Guides for Parents of Skaters
What is the best way to support young figure and speed skaters?
With a quick reminder that kids begin skating for the pure enjoyment of it, these guides give parents a crash-course in how to best support their developing athletes.
Summer marks the beginning of crunch time for serious skaters. It’s also a time for parents to refocus on how to best support their kids in athletic endeavors.
With less than three months before the beginning of the official skating season, eligible figure and speed skating athletes should be hitting the ice with great intent. While parental support is vital to a blossoming young athlete’s career, moms and dads can sometimes become consumed with their children’s winnings – rather than their success.
What’s the difference between focusing on winning rather than success? Healthy goals will focus on realistic success possibilities, not on medals, titles, or prize money. Coaches, parents, and skaters should unite annually to formulate clear goals for the new season. With objectives defined and equally understood, parents can easily avoid the temptation to micromanage new skating careers.
The right coach will make all the difference in the skating world when it comes to skating parents keeping mum from behind the rink barriers. Parents put their money, time and emotions into affording their young charges every best opportunity to succeed in every aspect of their skating discipline. It is, therefore, understandable that some moms and dads get overheated and overstep their rightful bounds, disrupting their skaters’ training.
Having said that, it’s equally acknowledged that parents do play a vital role in supporting youngsters in several ways. Parents teach their athletes how to maintain self confidence, healthy body-image, and focus. The United States Figure Skating Association offers more suggestions for parents of elite skating athletes.
In The Skating Parents’ Survival Guide, Vol.s 1 & 2, the USFSA explains the responsibilities of young athletes’ guardians before and during the skating season. The first booklet is suitably subtitled: “Parents’ Guide to Not Just Surviving the Skating Experience – but Enjoying it and Thriving in it!” The second volume’s subtitle encourages: “Supporting children to be successful on the ice and in life”. Both volumes are available from the USFSA and local figure skating clubs.
Here is a brief overview of the suggestions contained in these booklets: Kids like the challenges and excitement provided by athletic sports. A child’s personal reason for choosing to skate competitively should be the primary consideration. Too much parental pressure can cause the child to lose sight of why he or she began skating in the first place. Harness the power of being positive, of creating a safe and supportive rink-side atmosphere that is non-critical. This will encourage children to continue skating first and foremost for the personal fulfillment the activity brings them.
A properly certified coach will help young athletes develop healthy perspectives as they incorporate skating into their well-rounded lives. Responsibility and self-discipline are honed while training for competitive ice skating; these traits are invaluable in the world outside the rink.
Kids should understand and appreciate the value of intrinsic rewards over extrinsic awards. Surveys have determined that lack of success, overemphasis on winning, and competitive stress are among the top reasons kids drop out of skating. Athletes who skate first for the joy of it and second for the possibility of medals are shown to stick with their training longer.
Skaters should equate their sport with a way to manage stress instead of creating more of it. Self-reliance and expression, respect for others and sportsmanship… these are some of the other things parents can help their kids find valuable from the sport of skating. In other words, as parents manage their own emotions and pursue personally-satisfying goals, their young charges are likely to model the same behavior.
Specifically helpful from the first USFSA booklet are the “Skating Parents’ Dos and Don’ts”, suggestions for becoming involved and volunteering with your local club, “Guidelines for Supportive Parents,” “Characteristics of a Quality Coach,” and a “Competition Checklist.”
The second volume is very detailed and offers suggestions specific to parents of skaters who are preparing to compete. Sports psychology as it pertains to parenting, competition preparation, and understanding judging are some of the highlights in this helpful little manual.
While the booklets are published specifically by and for figure skaters, most of the important issues and suggestions are equally applicable to parents of young speed skaters as well. Dads and moms who embrace the information offered by the USFSA will find their roles as supportive parents defined in such a clear way that they can then focus on enjoying watching their kids develop as skaters and people.
