when you have a healthy, sustainable membership.
    4. After you have figured out how to pay your coaches what they’re worth, throw in some perks. Pay for coaching courses they want to take. Did they do a good job? Give everyone a Christmas bonus of a few hundred dollars. Pay for their SkateCanada membership every year, or pay for their First Aid re-certification courses. When a coach feels supported in their organization, they become loyal to their organization and will move heaven and earth to see it succeed.

    Summary of Problem 1: It’s not rocket science. Any and all time your coaches spend working for your organization they need to be compensated. Full stop. Nuff said. And as for you SkateCanada, asking for coaches to volunteer time and have it written into our contracts is nothing less than exploitation. You can’t train us to be business professionals, and then expect us to work for free. How and when we choose to volunteer is up to us, and should not be mandated.

    Problem 2: The Power Lies in the Wrong Hands

    Would Nike ask a group of people with no experience in marketing, fashion design, or business to come in and run their company? Would they put them in charge of the marketing decisions and products to be developed?

    Sound crazy? Well, it is! But that’s how SkateCanada clubs are set up.

    SkateCanada sets its figure skating clubs up as not-for-profit organizations, run by volunteers (mostly parents) of the skaters in the club, who have little to no knowledge of skating itself. Even if they have been skating parents forever, most have little to no coaching experience and have never taken a single course in how to run a SkateCanada program.

    This is NOT to say we don’t need volunteers. In a club, we need people to take on the off-ice duties such as fundraising, ice-booking, signing up members, and behind the scenes organization.

    The problem is, some executives feel they should have the power to tell coaches how to coach, what to coach and how to run their programs.

    And they’re right. In the current SkateCanada system, all the power for hiring, firing and dictating what programs are run, how they are run, and when they are run lies in the hands of the executive.

    Look, executives are full of highly capable, intelligent and talented people who willingly give their time and effort back to their community by providing a place for kids to skate.

    I have known so many wonderful people on so many executives over the years. The purpose of this post is NOT to blame SkateCanada club executive members. The purpose is to show how silly this system is, and the burdens it puts on volunteers who simply don’t have the experience or training to make informed decisions about the on ice programming.

    Now, on top of this lack of experience or training ADD A PERSONAL AGENDA into the mix.

    The parents serving on the executives all usually have skaters training within the club. How is it possible to make objective decisions about what is best for the long term health of the club when you have a child that may lose ice due to your decision?

    I’ve seen this too many times to count, the programs are all catered toward the best interests and emphasis of each current executive. If you have a good executive, you have good programs that are fair and balanced.

    But it only takes one or two people who are misaligned in their approach and philosophies and…well…..all hell breaks loose.

    C’mon my coaching friends, I know you’ve seen this before. Clubs can evaporate faster than a fart on the corner of Portage and Maine in the dead of winter when they are mismanaged.

    Solution to this Problem?

    SkateCanada should re-write the roles and responsibilities for each of it’s club members. They should delegate all off ice activities that do not involve athlete training to the executive, and delegate full authority for ice allocation, amount of ice bookings, and program execution to the coaches.

    Let’s call these two branches: the Administrative Team and the Coaching Team

    The people with the know-how and experience, in this case, the Coaching Team should be the people running the show on the ice.

    Now, here’s where we have to be careful, because sadly, (and I am not excusing myself from this behavior at all, I ain’t all sunshine and rainbows either) sometimes the worst strife in a skating club is caused by coach-on-coach crime.

    So, if the coaches are to have full authority and autonomy, how do they police themselves?

    I would pose several suggestions:

    1. Clubs should be required to hire a skating administrator/head coach/skating coordinator/head wizard who is themselves a coach. This person is the one with the ultimate decision making authority for what goes on, on the ice. This person is also the one in charge of mediating conflict among coaches, and reaching for outside help to resolve situations when needed.
    2. Even though the head wizard/skating administrator/coaching coordinator has the ultimate decision making power, all coaching issues should first be decided democratically, with timely and recurring (paid) coaches meetings to discuss said issues. In the event of a deadlock on any issue, this is when the skating coordinator would step in to make the final decision.
    3. It goes without saying that the head wizard/coaching coordinator/skating administrator should be carefully vetted by both the Administrative Team AND the Coaching Team, and each should get a vote, but coaches votes should carry more weight.
    4. A hierarchy needs to be created where each coach knows exactly what their roles are, and who they report too. I’ve seen it happen too often where one coach is hired and told they are “in charge” of a program. Then another coach is hired and they are told by another executive member they are “in charge” of that program. As you can imagine, this leads to too many cooks in the kitchen, and much confusion as to who has the final say. This will also stop those coaches with big heads acting like they are the bosses out there when in fact they are NOT. (c’mon, I know you’ve ALL worked with these types….hell, on occasion I’ve BEEN this type.)
    5. All head wizards/coaching coordinators/head coaches should be expected to take leadership courses of their choosing and this should be paid for BY THE CLUB.
    6. SkateCanada should hire and TRAIN mediators whose sole job is to travel and help settle coaching disputes in clubs if they arise and a suitable solution is not able to be reached withing the coaching team. It is not realistic to expect the Administrative Team of an individual club to solve coaching conflicts in an unbiased manner when their skaters are actively engaged with the coaches involved in the conflict on a daily basis. I would also suggest we make these mediators part of a Coaches Union….read further down for more details.

    Summary of Problem 2: By dividing up the power in a skating club, and giving coaches more autonomy concerning who they work with, as well as what ice is booked and which programs run, this would alleviate the stress placed on the Administrative Team. As a result, this could make the action of serving on the executive of a skating club a more enjoyable experience for all.

    Problem 3: Coaches Are Not Treated In A Professional Manner

    If I had a nickel for each time I was spoken to in a unprofessional manner, or talked down to, or admonished by an executive member as if I was a misbehaving child…….I’d have a LOT of nickels…seriously….WAY too many fucking nickels.

    “Well,” you’re probably saying….”maybe it’s you? I mean after all, what’s the common denominator here?“

    And to that I say, you’re right, I am certainly not perfect.

    But it’s. not. just. me.

    Countless numbers of coaching friends have shared that they consistently feel devalued, unheard, and often treated like mis-behaving children, all because they are simply attempting to navigate the treacherous political waters at their skating clubs.

    I struggle to pinpoint why this occurs, and what makes volunteers in our sport feel they can micro-manage and second-guess professionals who have dedicated their lives to the sport in this manner, but I would propose this occurs because:

    1. Club executives, and particularly the vast majority of presidents, don’t have a working knowledge of coaching or athlete development. By this I mean that even if they have some experience in skating, this is still not equivalent to taking the myriad of coaching courses, seminars and university courses most of us have taken. And they certainly don’t have the years of experience that club coaches have.
    2. Many club executives don’t have a long term vision or goal for the development of the club after they are gone. For most volunteers, they serve on the executive for only a couple of years, some make it to four years, but they are the exception, and not the rule. Simply put-short-term volunteers don’t have the same stake in the success of the club as the coaches, who look to the club for their livelihoods and for job security.

    Recently I ruminated to at friend that, that even though the names and faces change within the skating world, the issues all remain the same. And because of it I was becoming disenfranchised and disillusioned with the entire system.

    I can’t begin to tell you how tiring it is to just get used to working with an executive; training and educating them regarding how the programs should be run, and finally proving your worth to them so they actually hear and value your opinions, only to have to turn around and repeat this process again in two years time when a new executive comes to power.

    This endless cycle is exhausting, and it takes a toll on every coach I know. The stress of constantly having to explain our needs, actions or motivations is overwhelming and never-ending. What person wants to endure this kind of treatment year after year?

    Yet this is how the SkateCanada club system is set up.

    Solutions to this Problem?

    I suggest that we go back to basics. In addition to re-distributing the power in Canadian Skating Clubs evenly between the Coaching and Administrative team alike, I propose:

    1. Clubs are mandated to appoint AND pay for a person to be the head of the administrative team. Their job description, first and foremost, will be to work with the head of the Coaching team to communicate what is being done in terms of membership, fundraising etc. and likewise to communicate the activities of the coaching team to the administrative team so the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. If we can keep continuity in a club with a paid position for the Head Administrator, we then stop the vicious cycle of having to retrain new executive members when they are appointed.
    2. By paying the Head Administrator, we place value on the position, and we make them accountable to all the membership as well. This ensures that, as coaches, we will no longer hear the “I’m a volunteer, I don’t get paid to be here” excuse from board members when caught in conflict with executive who feel they can act how they please because we get paid and they don’t. Think I’m kidding? I wish I were. It happens.
    3. We TRAIN our leaders how to be better. Great leadership takes time, and support, to develop. Both the coaching coordinator and head coach should be attending leadership courses, and reading leadership books together. (which, goes without saying, should be paid for by the club.)
    4. Clear channels of communication should be opened and regular meetings need to be scheduled for both the Head Administrator and the Head Wizard Coach. Again, these meetings and all club-related work should be paid for.
    5. One week each season, each executive member should shadow a coach to see the difficulties of the job. Likewise, one week each season, each coach should shadow an executive member to get a better appreciation what life is like in their shoes.

    Summary of Problem 3: By tweaking communication and asking for accountability to each other we will create a better understanding of the roles we fill. By seeing the value both the Administrative Team and the Coaching Team bring to the table, we create empathy, compassion and support for all stakeholders.

    Problem 4: We Are Our Own Worst Enemy

    Let’s pretend we are in the gymnasium scene in the movie Mean Girls. For those of you needing a refresher, here’s a link to the scene in question.

    Raise your hand if you’ve ever put-down another coaching colleague during a conversation.

    C’mon….be honest.

    Now, raise your hand if you’ve ever been told by your students or parents that Coach X told their students you couldn’t teach (insert any skill here.)

    If your hand isn’t up by now, you’re not being honest.

    We do it all the time. Hell I do it. Now, I will clarify, it’s not like I go around openly dissing other coaches I’ve worked with, I usually reserve my criticisms or concerns about other coaches for private conversations with trusted friends whom I know would never divulge my words.

    The point is, we all do it in one form or another.

    The question is, why are we so fucking competitive with each other?

    I mean, it’s not like there aren’t enough kids to find work for everyone. With the difficulties I’ve witnessed and experienced first-hand in hiring competent and qualified coaches, particularly for smaller or remote clubs, there is MORE than enough work for everyone.

    So why do our egos get in the way?

    Why do we lash out and tear each other down?

    I believe it’s fear. Fear of losing income. Fear of losing face in front of clients. Fear of not measuring up to our inner thoughts about our own abilities.

    Now add to the constant messaging by SkateCanada that it’s our job to police each other.

    That’s right, you’d better know that Coaches Code of Ethics, in fact, you’d better sign it every year, just in case you need to quote those conflicting and vaguely defined protocols to defend yourself against your coaching co-workers who step out of line.

    SERIOUSLY.

    According to SkateCanada, we are allowed to promote our services, indeed, we can advertise…but wait….BE CAREFUL, better make sure it’s not seen as soliciting, because that would be bad.

    The problem with the whole soliciting issue is, there are so many gray areas that it’s difficult to know where the boundaries lie.

    I’ve never intentionally solicited anyone, but when asked questions by parents about coaching philosophies, sometimes it becomes hard to know where the line is and how to NOT cross it.

    And this whole thing about making sure a new client has paid their bills to their old coach before they accept them as a student?

    Come on.

    It’s a beautiful thought. Imagine it. Every coach as honest as the next. All working together in perfect harmony. All following protocols exactly and verifying full payment has been made before starting to teach.

    Do you know how many times I’ve gone out of my way to make sure this is taken care of with new students. All the time.

    Do you know how many times other coaches have EVER reached out to me to make sure my students have paid their invoices?

    In thirty years….maybe 5 times?

    And I remember taking a new client a few years back that I had asked the mother specifically if all bills were cleared up. Within 5 minutes of having this conversatiom I then told the coach involved that the student’s mom had approached me for lessons via email Said coach never responded, and she certainly didn’t say anything about having any unpaid invoices.

    Suddenly after my first lesson on the ice with this new student, the coach literally berates me for teaching my new student when..(gasp) her final invoice wasn’t paid….even though she had plenty of opportunity to tell me it wasn’t paid before I started her lessons.

    Here are my points, and I’m going to be pretty blunt.

    Thinking that all coaches will act ethically with regard to how they treat other coaches is a candy-colored unicorn dream. Those of us who actually give a shit about acting ethically are the ones losing out to those who don’t.

    And SkateCanada does absolutely nothing about it.

    Oh, they say they have harassment and abuse of power clauses and protocols in place.

    Has anyone use these and received a satisfactory result?

    What about SafeSport through SkateCanada? Well, according to some of Canada’s top athletes, they don’t feel it’s working, and I have to agree. After 7 years of stress in one of the most hostile environments I had every worked in, I turned to SafeSport for help, and the process was a hollow waste of time and effort that produced no solution at all. In fact I ended up leaving my job as a result and suffering a year of financial hardship.

    25 years of paying into the SkateCanada system. Of working myself to the bone to be the best coach I could be. Of paying for ALL those coaching courses. Of supporting the athletes and sacrificing so much.

    And I was worth nothing to them.

    The culture of an organization starts from the top and trickles down. Is it any wonder why coaches run into lack of respect in their own clubs when this happens at the highest level.

    So, where do we go from here?

    Solutions to this Problem?

    1. Stop expecting coaches to police each other. Pepsi doesn’t police Coca-Cola. And they certainly don’t hesitate to solicit business. Look I’m not saying it’s okay to be unethical, but the rules we have aren’t working. Why not put the resources and effort spent in throwing out vague and conflicting clauses of the dreaded Coaches Code of Ethics at each other and work on developing a system whereby we let our old-fashioned laws of the land handle things like slander.
    2. Each club should be mandated to have a fair and equitable system in place for student allocation. I don’t care how it works, but every single coach in each club should have a fair shot at earning new students.
    3. The Head Coach and Head Administrator should take an interest in coaches as people, sitting down each season and discussing the coaches personal goals, and asking how they can help them achieve these goals. Treat people like they matter, it’s amazing what can come of it.
    4. We need a Coaches Union. I remember decades ago, hearing that a group of coaches were starting one, but it failed to gain traction. Well, my coaching friends, wouldn’t it be nice to have a group of people who were entirely there for our support and defense in times of trouble. Whose ONLY JOB was to help coaches who are in trouble or mediate disputes. Would it be worth a few extra bucks each year in dues? I know I’d pay a little more.

    Summing It All Up: I’ve been around long enough in the Canadian Figure Skating system to see figures banished, skills introduced, then revised, interpretive skating become artistic skating, then interpretive AGAIN. I’ve seen a new judging system, the introduction of the Long Term Development Plan, the inception and roll-out of Canskate, and finally, Starskate and coach evaluators all come into play.

    SkateCanada has been ever-evolving over the years, and has accomplished some amazing things. So why haven’t any changes been made in how we treat our coaches?

    Maybe you can answer that, because I can’t.

    Do you have any thoughts on what I’ve written? Feel free to comment and share!