What are the perks of being a figure skating coach?

Hi, i was just wondering what some of the perks of being a figure skating coach were.|||You get to see your students improve, and grow to love the sport as much as their coaches do. You get to watch them discover new things about themselves, and you get to see the looks on their faces when they finally master that one thing they were struggling with.





I gave private lessons to a level one girl who was scared of skating just over three years ago. She had just turned four then; now she is seven and just landed her first lutz a few days ago. She always runs up to me when she sees me and wants me to watch her skate. She says she wants to be just like me when she is older, and that she wants to skate for ever and ever.





The most rewarding part of coaching is seeing that child who - because of your coaching - grew to love skating as much as you do.





Coaching is hard; the pay kind of sucks for a canskate/preliminary coach (I coach in exchange for Ice Time, but I have friends who do it to be paid and they say it's less than minimum wage), and it's a lot of work. But it's so worth it to see your student skate on to new and harder things!|||There are many many perks to being a figure skating coach in my opinion.


What i loved most about coaching Tot 1, Tot 2, and Basic 1 kids over the summers (Just an assistant coach for extra private ice time in exchange) is how you see yourself in them. You watch them grow from little seedlings to beautiful flowers every month, every lesson. And then, when they master something they were about to give up on, or worked so hard they sweat on, when they master that, their face splits into a wide grin and they do some type of victory dance, each their own. And i see myself in my tiny students, when they master something. I see myself smiling, conquering something for the first time, because i've been there before and i can see them growing to be more like me and other well-seasoned skaters.





I also enjoyed seeing the different personalities of kids. Some were stubborn, some were sweet, some were goofy, and some had so much perseverence and motivation to get that little move right; a spin, jump, or moves in the field...they work so hard. They never give up. If they think their jacket/helmet/item of clothing is bad luck, then they tell themselves, "Well then i'm going to prove myself wrong and do this thing right so it won't be bad luck anymore." and then they do master it, and they're smiling and saying, "I proved them wrong." and i ask, "proved who wrong?" and they answer, "Myself. I thought i couldn't do it, so i wanted to prove myself wrong and i did." and its just amazing how talented and determined people can be.





Also, private coaches at my rink do pretty well in pay. If you're a teacher and/or coach, just 30 minutes of private lessons is pretty expensive, let alone private ice time, private coach, and public coach along with the recreational classes. All these different lessons and kids pay a fair and good amount of money. I didn;t get paid for being the assistant coach, but i got an extra hour of freestyle private ice time, which was great. There are many perks to being a coach. But mostly, i like seeing myself in the other kids; when they master something, when they grow from tot 1 to Freestyle, from Freestyle to Juniors...its amazing seeing them grow as you yourself did.





Hope i helped answer your question. Really, the perks are emotional but the money is fair and good, too. Plus being a coach is professional activity.


Ciao! :D


Happy skating.|||The perk I get is being able to give back to a sport that I love, and that has taught me the value of discipline, sportsmanship, focus, determination, self-pride and self-confidence.





I'm not in it for the money. I'm not in it to see how many Private students I can grab. I'm in it for the simple gratification I get when I teach students who truly want to learn, and will stop at nothing in order to learn a skill that's challenging to them; plus teaching forces me to develop different approaches to different skills. One approach may not work for all students, i.e. back crossovers into a scratch spin. Some have problems with that technique, so I'll also teach them the forward inside three into a scratch. Whichever method works, or feels comfortable.





I've taught students who were scared and shy at first...then slowly opened up...then were elated when they attempted a particular skill, achieved it, passed the skills test for that level, then moved higher.





The Tot Groups were the most challenging..some are scared to/wouldn't move/started crying...but when I drew figures, i.e. flowers, smilies, train tracks, ice cream cones, with washable markers on the ice, suddenly they're marching down the lane! Playing games as well worked.





It's hard work. It can even be trying at times working with different personalities, and your patience is tested. Some people think it's easy work. Some parents can even blame you for their child not progressing, or not progressing fast enough (especially if they skate only during Groups). Perhaps the child really doesn't want to be there and won't say it, but the parent wants the child to skate. Some kids may not listen to your directions, and will skate away from the rest of the group into another lane. A kid may not like the kid he/she's standing next to, and may start hitting/pushing him/her. That's when you firmly warn that kid that that kind of behavior won't be tolerated, and if it happens again, he/she'll have to leave; and you alert your Skating Director.





Despite all of that, I wouldn't trade being a FS coach for anything. It keeps me active, the skating world's smaller than some think, I've met many kind (and unkind) people, it's a raw study in human nature, and as long as I'm able to lace up, I'll be out there.





Good question, hava star!|||coach should know everything about skating , many years watching skating...etc


coach should not amazed when seeing something strange ,example


if skates break or lace problems ...etc


and they should work so hard with skaters and they must have keen eyes and seeing mistakes well , great coaches are like parents they care about your food and they give you advices before you skate your program....etc|||How an amazing person can turn into an amazing figure skater, watching them grow within and through growing in skating. The happiness when they get a compliment or when they pass a grade!