2015 July/August PS Magazine

JULY/AUGUST

2015

www.skatepsa.com

2015 Photo Photo of the Year

by MARK WALENTINY

kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk COLUMNS 4

Over the Edge | Jimmie Santee

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President’s Message | Angie Riviello

8

Ratings | Tom Hickey

10

SafeSport | U.S. Figure Skating

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Sport Science | Heidi Thibert

20

Education | Carol Rossignol

42

Legal Ease | David Shulman

6 In the Trenches

9 Ratings Exams Passed

12 Obituary 44 New Members 46 PSA Calendar of Events 47 Job Openings Jimmie Santee | Editor Carol Rossignol | Contributing Editor Amanda Taylor | Art Director Elizabeth Thornton | Advertising/Editorial Assistant

JULY | AUGUST

2015 ~ No 4 #ISSN-574770

FEATURES 13

U.S. Figure Skating Rule Changes

16

16

U.S. Open Professional Figure Skating Championships Recap

18

PSA LIABILITY INSURANCE

22 25 29 34 36

Waiver and Release of Liability Forms 2015 PSA Conference & Trade Show Recap

22

24

US Performance Academy

BY TERRI MILNER TARQUINI

PART 6 | Judging: The New

Millenium

29

BY BRUCE POODLES

Why Not Synchro?

BY HOLLY TEETS-MALEWSKI

2015 Hall of Fame: Peter Burrows

36

BY KENT MCDILL

40 What Does Charlie White Say?

40

BY TERRI MILNER TARQUINI

Take note. . .

K EEP U P W ITH T HE PSA...

PSA e-magazine

@ProfSk8rsAssoc

Professional Skaters Association(PSA)

ProfSk8rsAssoc

Over the Edge

PSA OFFICERS President First Vice President Second Vice President Third Vice President Treasurer Past President

JIMMIE SANTEE

PSA BOARD OF GOVERNORS West Mid-West

A

t the past governing council an interesting request for action came up in new business. Janna Blanter, a delegate representing the Broadmoor Skating Club, wanted to amend rule 1041 B to require the 6.0 judging system to be used for juvenile and intermediate levels in all disciplines at qualifying events. Her rationale was IJS is designed to be transparent in judging at the elite level of skating and was never intended to be used at the developmental levels. That is true. I have also heard from many that IJS does not develop young skaters and that a return to 6.0 would help that. I don’t believe that.

It doesn’t matter which judging system we use as neither are meant for development but to determine the best skater on a given day. What does develop skaters then? U.S. Figure Skating’s Basic Skills or the ISI weSkate program develop skaters. The test structures of both programs develop skaters. But most importantly, coaches are the most significant piece of this development puzzle.

The skill of the coach IS the difference maker.

While there are several factors to the decline of skating skills, the real culprit is what I call, “de-evolution of figure skating” in the 90’s. In 1991, the ISU abolished compulsory figures, followed in 1992 with the eligibility rule that allowed professionals to compete. In mid-1990’s, skating in the United States was exploding and in many areas learn to skate programs literally doubled in size. Within this explosion of new skaters was a growing need for learn to skate instructors. Notice I didn’t use the word qualified. I was a skating director at this time and the manager of our rink would not let me turn skaters away. I had a Saturday session where I had 144 tot level skaters on the ice at one time.

That was 11 classes with an average of 13 kids per class. I did not have enough instructors and so I did what many of us did. I hired my 16 year old competitive skaters to teach. I admit not all teenagers are created equal and there were some great kids…but some, if not many, did not understand how the progression of skills worked, nor had any knowledge of the standards required to keep kids progressing. Think back even further … these 16 year olds were 12 when figures went out. Most of my younger skaters were on their first or second tests. They were now teaching skills like edges and three turns that they themselves never developed to the degree of expertise their coaches had. Fast forward another 10 years and another new crop of 16 year old skaters are teaching. Twenty-five years later, these coaches are a majority of our association. We hear often that the loops need to be removed from the MIF. De-evolution of our sport explains why. It’s not that they can’t teach but there was a whole generation of skating knowledge that was not passed on through the tradition of figures. We just can’t replace that knowledge of skating skills.

Fortunately, those young skaters could teach jumps and spins. When

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Doug Ladret Todd Sand Teri Klindworth Hooper Patrick O'Neil Tim Covington Robyn Petroskey-Poe Don Corbiell Cindy Larson Sullivan Kirsten Miller-Zisholz

PSA

The De-evolution of Figure Skating

East

Angela Riviello Christine Fowler-Binder Rebecca Stump Alex Chang Carol Murphy Kelley Morris Adair

Members at Large

Committee on Professional Standards Ratings Chair Seminar Chair ISI Rep to PSA U.S. Figure Skating Rep to PSA U.S. Figure Skating Coaches Executive Director Legal Counsel

COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN Awards Coaches Hall of Fame Education Seminars State Workshops Apprentice Area Representatives Hockey Skating PS Magazine Sport Science Endorsements Executive Executive Nominating Finance Fundraising ISU/ IJS Ethics and Legal Nominating Professional Standards PSA Rep to ISI Ratings Special Olympics

PSA AREA REPRESENTATIVES Area 1 Area 2 Area 3 Area 4 Area 5 Area 6 Area 7 Area 8 Area 9 Area 10 Area 11 Area 12 Area 13 Area 14 Area 15 Area 16 Area 17

Robbie Kaine Tom Hickey Doug Mattis Scott McCoy Ben Miller-Reisman Kelley Morris Adair Jimmie Santee David Shulman

Denise Williamson Kelley Morris Adair Heidi Thibert Doug Mattis Tom Hickey Rebecca Stump Gloria Leous Paul Paprocki Bob Mock Heidi Thibert Jamie Santee Angela Riviello Kelley Morris Adair Carol Murphy Patrick O’Neil David Santee David Shulman Kelley Morris Adair Robbie Kaine Gerry Lane Tom Hickey Eleanor Fraser-Taylor

Amy Hanson-Kuleszka Anne Marie Filosa Lee Cabell Tim Covington Gloria Masterson Leous Kevin Curtis Scott Cudmore Melanie Bolhuis Lisa Bardonaro-Reibly Stacie Kuglin Brigitte Carlson-Roquet Sharon Brilliantine Tracey Seliga-O’Brien Lisa Mizonick Don Corbiel Josselyn Baumgartner John Kauffman

THE PROFESSIONAL SKATER Magazine Mission: To bring to our readers the best information from the most knowledgeable sources. To select and generate the information free from the influence of bias. And to provide needed information quickly, accurately and efficiently.

The views expressed in THE PROFESSIONAL SKATER Magazine and products are not necessarily those of the Professional Skaters Association.

The Professional Skater, a newsletter of the Professional Skaters Association, Inc., is published bimonthly, six times a year, as the official publication of the PSA, 3006 Allegro Park SW, Rochester, MN 55902. 507.281.5122, Fax 507.281.5491, Email: office@skatepsa.com © 2004 by Professional Skaters Association, all rights reserved. Subscription price is $19.95 per year, Canadian $29.00 and foreign $45.00/year, U.S. Funds.

ISSN-574770. Second-class Postage Paid at Rochester, MN 55901 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER send address changes to The Professional Skater, 3006 Allegro Park SW, Rochester, MN 55902. Printed in the USA.

I finally turned profesCoaches putting out sional and began tests that are not teaching, passing on my understanding of jump ready and judges mechanics was easy. It was those early developwhose standards are mental skills I learned too lenient perpetuate when I was three, four and five where I strugde-evolution. This is gled. As critical as this where we need to put sounds of our young coaches, it is what it is. our resources.

They can’t pass on what they did not learn. We perpetuate this same problem today as a majority of clubs continue to use their young athletes as learn to skate instructors.

f o r COAC H E S, b y COAC H E S

Interestingly, those 1990’s rule changes did not appear to affect Asia or the former Soviet Union as it did in the US. Quite possibly because those associations did not need nor allow young people to teach. What did affect Russia however, was the migration of many coaches and athletes from their homeland. Their loss was our gain and the honor roll of Russian coaches listed in our PS Magazine should not surprise anyone.

Another issue is the lack of judges, which also impacts the development of skaters. During the critical issues session prior to governing council, a delegate said that finding judges for test sessions was difficult as many only want to do competitions. Ann Gerhli, of the Skating Club of New York, got up and said maybe we need to get rid of tests! It’s hard to read Ann sometimes, and I wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic or not.

Coaches and judges also constantly complain about the standards of tests. The quality of skating and the disparity of passing standards between regions are the main issues.

Coaches putting out tests that are not ready and judges whose standards are too lenient perpetuate de-evolution. This is where we need to put our resources. We need to overhaul the test structure to develop our skaters to today’s standards. If the powers that be believe our skaters too slow, then add speed and power to the free skate, pair, dance, and moves tests.

Train the judges to a higher standard. PSA needs to educate coaches on how to teach those figure skills that we are losing.

We need to develop better techniques for the development of our skaters. As a whole, PSA needs to get better.

Going backwards from IJS would be a mess but one we would recover from. Removing tests however, would plummet figure skating into a deep, black abyss never to see the light of day again.

The Joy of Coaching For the first time, the careers of America’s top figure skating coaches are documented in a colorful and elegant book. This step-by-step history of the Professional Skaters Association highlights the coaches who have taken skaters from tentative turns to tricky twizzles, from bunny hops to quadruple jumps, and from local rinks to the Olympics. In The Joy of Coaching, prominent coaches remember the master motivators who taught them to skate and encouraged them to teach the next generation.

This inspiring book features the entertaining and emotional stories of hundreds of figure skating coaches, each of them putting a memorable spin on the sport.

Order your keepsake at

www.skatepsa.com PS MAGAZINE

5

President’s Message ANGIE RIVIELLO

2015 PSA Conference T

he “buzz word” heard around the 2015 Conference this years was “Amazing”. Coaches went away with so much more than they expected. This Conference was the perfect balance of work and play. With Conference being held in Minneapolis and at the Mall of America, coaches had time in between presentations to have some fun. It was great passing coaches that had just took a quick ride on the roller coaster or had just run to the store for a great deal.

All kidding aside, the presentations were wonderful, from Dick Button as the opening speaker to the always popular and thought-provoking David Benzel. We were honored to also have Chris Snyder from the USOC and, of course, Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson stole the show.

Michael Buckley, who was the closing speaker, was a great comedic relief from a long week of learning. It was fun to see so many coaches laughing so hard that they were crying. It was definitely a great way to wrap up an amazing week of learning.

This year the PSA introduced the Sk8PSA App. The app did just what we all hoped it would: bring together people even more. The “cyber family” of coaches was so much fun to watch. The Selfie Contest was hysterical and entertaining to watch it take a life of its own. With the connection through this app, we all made new friends and connected with people that we may have never connected with. I am excited to say I walked away with a few more friends and loved watching everyone post about their day. The best feature was to have

In the TRENCHES by

SCOTT BROWN Master-rated coach & IJS Technical Specialist

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the agenda, speaker bios, and all the handouts right there on your phone to glance at whenever you needed.

Wrapping up an amazing week of education was some entertainment. The U.S. Open Professional Figure Skating Championships were spectacular! The event featured the beautiful skating of Ryan Jahnke, Johnathan Cassar, Rohene Ward, and a fun pair number from Jodeyne Higgins and Sean Rice. There was a great fire number with Ashley Clark as well as aerial numbers and comedic routines. The show stopper was a group number choreographed by Adam Blake for the Ice Cold Combos.

I’ve never seen anything like it: spray paint on the ice, great music, great interpretation of the music, and edgy dance moves. It was a joy to watch and we were very pleased with the turn out in the stands. If you missed it you will have to check out the PSA Facebook page for photos and videos.

The 2016 Conference is a joint conference with ISI and we will be in Las Vegas at Planet Hollywood from June 1-4. Headquarters is already on it and starting to plan for an even bigger and better event next year. The Conference is one of my favorite events because you meet so many coaches, network with so many, have so many educational choices to attend and you walk away ready to get home and try new things. This year was fantastic and next year will be even better!

Happy Coaching!

What are the characteristics of a great coach?

Cheryl Davis & Jacqui White provided this handout at the U.S. Figure Skating Elite Coaches Seminar: 1. Must see self as a teacher. Not just a coach.

2. Must be motivated to help. Your ego can be a major limitation.

3. Must makes games and practices fun. Praise players and be careful to avoid yelling.

4. Transform negative into positive. With so much failure associated with any sport, staying positive is vital.

5. Must be a student of the game. Learn as much as you can. Be receptive to new information.

6. Must be organized. Establish practice, game and emergency plans.

7. Must emphasize efforts not results.

8. Must establish rules and enforce them.

Where there is no discipline, there is no learning.

9. Be a positive example. You are a role model.

How you are remembered is up to YOU!

PURCHASE DIRECTLY FROM THE FILMMAKER: Please send $25.00 to Keri Pickett at 413 East Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55414 to have your signed copy of the DVD mailed directly to you.

Before she directed “The Fabulous Ice Age,” Keri Pickett was a photographer who had never contemplated making a film. Her uncle, the former figure skater Roy Blakey — an avid collector of ice-show memorabilia — changed all that.

— Gia Kourlas, THE NEW YORK TIMES

BEST DIRECTING Documentary WOMEN’S INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2013

WHEN THE STAGE WAS FROZEN AND ICE WAS HOT!

BEST DOCUMENTARY WOMEN’S INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2013

F E AT U R IN G ROY BLAKEY’S ICE STAGE ARCHIVE

IX L F N T E O N E N AS O H ON M C Z A R A E U R P AM T S OR

A Film Directed and Produced by Keri Pickett Co-Produced by Suzanne Jurva, Edited by Michael Irei and Daniel C. Baker Original Score by Tamara Douglas-Morris / www.fabulousiceage.com

Supported by the Independent Filmmakers Project, MN, the MN Legacy Foundation and the MN State Arts Board

Ratings TOM HICKEY

MY EXPERIENCE:

A Rating Exam History Lesson

BY BARBARA ANN FITZGERALD, MFF

I

n 1968 I became a young coach who had excellent training at The Skating WELCOME! Tom Hickey is Club of Boston from the Hall of Fame the newly appointed Ratings coach, Montgomery Wilson. Before Committee Chair taking over turning “Pro,” I had achieved my USFSA, CFSA, ISU gold tests in Figures from Brandon Forsyth. Tom and Freestyle. I competed as a Juvenile holds a master rating in Program through Senior Ladies, Midwestern Director and is Level V ranked.

Sectionals. I opted out of competition He is a member of the PSA in 1967 with torn ligaments in my Board of Governors and has landing ankle. Sports medicine, at that U.S. National, International time, was in its infancy. So, knowing the world team was out of my reach, and Jr. World Championship I made the decision to go to college coaching credentials. He is the full-time and that’s where my love of current figure skating director teaching began—in the learn to skate at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School, classes at the local figure skating club Faribault, MN. and the college’s physical education classes. I never thought of becoming a skating instructor or even a coach; I just loved to skate! I was asked to teach. WOW, so unexpected!

After graduating from Colby College, Waterville, ME, I literally fell into coaching in the Boston area and met a lovely, warm, and personable coach from Rhode Island, Arlene Voepel. Arlene asked if I would teach her two daughters, Lynne and Lori. Arlene, I discovered, was an exceptional person. She accompanied me many times during the girls’ lessons asking me interesting technical questions which challenged the technique I had learned from Mr. Wilson. Arlene, admittedly, was a west coast skater transplanted to the east coast. She was never critical, but would many times pose a question like, “What do you think about doing a back outside counter with your foot this way instead?” In those days, your coach’s instructions were the end-all in your technique. In retrospect, I was learning different techniques but hadn’t bought into the idea that there were many different roads to the common goal. I slowly began to see that each coach seemed to have their own special way of teaching and Arlene, in her kind way, challenged my knowledge further.

As we got to know each other, Arlene suggested that I join the Professional Skaters Guild of America (PSGA) as it was called then. She informed me of the advantages of

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belonging to the organization and its educational benefits and goals. I thought it was a good idea and followed her lead. Arlene became an excellent mentor as she had about 10 years coaching experience on me. Teaching her own children posed the “mom” thing. Therefore, I became the once a week “help” coach to her daughters, Lynne and Lori.

We discussed and shared technique as her daughters developed in skill. Teaching them was a great learning experience for me. During that same time, my mentor’s questions led me into comparing skating technique with several of the other coaches at the rink where I taught. While skating together during our free time, we began sharing our different techniques which ultimately led to the beginning of co-coaching.

It is my understanding that around the late 1960s, several coaches who were members of the PSGA and gold medalists, were grandfathered in for a Master Rating. I was grandfathered in for my Master Rating in 1974 and was then asked to be an examiner for the fledgling Rating Exam Program for coaches. Arlene Voepel was the first Ratings Chairperson. In the beginning, to get my feet wet, I was asked to do trial exams. That meant listening to the questions given by the panel of examiners and deciding whether the test was a pass or a fail and why. I passed my trial runs....

For those of you who have been scared to death to take your exam(s), I will tell you that for me, it was more than nerve racking to become an examiner. It was terrifying!

There were no study guides and we didn’t have a list of questions to ask the coach who was sitting for his/her exam. Figures and Freestyle were separate exams, so with my background I was asked to do both on all different test levels. We had to ask our own questions to find out what the examinee knew or didn’t know. I was young and on panels with older more experienced and wiser coaches! If you don’t think that was hard...it was. I thought, oh my gosh, if I don’t know my skating technique, it will become obvious very quickly. UGH! I dug my heels in and over time the process became less terrifying, more fun and very educational. I liked learning. I liked making the examinee feel comfortable so they could share their knowledge and not be scared. When the examinee knew their technique, the exam was exciting

Recently Passed

RATING EXAMS Congratulations to the following coaches who passed the Basic Accreditation (BA):

Congra

t

coachuelastions !

Congratulations to the following candidates who passed a rating exam:

BA online

PSA Conference - Bloomington, MN | May 17-20, 2015

Jill Ahlbrecht Mark Fitzgerald Claudia Fluegge Pam Kaminsky Cristina Lin Jere Michael JeAnna Miner Tara Modlin Emily Oltmanns Ana Palomo Gabriela Placeres Alina Ponomarova Wendy Routheaux Mackenzie Vaillancourt Carly Wittlief

Jill Ahlbrecht RFS, RM Phillip Bagnall RG, RD Michele Becker RM Gabrielle Brewer RG Natalie Burnette RFS, RM Kirsty Cameron RFS, RG Leah Carlson RPD Gretchen Caudill-Bauer RFS, RG Lyssa Cobb RG, CD Taylor Crowson RFS, RM Kevin Curtis SM Vikki Dalquist SS Cindi Ezzo RM Olga Garrity RM Lisa Geltz-Perri RM, RG Julia Golovina RM, CM, RC Jonathan Hayward SG Rebecca Healey CG Craig Henderson RPD Chris Houston RM, RG Grant Huang SM, CC John Ivanich CM, RD Anna Kaverzina-Eppers RFS, CFS Nicholas Kraft RFS, RG, SPD Andrea Kunz-Williamson CPD

ISI Conference | May 25-26, 2015 Alyssa Blackwell CG Rebecca Boyden CG Jeannie Clay RFS, RPD Amy Forbes SPD Jessica Fransworth RFS Anne Goldberg RFS, CFS Lauren Hunt SG, SPD Jamie Lane Youtsey SM Casasnadra MacDonald RPD, RFS Daria Marinelli RM, RG Beth O'Connor CG Phillippa Teague RM

Andriy Kyforenko RF Darlene Lewis CM Jere Michael RFS, CFS Lezlea Miller-Zessin CM Emily Naperkoski RS, CS Emily Oltmanns RFS Rachel Patterson RM Sarah Pulido-West RG David Redlin CS, RC Kelly Rossbach SM Megan Roth RFS, RM Maria Slabiak CM Melissa Salazar RFS, CFS Chanelle Schoonmaker RM, RG Jeanne Selker SG Kim Stahle SFS Brenda Tarkinton RFS Elizabeth Thornton RPD, CS Tiffany Thornton CC Calla Urbanski-Petka RP, CP Liyen Vong CG Christine Wenger RM, RS Michelle R. Wilcome RFS Nicole Zawojski RC

CONGRATULATIONS MASTER COACHES! Katie Bowling MS* Melanie Faulkner-Bolhuis MM Jessie Garavaglia MM Jonathan Hayward MG Robert Mauti MG

John Mucko MC Christopher Pottenger MM Angela Roesch-Davis MM Kathy Runge MM Russ Scott MP

*Master Synchronized Fast Track

and interesting. Being an examiner was a very positive experience for me. I learned so many different techniques and ways of coaching. An exam, many times, became a shared experience. When the candidate walked us verbally through their technique that may have been different, it was exciting! I always had a plethora of information to take home and try out on my students. Being on the rating panels not only opened my mind but exams made me a better coach as a result. One shoe does not fit everybody.

(For those wondering about the grandfather thing, I think I passed my master exams 100 times over!) On another note, of course there were some coaches who didn’t pass, but it

was suggested that the coach find a mentor to help them progress in their knowledge and to please return.

One amazing exam that stands out in my mind, of which I was present as a trial examiner, was Pieter Kollen’s Master rating exam. I will never forget it. It was an experience!

When Pieter was called into the room for his exam to begin, he entered the room in a dashing red cape with a flying leap...and a wide grin on his face. I didn’t know Pieter before his exam, but I did after that presentation. Oh and by the way—no surprise—he passed with flying colors!

Over time, the rating exam program developed its Continued on page 12 PS MAGAZINE

9

SAFESPORT

COACHES’ CODE OF ETHICS, STANDARDS AND CONDUCT

General Principles:

Review of Section II B Y PAT R I C K O ' N E I L L & H E I D I D E L I O T H I B E R T

A

s part of the annual U.S. Figure Skating Coach Compliance process, we all check the “I agree” that confirms that we have read the Coaches Code of Conduct, and that we agree to the words written on the computer screen. However in reality, how many of us have really read and carefully considered those words we have just agreed to?

A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the social norms and rules and responsibilities of, or proper practices for, an individual, party or organization. Related concepts include ethical, honor and moral codes.

In its 2007 International Good Practice Guidance, "Defining and Developing an Effective Code of Conduct for Organizations", the International Federation of Accountants provided the following working definition: "Principles, values, standards, or rules of behavior that guide the decisions, procedures and systems of an organization in a way that (a) contributes to the welfare of its key stakeholders, and (b) respects the rights of all constituents affected by its operations."

The U.S. Figure Skating SafeSport Handbook Coaches Code of Conduct document is in Section II – Athlete Protection Policies and Guidelines. The Coaches Code of Ethics, Standards and Conduct is the beacon that all coaches should be using as a guide in our everyday practice as coaches as it “provides a standardized guideline of ethics, standards and conduct to ensure the quality, integrity and moral environment of U.S. Figure Skating, its member clubs and programs.”

As coaches, we are the front line for U.S Figure Skating and the PSA. We bear the responsibility of creating and maintain a safe and positive training environment for all athletes in the facilities we teach in. Whether the athletes are elite or casual ones; whether we work directly with the athlete or are simply a coach in the facility they train in, each of us must maintain the highest of integrity and be the kind of role models our own parents wanted us to have.

As coaches, it is important for us to recognize our role and responsibility to be exemplary role models to all. We need to model the same behavior in ourselves that we want to see in others. Since teaching in an ice arena is like working in a fish bowl, we should always consider the possible perceptions of our actions.

Find out more about SafeSport at: www.safesport.org and www.usfigureskating.org

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• Competence: Coaches must strive to maintain high Compliance standards of excellence in their work. They should

recognize the boundaries of their particular competencies and the limitations of their expertise. They should provide only those services and use only those techniques for which they are qualified by education, training and/ or experience. In those areas, where recognized professional standards do not yet exist, coaches must exercise careful judgment and take appropriate precautions to protect the welfare of those with whom they work. They shall maintain knowledge of relevant scientific and professional information related to the services they render, and they must recognize the need for ongoing education. Coaches should make appropriate use of scientific, professional, technical and administrative resources.

Values

Morals

• Integrity: Coaches should seek to promote integrity in their coaching profession. Coaches should always be honest, fair and respectful of others. They must not make representations about their qualifications, services, products, or fees that are false, misleading or deceptive. Coaches should strive to be aware of their own belief systems, values, needs and limitations and the effect of these on their work. To the extent feasible, they should attempt to clarify for relevant parties, the roles they are performing and to function appropriately in accordance with those roles. Coaches must avoid conflicts of interest.

• Professional Responsibility: Coaches must uphold professional standards of conduct, clarify their professional roles and obligations, accept appropriate responsibility for their behavior, and adapt their methods to the needs of different athletes. Coaches should consult with, refer to, or cooperate with other professionals and institutions to the extent needed to serve the best interest of their athletes, or other recipients of their services. Coaches should be concerned about the ethical compliance of their colleagues’ conduct. When appropriate, they should consult with their colleagues in order to prevent or avoid unethical conduct.

• Respect for Participants and Dignity: Coaches shall respect the fundamental rights, dignity and worth of all participants. Coaches must be aware of cultural, individual and role differences, including those due to age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language and socioeconomic status. Coaches must eliminate the effect on their work of biases based on those factors, and they do not knowingly participate in or condone unfair discriminatory practices.

COACHES’ CODE OF ETHICS, STANDARDS AND CONDUCT

Ethical Standards:

Ethics

• Compliance with Rule Requirements: All coaches must complete all annual coaching member requirements set forth by U.S. Figure Skating Rules and the PSA that apply to them by the appropriate deadlines • Competence: Coaches should not undertake these duties until they have first obtained the proper training, study and advice that they are competent to do so • Maintaining Expertise: Coaches should maintain a level of expertise through continued education and experience and shall strive to acquire additional education and experience through sources available to them.

• Respecting Others: Coaches shall respect the rights of other’s values, opinions and beliefs even if they differ from their own • Nondiscrimination: Coaches must not engage in discrimination based upon age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, socioeconomic status, or any other basis as proscribed by law • Sexual Harassment: Coaches must not, under any circumstances, engage in sexual harassment which includes solicitation, physical advances, verbal or non-verbal conduct which is sexual in nature and will respond to complaints of such a nature to respondents with dignity and respect

• Concern for Others' Welfare: In their actions, coaches must consider the welfare and rights of their athletes and other participants. When conflicts occur among coaches’ obligations or concerns, they should attempt to resolve these conflicts and to perform their roles in a responsible fashion that avoids or minimizes harm. Coaches shall be sensitive to differences in power between themselves and others, and should not exploit nor mislead other people during or after their relationship.

• Responsible Coaching: Coaches must be aware of their ethical responsibility to the community and the society in which they work and live. Coaches must comply with the law and encourage the development of law and policies that serve the interest of sport or activity. The coach shall strive to serve as a leader and model in the development of appropriate conduct for the athlete both within and beyond the U.S. Figure Skating setting. The coach shall strive to use strategies in practice and competition that are designed to encourage play within the letter and spirit of the rules.

The coach shall strive to keep the concepts of winning and losing in proper perspective. The coach shall strive to enforce policies and rules with fairness, consistency and an appreciation for individual differences.

• Personal Problems or Conflicts: Coaches should have a responsibility to be aware if there are personal problems or conflicts which may affect their ability to work with athletes. They should also be able to identify problems affecting their athletes, which could potentially create situations that place their athletes in harm or danger of injury, and take the appropriate steps to remove the athlete from this environment.

COACHES’ CODE OF ETHICS, STANDARDS AND CONDUCT

Code of Conduct: • Must obey and abide by all U.S. Figure Skating published rules, regulations and procedures • Shall maintain exemplary standards of personal conduct • Must obey all state, national and international laws • Must not use alcohol, illegal drugs or substances, which could impair ability or judgment as a coach • Must refrain from using any profane or abusive language • Must not engage in sexual harassment or sexual misconduct with any athlete • Must teach and support the athletes fairly and equitably • Never discriminate against any athlete

*Also refer to the PSA Code of Ethics and Tenets of Professionalism for more information.

PS MAGAZINE

11

OBITUARY RATINGS Continued from page 9 rules and guidelines. Eventually, we examiners were given lists of appropriate questions to ask the examinee in accordance to their specific exam level. Each category, Registered, Certified, Senior and Master, had specific questions which were varied and level appropriate, always. Study guides were also made available.

I thought the list of questions were a great help to the examinee studying for a rating exam and for the examiners.

There have been several Ratings Chair people after Arlene, who have further developed the program with their observations and suggestions. For another example: A coach can no longer request to take a Masters exam just because they passed their Gold.

Looking back, I was lucky as I had the PSA Rating Exam experience, as well as several mentors who taught me the art of coaching.

Without the ratings program, finding a coach was the luck of the draw. For instance, when a skater decided to become a coach/ instructor, the skater stopped competing, announced turning pro and began teaching. The new “Pro’s” competition medals and test level were noted by the clubs, but not necessarily understood unless the “Pro” was a National, World or Olympic champion. It basically boiled down to if you were a skater and decided to teach, you could teach skating regardless of your skating level. However, as we know, coaching skating and skating yourself are two different animals.

The rating exams were implemented to address this issue to give guidelines to the public and creditability to our profession.

As time progressed, different categories were added to the list such as, Choreography, Synchro, Moves in the Field and Program Director. The Basic Accreditation exam eventually emerged and was added as a written exam to pave the way for the oral exams. PSA ratings have now become an excellent tool for a coach’s creditability.

Ratings can also show that a coach may have more knowledge than their actual test or competition level, which is a good thing! There are skaters and there are coaches and regardless about our joking about “going to get a real job”... coaching skating is a real job!

The Rating Exams started from a handful of coaches with a vision to make our skating profession more professional. I saw, firsthand, the zillions of hours Arlene put in developing the rating’s program.

Because I was present from the inception, I know the work there was and still is. There is a ton of paperwork, multiple schedules, lots of travel and many contacts to be made in order for the ratings to run smoothly. It has become even more complicated because the PSA has certainly grown and now we also have CER’s to take. Oh...how far we have come!

Those of you who are just starting on your coaching journey can perhaps now have some appreciation for those who paved the way and helped develop our coaching accreditation process. It has been quite a journey... and will continue to unfold before our eyes.

If you have achieved a Master Rating and have your Master’s pin, look on the back. You will see Arlene Voepel’s name. Now you will know a bit about the history of your rating exams and the exceptional lady who was instrumental in developing the initial program.

Barbara Ann Fitzgerald - Author of “The Champion Behind the Champion”, winner of the “Silver Recipient, Mom’s Choice Award” and awarded “The Dove Foundation Seal of Approval”.

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Barbara Easley Baerbel (Barbara) Rintisch Easley passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 2, 2015 comforted by the love of her family. She was born in Berlin, Germany on July 8, 1942 to the late Fritz and Erika Rintisch.

Barbara’s childhood passion for ice skating eventually led to her competing in the West German National Figure Skating Championships and to a professional career that included the Ice Capades, performing throughout the U.S. and Canada. She met the love of her life, Dennis Easley, a very lucky American officer stationed there. They were married on June 5, 1965 and welcomed a son, Mark, in 1966 and a daughter, Jessica, in 1969. A career with Reynolds Metals Company moved the family to Richmond, Virginia, then to Stade, Germany, and back again to Richmond, where Barbara reconnected with her love for figure skating. She became a nationally ranked skating instructor and choreographer, receiving accolades and adoration from her devoted students, some of whom competed successfully at the national level. Barbara achieved her Master Free skate, Master Moves in the Field, and Registered Choreography ratings, earned a Level IV ranking, and served as a rating examiner for PSA. She is survived by her loving husband, Dennis Flannagan Easley, son, Dr. Mark Erik Easley, daughter, Jessica Margaret Easley, daughter-in-law, Mary Lynne Grigg, and her grandchildren, Ford, Benson, and Charlotte Easley.

A service will be scheduled in Durham at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any tributes to Barbara be made to Duke HomeCare and Hospice of Durham, NC.

PS Magazine

TREASURE HUNT! *Gold Winged Blade*

Be the first person to find the gold PSA logo in each issue of PS Magazine and we will send you some treasure! Once you have found the logo in this issue, post where you found it on the PSA Facebook page. Be the first person to find it and we will send you a prize!

U.S. Figure Skating

RULE CHANGES » May 2015 This year, the U.S. Figure Skating Governing Council considered 114 items of business, only about 40 of which constituted rule changes. This number is down significantly from 2014, when more than 150 items were considered. Here is a summary of those that will have the greatest effect on coaches.

Membership Dues The Governing Council approved a U.S. Figure Skating dues increase for the 2016-17 season. The U.S. Figure Skating Board of Directors recommended, and the Governing Council approved, the change this year to give members and clubs more than a year to prepare for the increase.

Singles The Singles Committee made a concerted effort to change rules to encourage skaters to take more risks and also bring consistency to the various levels.

Fall deductions have been reduced to -0.5 per fall per skater for the juvenile, intermediate and adult singles events judged using the international judging system.

A bonus system has been added for juvenile, intermediate and novice singles events to reward skaters who attempt double Axels (juvenile and intermediate) and/or triple jumps (intermediate and novice). In order to earn the applicable bonus, the attempted jump must be fully rotated or missing rotation of less than a half revolution (i.e. identified as under rotated).

Rules were changed to define the half-loop as a listed jump with the

value of a single loop at all levels in singles skating, including those judged using the 6.0 system and all adult levels. The purpose of this change was to bring consistency across all singles events and hopefully eliminate confusion about how the half-loop should be treated at different levels.

A triple/triple combination is now allowed in the novice ladies and men’s short programs.

Two triple jumps—one as part of the jump combination and one as the solo jump – are now allowed in the intermediate ladies and men’s short programs. If two triple jumps are performed, they must be different (for example, triple toe loop and triple Salchow).

One three-jump combination with a maximum of two double jumps is now allowed in the juvenile and open juvenile girls and boys well-balanced free skates.

The jump repetition restrictions for the intermediate ladies and men’s well-balanced free skate, rule 4230, were changed to the following: No more than two different jumps with two and a half or three revolutions may be repeated. If any double or triple jumps, including double Axel, are repeated, at least one attempt must be part of a jump combination or sequence. There may be no more than two attempts of the same type of any double or triple jump.

The jump repetition restrictions for the novice ladies well-balanced free skate, rule 4220, were amended to match the jump repetition restrictions for the novice men’s wellbalanced free skate.

adult synchronized skating wellbalanced free skate, and the program length has been reduced to 3:15 +/10 seconds.

Synchronized Skating The block or circle step sequence element has been removed from the intermediate synchronized skating well-balanced free skate and replaced with the no hold element.

The block or circle step sequence element has been removed from the

Adult Skating Qualifying events were added to the adult sectional and U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships for the adult silver ladies and men’s free skates.

Rule 6512 was amended to change

Ice Dance Fall deductions have been reduced to -0.5 per fall per skater for the juvenile, intermediate and adult ice dance events judged using the international judging system.

Pairs Fall deductions have been reduced to -0.5 per fall per skater for the juvenile, intermediate and adult pairs events judged using the international judging system.

Small lifts will be limited to one in the short program for intermediate and novice pairs, and two in the free skate for pre-juvenile, juvenile, intermediate and novice pairs to be consistent with the limitations at the junior and senior levels.

Rules 5250 and TR 39.01 were amended to remove the option of a death spiral in the pre-juvenile pairs well-balanced free skate and test.

Special Olympics Rule TR 11.01 was amended to allow any athlete registered with a therapeutic skating program to take what are now referred to as Special Olympics/Therapeutic Skating tests.

This allows athletes registered with a therapeutic skating program to be assisted during a moves in the field or free skate test by a coach or another athlete and also allows them to take pattern dance tests without performing a solo.

Continued on page 15

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Sport Science HEIDI THIBERT

Finding and Building Coachable Athletes B Y D R . WA D E G I L B E R T , Co ach Educa t i o n Adv i s o r t o Hu m a n K i ne t i c s , Professo r, Dep artm en t O f Kin esio lo g y, C a l i fo r ni a S t a t e Univ e r s i t y, F r e s n o ; F r e s no , C A

M

uch has been written in the past week about Jordan Spieth’s record setting performance at the Master’s golf tournament. At only 21 years old, Spieth broke multiple scoring records and became the first golfer in 30 years to lead the tournament from wire to wire (first day to final day).

However, it was what he did in between shots that impressed the world more so than his athletic prowess.

He is being lauded as the future of American golf not just because of his golf ability, but equally as much for the type of athlete he represents. Spieth has won over sponsors, fans, and competitors alike because of his humble and respectful attitude, competitive drive, and willingness to learn.

According to his coach, Cameron McCormick, Jordan has always embodied these characteristics. McCormick reports many examples of how Jordan was willing to adapt and follow coaching suggestions all along the journey from 12-year old sensation to the reigning Master’s champion.

Jordan Spieth is a prime example of that most highly sought athlete by every coach—the coachable athlete.

Coaches spend considerable time and energy trying to find, and build, coachable athletes because they are eager to learn, fun to work with, and in the case of team sports they make their teammates better.

In my classes we often do an activity where I ask coaches to identify and rank characteristics of the coachable athlete.

After preparing their list I then have them compare their list with a list generated in a national survey of over 100 college basketball coaches. The list includes the following nine characteristics, ranked in order from most important to least important: 1) Willingness to be coached 2) Willingness to sacrifice for the team 3) Acceptance of criticism 4) Acceptance of individual role 5) Positive response to discipline 6) Attentiveness 7) Respect for authority 8) Selflessness 9) Agreeableness with coach Notice that ‘willingness’ and ‘acceptance’ rank at the top of the list. Coachable athletes approach their sport with a willingness to do whatever it takes to improve performance. They also are eager to receive feedback and open to making adjustments. For athletes who play on teams,

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this is most evident when athletes eagerly accept new roles or new positions on the team, instead of complaining or challenging the coach.

Although I have found that most coaches agree with the list, there seldom is consensus on the order of the list. For example, two of my students asked their former coaches to comment on the list. The coaches included Margie Wright, college’s all-time winningest softball coach, and Brian Reynolds, who has coached his swim teams to 33-time national collegiate championships.

Interestingly, both of these legendary championship coaches rated ‘selflessness’ as the number one characteristic of a coachable athlete.

What these exercises illustrate is that taking time as a coach to reflect on how you define a coachable athlete is more valuable than the list itself. As you evolve and grow as a coach your list will also surely become more fine-tuned. The most coachable athletes for each coach will likely be the ones who model the coach’s core values and program philosophy.

Take a moment and think about the athlete characteristics you would put on your list. Then ask yourself how you model and teach these qualities to your athletes. Wouldn’t we all benefit from passing along a more coachable athlete to the next coach in the athlete’s journey?

Sources

Connell, J. (2015, February 21). Prestige in the pool: Drury’s unmatched swimming success. Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved from www.newsleader.com McIlroy, J. (2015). Do some athletes know how to be coached? Sports coach UK. Retrieved from www.sportscoachuk.org Peter, J. (2015, April 14). Under Armour scored big on early signing of unknown Spieth. USA Today Sports. Retrieved from www.usatoday.com Stier, W. F., & Schneider, R. C. (2007). Effectiveness of basketball coaching methods and player qualities – A national survey of men’s NCAA Division 1 basketball coaches. Applied Research for Coaching and Athletics Annual, 22, 1-22.

Van Sickle, G. (2013, December 1). Q&A with Cameron McCormick: The coach behind the phenomenal rise of Jordan Spieth. Golf: Tour and News.

Retrieved from www.golf.com

Dr. Wade Gilbert is an award-winning professor in the Department of Kinesiology at California State University, Fresno. Dr. Gilbert holds degrees in Physical Education, Human Kinetics, and Education from the University of Ottawa in Canada. Dr. Gilbert’s areas of expertise include coaching science, talent development, sport and exercise psychology, physical education and youth sport. He currently serves as the chief scientific advisor to BeLikeCoach, a national non-profit dedicated to improving the quality of youth sport settings in the United States.

RULE CHANGES

Continued from page 13

Competitions Rule 2423 was amended such that competitors entered in the U.S. Collegiate Championships who pass a test after the closing date for entries for that competition, at a level higher than the tests specified for entry in that level’s test requirements, will still

be allowed to compete in the level at which they entered.

Rules 1220 and 1403 were amended to make it clear that the event referee, or assistant ice referee in the case of synchronized skating, has the authority to withdraw a competitor who has sustained an injury if the referee feels the competitor is not fit to continue.

Medical personnel will be consulted prior to withdrawing a competitor if such personnel are available.

Combined Report of Action These changes only represent a portion of what was approved by the Governing Council on May 2. To get the full details of all of these changes and others, please see the 2014-15 Combined Report of Action, available on the U.S. Figure Skating website at www.usfsa.org/content. asp?menu=leadership&id=443. The Combined Report of Action is the ONLY OFFICIAL report of U.S. Figure Skating bylaw and rule changes

and contains all changes that were made by the U.S. Figure Skating Board of Directors and the Governing Council this past season.

As always, we caution coaches from using word-of-mouth, Facebook or other unofficial information found via the Internet to educate themselves on rule changes.

Coaches should utilize the Combined Report of Action with their 2014-15 U.S. Figure Skating Rulebook until the 2015-16 U.S. Figure Skating Rulebook becomes available.

U.S. Figure Skating hopes to have the 2015-16 rulebook available online before the rule changes go into effect July 1. Once finalized, the rulebook will be posted online at www.usfigureskatingrules.org and made available through the U.S. Figure Skating Publications App. Instructions on how to get a printed copy will also be available on the U.S. Figure Skating website.

Your AMAZING TALENT

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Feld Entertainment ® is seeking male and female skaters for U.S. and International tours of Disney On Ice. It is your opportunity to truly shine.

Please send a skating resume, photos, a current video (3 – 6 min.) and all contact info to: Judy Thomas, Talent Director and Production Coordinator, Feld Entertainment 2001 U.S. Highway 301.

Palmetto, FL 34221 USA

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the step sequence to a choreographic sequence in the championship adult, adult gold, adult pre-gold and masters open free dance events.

Rules 4510, 4540 and 4570 were amended to remove the option of the choreographic sequence in the masters junior-senior, masters intermediate-novice and adult gold singles events. This change was made in both the championship (qualifying) and nonqualifying events at these levels.

Rules 5510, 5520 and 5530 were amended to remove the option of the choreographic sequence in the championship masters, masters and adult gold pairs events.

Phone: (941) 721-1234 Email: jthomas@feldinc.com

PS MAGAZINE

15

presented by

P RO F E S S IO NA L S K AT E R S A S SO C IAT IO N

Jodeyne Higgins & Sean Rice

held May 23, 2015

Bloomington Ice Garden • Bloomington, mn P H OTO S BY

Mark Walentiny Congratulations to all of our amazing U.S. Open Professional Figure Skating Championship competitors!

R E SU LTS

GRAND CHAMPION AWARD

Jodeyne Higgins & Sean Rice

10

Special thanks to our wonderful judges D OROTH Y BE NH AM MICH AE L BUCKLE Y TIM COVINGTON FRANK CARROLL SYLVIA FROE SCH E R

CREATIVE VISIONARY AWARD

Ice Cold Combos

Adam Blake, Sarah Santee, Kyle Shropshire, Shannon Brakke, Taylor Blair, Kate Charbonneau THE SKATER'S SKATER AWARD

Ryan Jahnke

GROUND BREAKER AWARD

Jonathan Cassar

THE OLIVIA CLARK FOUNDATION LUMINARY AWARD

Ryan Jahnke

Doug Mattis, Master of Ceremonies Colleen Okolski

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Ice Cold Combos Adam Blake Taylor Blair Shannon Brakke Kate Charbonneau Sarah Santee Kyle Shropshire

Tam Bui

Larry Holliday

Adam Kaplan

Heidi Evers Ryan Jahnke

Ashley Clark

"Trick & Track" - Ryan Santee, Kyle Shropshire

Sari Kauppinen

Mayuri Bhandari

PS MAGAZINE

17

PSA Li a bil i ty I n s urance

Components of an effective Waiver and Release include: (but are not limited to) • Language is clear and understandable

PARTICIP ASSUMPT

• Language is unambiguous • Language is comprehensive

THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLECTING AND MAINTAINING

Waiver and Release of Liability Forms

• Clearly titled “Waiver and Release of Liability and Assumption of Risk” • Clearly identifies the activities being conducted (e.g.-Skating and related activities) • Clearly states that the released parties are being released for negligence • Does not include language of being released for “Gross Negligence” or “Willful and Wanton Negligence” • Contains a “Severability Clause”

A Waiver and Release is a legal document whereby an individual acknowledges by their signature, their understanding that the sport, recreational or other activity they desire to participate in carries certain risks of physical injury, including death, dismemberment, paralysis and other serious injuries. They further agree not to litigate to recover for damages as a result of those injuries. A well written Waiver and Release will include both Assumption of Risk language and agreement language to not bring litigation.

As a skating coach, you are generally working with both minors (typically under 18 years of age) and adults. When working with minors, it is equally important that your Waiver and Release include Parental Indemnification language. Legally, a minor cannot waive their rights. Additionally, public policy states that the Statute of Limitations does not begin until the minor reaches the age of majority (typically 18 years of age). The Statute of Limitations varies by jurisdiction, but is generally from two to six years. As a rule, the Assumption of Risk language contained in the properly written Waiver and Release will remain valid. Parental/Legal Guardian Indemnification simply states that in the event a minor reaches their majority age, and elects to litigate for injuries sustained when a minor, the parent/guardian has contractually agreed to indemnify for all costs (both defense and indemnification) associated with the litigation. We have found this quite useful in the ultimate dismissal of the suit.

A Waiver and Release is considered the first method of defense in the event one of your skaters attempts to sue you. The insurance company will assign an adjuster to initially review the allegations. They will ask for a copy of the signed Waiver and Release. A general guideline is that a new Waiver and Release should be signed annually. In addition, if your skater, during the course of the year, reaches majority age (typically 18

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• Released parties include “Heirs, Assigns, Estates, etc.”

• The type print is clear and legible (e.g.-10 point type) • Includes exculpatory language “In consideration of being allowed to participate in skating activities” • Includes a signature line, printed name line and date line at the end of the document • For minors, includes Parent/Guardian signature line, printed line and date line

years of age), you should have the skater execute an Adult Waiver and Release. The adjuster will analyze the components of the Waiver and Release against the state when the injury occurred Tort laws. This is known as “discovery”, and if properly written and signed, will initially attempt to have the suit dismissed based upon the validity of the Waiver and Release. This is a term generally referred to as Summary Judgement.

We also recommend that you maintain signed Waiver and Release forms for a number of years.

Often, a suit will not be filed for a number of months or even years after the original injury. This coupled with a minor skater being allowed to file suit with Statute of Limitations beginning at their majority age makes the storage and ability to retrieve a Waiver and Release increasingly important. Electronic storage is an acceptable method.

For more information, visit www.esixglobal.com/psa

Event Name/Activity Desc Event/Activity Date(s): ___

For and in consideration of fied below (“Minor”) to part myself, and on behalf of Min personal representatives, exe contractual representations p Agreement (the “Agreement 1. I hereby represent that ( in proper physical condition or any illicit or prescription d Event, and that I am respons while at the Event.

2. I understand and acknow and the sport of figure skatin potential for serious bodily in damage to equipment/proper pants, spectators, or objects; d failure; inadequate safety mea of the Event Organizers; and (“Risks”). I understand that t inactions, the actions or inacti Released Parties defined below sibility for any damages, liabili Event.

3. I understand that the Min lished for the benefit and safet actions of the Minor while he equipment. I understand that the Event for any reason they d 4. On behalf of the Minor, I h Defend and Hold Harmless th ______________________ (In respect to any liability, claim(s) and reasonable attorneys fees) o any way to the Minor’s particip negligent acts or omissions of th anyone on the Minor’s behalf, m defend and hold harmless each the result of such claim.

I hereby warrant that I am of leg I have read this Agreement care substantial legal rights by signin and next of kin, and any legal an acknowledge that I have signed for my signature to serve as confi and provisions of this Agreemen regarding these issues and no ora Agreement. If any provision of t that provision shall be deemed se of any remaining provisions.

Name of Minor: _____________ Home Address: _____________ X _________________________ Signature of Parent/Legal Gua

PANT WAIVER AND RELEA SE OF LIABILITY, TION OF RISK AND INDEMNIT Y AGREEMENT Waiver Form for MINORS (Under Age 18)

cription: ________________________ ________________________________ ______ ______________Event/Activity Loca tion: ____________________________ ______ _________________________ (“Ins tructor/Coach”) allowing the minor identiticipate in the event or activity descr ibed above (the “Event” or “Events”) ; I, for nor, and the Minor’s parents/legal guard ians, heirs and next of kin, and any legal ecutors, administrators, successors and and assigns, hereby agree to and make the following pursuant to this Waiver and Release of Liability, Assumption of Risk and Indemnity t”);

(i) I am the parent or legal guardian of the Minor; (ii) the Minor is in good health and to participate in the Event; and (iii) the Minor is not under the influence of alcohol drugs which would in any way impa ir the Minor’s ability to safely participat e in the sible for the Minor’s safety and well being at all times and under all circu mstances

wledge the risks and dangers associated with the Minor’s participation in the Event ng and related figure skating sport discip lines, including without limitation, the njury, sickness and disease, permanen t disability, paralysis and loss of life; loss of or rty; exposure to extreme conditions and circumstances; contact with other parti cidangers arising from imperfect cond itions; water and surface hazards; equip ment asures; participants of varying skill levels ; situations beyond the immediate contr ol other undefined, not readily foreseeabl e and presently unknown risks and dang ers these Risks may be caused in whole or in part by the Minor’s own actions or ions of others participating in the Even t, or the negligent acts or omissions of the w, and on behalf of the Minor, I hereb y expressly assume all such Risks and responities, losses or expenses which I incur as a result of the Minor’s participation in any

nor is required to be familiar with and to abide by the Rules and Regulation s estabty of all participants in the Event. I accept sole responsibility for the cond uct and or she is participating in the Event, and the condition and adequacy of the Mino r’s the Event Organizers have the right to disqualify anyone or deny participat ion in deem just and proper in their sole discr etion. hereby Release, Waive and Covenant Not to Sue, and further agree to Inde mnify, he following parties: ____________ ________________________________ ___ ndividually and Collectively, the “Inst ructor/Coach” or “Released Parties”), with ), demand(s), cause(s) of action, dama ge(s), loss or expense (including court costs of any kind or nature (“Liability ”) whic h may arise out of, result from, or relate in pation in the Event, including claim s for Liability caused in whole or in part by the he Released Parties. I further agree that if, despite this Agreement, the Mino r, or makes a claim for Liability against any of the Released Parties, I will indem nify, of the Released Parties from any such Liabilities which any may be incurred as

Jonathan Cassar

Kristen Nardozzi & Nick Traxler

Laurie Johnson-Kreuger

Sarah France

gal age and authorized to enter into this Agreement on behalf of the Mino r, that efully, understand its terms and cond itions, acknowledge that I will be givin g up ng it (including the rights of the Mino r, the Minor’s parents/legal guardians, heirs nd personal representatives, executors, administrators, successors and assigns), this Agreement without any inducemen t, assurance or guarantee, and intend firmation of my complete and unconditi onal acceptance of the terms, condition s nt. This Agreement represents the comp lete understanding between the parti es al representations, statements or induc ements have been made apart from this this Agreement is held to be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then everable from this Agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceabi lity

__________________ Age: ___ Date of Birth: ___/___/___  Male  Fema le ____________________________ Hom e Tel.: (_____) _________________ _____________________________ ____/____/______ ardian for Minor(s) Date Signed

Sample Waiver and Release agreement available at www.esixglobal.com/psa Ryan Santee

Rohene Ward

PS MAGAZINE

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Education CAROL ROSSIGNOL

The On-ice Dynamic Warm-up: From Rink Rats to Lab Rats to Championships

BY CHRISTIAN CONTE

T

he experiment has escaped the lab! In this case the “experiment” is two hard working rink rats from Baltimore, MD. Baltimore, being well known for its large wharf rat population, led me to jokingly moniker them, “The Rat Pack”. I have always been fascinated by the sciences and have endeavored to use scientific principals in my work. So when I started teaching my rats a couple years ago, they quickly became my local “lab rats”.

Everyday we coach, we have an opportunity and obligation to improve ourselves. Our methodology, as well as our organizational, motivational and communication skills are all deeply rooted in the sciences. The principals of physics, biomechanics and psychology are applied to our craft every day. Thus each day is part of an ongoing experiment in how we can better ourselves as coaches as we encourage our athletes (rats) forward through the maze of figure skating as safely and efficiently possible.

In our frozen lab we use Dartfish video analysis to collect data on flight times and rotation intervals. We also use video for visualization and positive modeling. A Champion off ice rotation and Pro-motion pole harnesses are used to improve rotational skills and build confidence.

Off ice training sessions with a skating specific physical therapist aids in overall athletic development. Champion Cords, ankle buzzers, balls, hula-hoops, and various other fun toys are used to enhance proprioceptive awareness. All of this “lab equipment” helps enhance the learning process for my rats; the one thing that I feel has been most helpful guiding them toward the cheese is their on-ice dynamic warm up routines.

Time management constraints are one of the biggest impediments to progress. Competitive skaters that go to school full time generally jump out of the car still chewing the after school snack, have little time for off ice warm up routines, and may have only one or two sessions available to jump or run programs before the ice becomes crowded. Off ice training after practice leaves little time for homework,

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Photos courtesy Christian Conte

family and proper rest. As we all know, it is a very difficult balancing act for these kids and their families.

If a competitive rat needs to do off-ice warm up, on ice moves in the field (skating skills), jumping, spinning, run programs, work on artistry, improve strength, balance, agility, core strength, and flexibility to meet the demands of the sport, there is simply not enough time in one afternoon to cover all these areas separately. Some skaters add practices in the early mornings to try to cover more ground. These skaters run the risk of becoming overtired, robbing their practice of focus and intensity. If not properly managed, these “zombie rats” excel at neither school nor skating.

Coaches often look for synergistic types of training methods to consolidate activities to meet time constraints. Prime ice time is a precious commodity. I felt I could not afford to let my rats lose early afternoon ice time to perform off ice warm up routines. The solution was to survey generally recommended off ice warm up activities endeavoring to find ways to integrate these into on ice drills. This way warm up can be coupled with skating skills to create sets of dynamic warm up drills that would cover as many bases as possible.

Understand I am not advocating all skaters stop doing off ice warm ups when their schedules permit. A modest amount of floor work is beneficial and important for competitions when warm up ice is not readily available.

ON-ICE DYNAMIC WARM-UP Here are some examples of these types of drills progressing from basic to intermediate level. The list is by no means comprehensive. Remember to add active arm and torso variations to basic drills as skater improves.

EXAMPLES

• Basic forward and backward swizzles with correct posture and knee rhythm increasing in tempo and power.

• Backward power swizzle to swizzle hops (like jumping rope from a swizzle) • Walking to jogging to running (full use of blade heel to toe) • Forward and backward hockey lunges (deep, powerful, medium tempo) • Forward hockey lunges adding cross in front (all on two feet forcing “under push”) • Two foot slaloms forward and backward (increasing tempo and power) • Two foot slaloms to one foot power pulls (basic) • Power pulls that vary depth and tempo (i.e. 2 Slow 3 very quick: intermediate) • Power pulls with 3’s, rockers, counters, Choctaws, arm variations etc. (advanced)

A good On Ice Dynamic Warm Up (OIDWU) should begin with correct postural alignment and easy relaxed breathing. This should become the default state to begin any basic skating drills. The first drills should teach full utilization of the blade at moderate tempos to begin development of proper edge pressures. I generally begin on two feet and then progress to one foot skating for the first few exercises. Timings should oscillate between slow and quick rhythmic movements to enhance agility and raise core temperature. Subsequent drills should have relaxed active upper body movements integrated in order to warm up the joints and improve range of motion. It should have a performance art sensibility and aesthetic to develop awareness that skating is a visual art. As you play with these drill progressions, you will quickly realize that this is so much more than just a warm up.

Traveling the USA with The Grassroots to Champions seminars, I often ask the kids in private lessons to show me their warm up routines. Sadly, often, there isn’t one. When there is, it is often some cross-strokes and power-pulls (with stiff static arm positions) followed by a very basic lap of stroking. Then jumping commences without further preparation. Overwhelmingly the observed paradigm seems to be use of the skater’s current moves in the field exercises as the on ice preparation for freestyle. In my opinion, both approaches are woefully inadequate. Moves in the field was not designed for the purpose of warm up and both warm ups lack specific alignments and technical skills used in jumping and spinning.

There has been much new research in motor learning, especially with regard to the acquisition of “hard skills”.

Thanks to functional MRI and other new advances in research, we know a lot more about how the brain and nervous system acquire and process these types of skills.

Embedding jump alignment and rotational skills into the on ice dynamic warm up arms the athlete with strong building blocks that are the precursors to the more complex

• Alternating forward inside 3’s to forward crossovers (add active arms) • Alternating forward outside 3’s to backward crossovers (add active arms/ torso) • Half turn two foot hops (both directions) • Twizzles (medium speed alternating direction and initiation) • Full lap high speed stroking with changes of skating direction and presentation • Landing alignment drills (for jump alignment, extension, and outflow) • Forward inside and outside 3 turn hop arounds (lift at cusp of turn) • Russian twists (full turn jumps with proper axis, vary height and tempo) • Wally jumps, inside Axels, one foot Axels (consecutive repeating, arm variations) That should be enough to get your little rats started. Video examples and explanations are available for viewing at icoachskating.com

skills they will spend the rest of the afternoon trying to learn. All skating jumps rotate and land essentially the same way, so a consistent and deliberate practice of alignments, edge activation, rotation and rhythm integrated with skating skills will help facilitate stronger neuromuscular patterns. Building dynamic skating and edge pressure skills into jumping drills appears to be a very logical progression to save time (replaces off ice warm up), build skills, and better prepare the athlete for success.

Generally, my progressions burn 15 to 20 mins of the first afternoon freestyle at the intermediate level and up.

Juvenile and below can be 25 to 30 minutes. I know it seems lengthy, but look at it as an investment in creating a more viable skater that can acquire new skills faster, as there is a better basic foundation on which to build. I monitor the drills often as they need to be corrected, perfected, and modified with regard to periodization and overall progress.

Some basic drills always remain the same. Others are eliminated and replaced with upgrades. Drills can also be combined into compound drills or more advanced variations can be added to develop better coordination as well as keep the routine fresh and fun. Hoops, balls, cords and other toys can be added to further enhance the experience and challenge the athletes.

I have included some examples of a basic progression. I hope it is a helpful starting point. When your experience and creativity kick in you will begin to create some of your own. I hope you will have as much fun with your experiment as I am having with mine.

After days, weeks and months of diligent drills and persistent progressive practices, my rats managed to escape the lab. They scurried down to Greensboro and found some cheese on the pewter steps of the intermediate singles podiums. As their evil scientist coach, I am very proud of their dedication, growth and progress. I look forward to this season’s ongoing experiment in skating excellence. Now, back to the lab!

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2015 PSA CONFERENCE Visual Recap

In Their Own Words... Reviews from conference attendees

Thanks the fun,for coache s!

"Coming home with LOTS of ideas to help build a better club and atmosphere of "WE"."

"Dick was funny and entertaining. I was thrilled to meet him and get his autograph and a photo with him.

Wonderful opportunity!"

"Mr. Hennessy is a wonderful mime and proved how important non-verbal communication is to our learning experience."

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"Pete is amazing on and off the ice, amazing presentation."

"Everyone took time for autographs and photos. Thanks for bringing this "Fab Four" to us!"

"Jodi is so knowledgeable and fun and full of information! The whole class was an inspiration and just the tip of the iceberg of information I would like to learn from her!"

Popular SPEAKERS

CONFERENCE ATTENDEE

Rodrigo Menendez

• David Benzel • Dick Button • Kori Ade • Jimmie Santee

SELFIE KING

Top 5 SESSIONS

• Who do Your Skaters Think They Are? –David Benzel

• Brain-Targeting Coaching: Neuroscience of Athlete Learning–Chris Snyder USOC • Reflections on Skating Past & Present –Dick Button

• Actions Speak Louder than Words "Always enjoy Bobbe's presentations. Helpful for beginners through to high levels. She's a treat!"

–Michael Hennessy with Mark Stillman

• Formula for a Champion

–Brian Orser & Tracy Wilson

POST-CONFERENCE UPDATE: "Tried some of Ben's edge combinations on my students this morning...they loved it!" - Josselyn Baumgartner

"Great session, not only for the games but also for the great lesson on sports psychology by Kori. I think this really helps connect the athlete's body and mind to obtain succesful training sessions."

"This was my favorite lecture of the entire conference! Ben Agosto has such a fun personality and his teaching tips along with his tremendous knowledge of the sport are the best!

He used his whole body to animate what he was saying. It really helped me understand. Please bring him back!"

Also heard...

CONCUSSION PANEL –Dr. Kathy Lawler, Michael Cook, Michael Santee, Patricia St. Peter

"I liked the diversity of backgrounds of the panel.

Much information I knew already, but it is good to have it reiterated. I had not thought about the emotional issues that could be involved with a concussion previously."

"Thank you for presenting ALL the angles of athlete concussions. It was extremely helpful to hear from someone who's gone through it. This is highly applicable to what I do right now."

THE TRAINING GAME

HOW TO JUMP HIGHER

–Peter Zapalo

–Dr. Lee Cabell

"Always a lot of info to digest from Peter and he always gets me thinking about my coaching tactics."

"I want more of Lee! He is awesome!"

"Incredibly well organized and delivered presentation.

Detailed and clear information and diagraming.

Knowledgable presenter and very enthusiastic."

"I have seen Peter a few times.

He is a fantastic speaker who brings a lot of relevant information to every level of coach. Great speaker!!"

"Wonderful and I will use this to prepare my athletes better!!"

"Needed much more time!!

Awesome presentation with valuable information! Please have him back!"

"Lee is so über smart...loved his presentation!"

"Very good insights wth a good balance between detailed information and takeaways from that research."

"Useful biomechanical info for jumping."

Over 100 RATING EXAMS TAKEN!

TRADE SHOW Exhibitors

HARLICK HD SPORTS ICE SKATE CONDITIONING ISI JACKSON ULTIMA JAMMIN PARAMOUNT SKATES RIEDELL SKATER RATER SKATES US SP-TERI U.S. FIGURE SKATING US Performance Academy

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“Being a student at USPA allows me to keep up with my intense training schedule.�

Anita is in 12th grade at US Performance Academy and on the senior national team for USA Synchronized Swimming. She has been with USPA for nearly a year and has been thriving in her athletics and academics.

US PERFORMANCE

Academy

By Terri Milner Tarquini

There are only 24 hours in a day. This is often the daily problem for student athletes who struggle with juggling academics and the demands of a chosen sport. US Performance Academy might be a solution.

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Maximo is in 10th grade at US Performance Academy. He is a well-accomplished competitive windsurfer with several notable wins around the world. Maximo has been making great progress at USPA and his parents even say that he has been smiling and laughing more often.

E

“

ssentially we eliminate the conflicts of school for everyone involved - the coaches, the kids and the parents,” said Pete Smith, founder and president of USPA. “The USPA wasn’t created so kids could train more per se, but so they could train when it works. It’s all about striking a good balance. This can give kids an edge and remove the conflicts. Doing both school and sports well really doesn’t have to be that hard.”

USPA is a personalized, online education for middle and high school students that attempts to find a balance between finding the time for training and traveling, as well as providing structure for the student to excel at school at the same time.

“We take a holistic, deliberate view of what the student needs to do,” said Kimberly Dow, chief academic officer of USPA. “We strike a flexible balance between life skills, academics and college planning that puts the students at a great advantage on all fronts in the future.”

What sets USPA apart from other virtual solutions is that it provides an active support structure through three main resources.

First, there is a content expert “If I was in a and certified teacher, who is in charge of the usual core curricutraditional high lum, such as math, English, social school, it would be a studies and science. Next, there is a learning coach, who is focused lot harder to keep up on the relationship aspect with the student and assesses a stuwith my academics dent’s strengths and weaknesses. and be able to travel “The learning coach starts with each student on day one and this much throughout is heavily involved in coordinatthe year. With ing their learning calendar with their training calendar,” Smith USPA, they really said. “The learning coach is a real personal resource for the student, help me to stay on as well as a liaison to the parents

top of everything.” ~Anita, USPA student

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and coaches. This is not a situation where the parent calls in and has to give the last four digits of the social security number and tell the learning coach who their child is. The learning coach knows who your child is and they are there for the student and the parents.

They can also be a contact with the coaches, if the coaches choose to be a part of the process.”

The third resource for students is on-demand tutors, who are ready to help when a USPA student pushes a button.

“This is a rigorous education,” Smith said. “We have foundations and a core curriculum that are top-level.

But we work with the students to develop skill sets and provide people who are working with them so closely that it really sets us apart from other virtual schools.”

Another difference is that all of the students are acquainted with the dual pressures of school and sport.

“If you want to get good at athletics, you still need to be able to maintain academics,” Dow said. “We have Olympic-bound athletes, we have national champions and we have kids who are hopefuls. Whether they are at the elite level or at the hopeful level, we are a great support system for their academic development.”

How the USPA approaches this is to allow for some down-time when athletics are in high-gear and vice-versa.

“It’s about pacing and planning,” Dow said. “What is your training looking like this summer? What courses do you need? We work with them very closely to help them pace and plan ahead. It’s ok to take some time off of course work when you really need to focus on training and then when there’s an athletic breather we can buckle down on studies.”

Technology of the 21st century being what it is, the USPA has pleasantly found that not all of the support comes from those working with the students, but rather, those who are in the same boat.

“We are unique in that we are athlete-focused,” Dow said. “They are really working at a high level athletically and really working at a high level academically. Because of that, they have created networks themselves where they reach out to each other and kids from all over have online study groups and friendships. It doesn’t matter the sport; athletes understand other athletes.”

Joe Jacobi, an American slalom canoer who competed in two Olympic Games in 1992 and 2004 and won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics, is raising a daughter who apparently inherited her father’s athletic bend and has found success with the USPA education.

In short, it is incredible,” Jacobi said. “We had

Hannah is in 8th grade at US Performance Academy.

She is a competitive diver and is currently training six hours a day. Hannah loves everything about diving and, with USPA, has been able to work on her courses between training and competitions.

Seu in virtual learning and this was clearly the next step. It has been an amazing opportunity for her to manage her education and her athletics, as well as networking with other USPA students—all of the kids are kids like her.”

Seu, 14, whose name is a shortened version of the town in Spain where her father won his gold medal, lives in Tennessee but travels a lot in her pursuit of competitive whitewater canoe slalom.

“This sport is very European-centric so travel is inherent,” said Jacobi, noting that Seu will be in Europe for four weeks this summer. “The traditional school system is a tough partner when you have a child who is competing at such a high level. This kind of academic structure makes all of this so much more possible.”

The USPA has an interesting approach, one that seems to come with an extra dose of legitimacy, when it comes to bringing students into the program—they first present their program to the governing bodies or key organizations of the individual sports.

“We try to build relationships within the sport first, rather than just advertising,” Dow said. “It gives us the opportunity to get to know the culture of each of the sports. Every sport is a little different and it would be impossible for us to support athletes in the best way possible unless we really learn about the culture of their sport and can identify their exact needs.”

However, getting the national governing bodies on board can sometimes be a lengthy process.

“I’ve heard national governing bodies say that they don’t want to be in the school business, but the way I see it, they’re not—they’re bringing a resource to their clubs and their communities and their coaches that they want,” said Jacobi, who was chief executive officer of USA Canoe Kayak for five years.

“As far as athletics, USPA is really there to help these sports get where they want to be.”

Originally a school for elite sailing, the USPA currently has athletes from the following sports: USA Canoe and Kayak through an organizational partnership, hockey, sailing, synchronized swimming, soccer, diving and luge. The USPA recently formed a partnership with the Boston Shamrocks, who play in the Junior Women’s Hockey League, and has had great conversations with leadership at both U.S. Figure Skating and PSA. “We saw a need with kids who were getting further along in their training and traveling, but who still needed to dedicate a certain amount of time to their schooling, and it was becoming increasingly arduous on the kids and the parents,” Smith said.

“I like that I am able to fit school work into my schedule. I am learning a lot and I like the different courses that I am able to choose from.”

For more information, visit www.gouspa.org “We saw the challenges and we came up with the solutions. But we wanted to take that a step farther.

We want to teach these kids true life skills that they can apply so they are truly college-ready.

“We are really working with them on the life skills and making sure they get it and are taking ownership of their education and their training and how those two things work together,” he said. “These kids can do great things athletically and they will be more than ready for college.”

PS MAGAZINE

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PART

6

g n i g d u J 2 0 0 0 - To d a y

The new millennium

by Bruce Poodles

A

s figure skating entered the next millennium, the ISU was still dealing with the aftermath of two sensational judging scandals. Following the dance event at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Ukrainian judge Yuri Balkov was suspended for a year after being taped by Canadian judge Jean Senft explaining the final results before the event even took place (Pilon, 2014). The ISU curiously suspended the whistleblower Senft as well (Godwin, 2004). At the following World Championships in 1999, another Ukrainian judge, Alfred Korytek, and Russian Sviatoslav Babenko where caught cheating during the pair event.

Canadian television showed the two judges exchanging information on the performances of the Chinese and Polish pairs, the

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silver and bronze medalists in the event. ISU President Octavio Cinquanta announced that an inquiry would not happen at the championships but a closed hearing would take place later. Babenko received a three year ban initially as this was the third occurrence of his having been cited for misconduct (Hersch, 2000).

According to Hersch of the Chicago Tribune, “One occurred during an international competition in 1995, the other when Babenko was judging men’s singles at the 1997 World Championships.” After the Russian Federation President Valentin Piseyev threatened to, “… go all the way to [the European Court of Justice in] The Hague if we have to, to fight this decision” (Unkown, 1999). As the ISU was already fighting several other

2011 U.S. Figure Skating Championships PHOTO COURTESY OF U.S. FIGURE SKATING

cases in court, it was decided to halve the suspension to save money. Subsequently, Babenko dropped his suit. More subtly, the ISU restricted television from recording the judge’s panel during an event in the future. Regardless of the sanctions, Babenko was again selected to judge Skate America in 2000 and Ukrainian Korytek who judged for Israel, was on a panel at the World Championships in 2001 (Bianchetti-Garbato, 2004).

While a pattern of judging scandals and attempts by the leadership of the ISU to improve the accountability of judges were notable, the controversy that erupted at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games would shake the sport to its very core.

The public’s perception was that the final results were directly affected by nationally biased judges. It was only after several layers of the onion were peeled back that the depths of political intrigue became apparent. Most the story is well known. French judge, Marie Reine Le Gougne was the swing vote that tipped the panel of the pair’s event for a Russian victory at the expense of the Canadian pair of Pelletier and Sale. It was later that Le Gougne confessed to Sally Stapleford of Great Britain to being pressured by French Federation President, Didier Gailhaguet to award the Russian pair the highest scores in exchange for Russian support for the French ice dance team. The alleged conspiracy theory went further as the eventual gold medalist in dance, Marina Anissina, who was born in Russia and moved to France for a new partner, became acquainted with a suspected Russian mobster, Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov. Tokhtakhounov had been booted from France for “suspected mafia activity” according to an article on the ESPN website ( John Barr, William

Weinbaum, 2008). Living in Italy, the Italian authorities arrested Tokhtakhounov after wiretaps on his phone implied that he may have arranged the fix in exchange for a visa to return to France (Reeves, 2002). Barr and Weinbaum wrote that Tokhtakhounov “had approached Didier Gailhaguet in 2000 with an attractive offer: Tokhtakhounov would bankroll a professional hockey team in Paris and, in return, Gailhaguet would help him extend his French visa, which was about to expire." Gailhaguet rejected the offer after a French official warned him off. Even though the U.S. indicted Tokhtakhounov, the Italians did not charge him and allowed him to leave the country. Tokhtakhounov flew back to Russia where he currently still lives as the U.S. and Russia do not have an extradition treaty. Ultimately, the ISU suspended both Le Gougne and Gailhaguet for a period of three years. In 2006 Le Gougne ran for the presidency of the French federation but was defeated. The following year, Gailhaguet ran for the same position and was elected.

“Skategate” wasn’t the only scandal at the Salt Lake City games. While over shadowed by the pair event, this one happened in the dance. The Lithuanian dance team of Drobiazko and Vanagas finished fifth despite falls by the third and fourth place teams. The Lithuanian federation filed a protest immediately after the results but the ISU dismissed it. “The discipline,” wrote Chicago Tribune columnist Phil Hersch, “so riddled with judging problems for years that its credibility is near zero.” At the World Championships in Nagano, a second dance scandal in as many months rankled the same team. This time they were surpassed by the Israeli team of Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski, PS MAGAZINE

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dropping from third to fourth after the free dance. The Lithuanian federation again filed a protest and Vanagas went as far as suggesting the fall from the medal podium was retaliation for the protest at the Olympics. Furthermore, it was reported that 20 athletes signed a petition protesting the placement of the Israeli’s over Drobiazko and Vanagas. The scene in the hotel after the event bordered on chaos. Galit’s father Boris, was quoted as saying his daughter was, “harassed by other athletes”, in which they asked Galit: “How much (did) you pay for the medal?” (Staff, 2002). Eventually, a verbal confrontation between Boris Chait and several coaches happened and to cap off the night, American judge, Sharon Rogers, received a phone call in the early morning threating her life.

At this point something had to be done. President Cinquanta wrote a letter to ISU members saying, “We certainly cannot ignore that a problem exists, and . . . it is becoming graver and more frequent… The situation for the ISU is becoming very critical” (Staff, 2002). He was going to propose comprehensive changes to the judging system in June in Kyoto at the annual congress.

While Cinquanta was preparing his proposal, the USFSA announced that it would propose three additional ideas. The first was the calculation of the placements using the “median mark.”

This change would make it very difficult for one or two judges to skew the results. “The median mark represents the statistical consensus among the judges and puts the greatest weight where the experts collectively agree” (Breakers, 2002). The second was requiring the selection of the judging panels to be balanced geographically with no one geographical area having a majority. And finally, the USFSA proposed that any judge found to have been found guilty of an ethical violation to be permanently banned from the sport.

Both Cinquanta’s and the USFSA proposals were not guaranteed to be presented at the Congress as the deadline for submissions to the agenda had already passed. In order to be added to the agenda, a 4/5 majority vote by the congress delegates was needed. To pass, each proposal needed a 2/3 majority.

The USFSA proposal was added to the agenda, and while receiving many compliments for the proposals, each one was shot down.

The USFSA’s Executive ~FRANK CARROLL Director at the time, Quoted in Despite Revamp, Figure John Lefevre said howSkating Gets Mixed Marks, Mary Pilon, The New York Times, 2014 ever, “We simply under-

“A spin is a rotation in a beautiful position.

It’s not turning yourself inside out, wrapping your free leg around your neck and spitting out nickels.”

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estimated the unexpected” (Lefevre, 2002). Lefevre went on to note, “We also did not anticipate the intensity of the president’s determination to change the judging system entirely, which the congress approved enthusiastically before the U.S. or any other proposals were discussed.

Sally Stapleford recalled that what the congress voted on regarding Cinquanta’s judging proposal was a “project” not a rule. Stapleford went on to say, “But a couple of months later when the ISU Regulations were printed the so called ‘project’ he referred to many times – never mentioning the word ‘rule’ – was in fact now a rule without anyone voting for it.”

In addition to Cinquanta’s proposal, the Congress adopted a Canadian proposal to increase the panel of judges to 14 with nine judge’s scores to be secretly and randomly picked to determine the final placements. USFSA President Phyllis Howard was elected to the ISU Council and Ron Pfenning to the Figure Skating Technical Committee. One quote from Lefevre that is quite telling of the time was, “We learned never to underestimate ISU politics — they make ours look like kindergarten.” It was apparent, he wrote, that the speed skating group was far more “unified” that the figure skaters.

To move President Cinquanta’s agenda along, he and a group of twenty-four ISU council members, judges, and coaches met at the end of August, 2002, in Oberstdorf, Germany to begin the task of creating a new system to develop a measurable system of judging. While the judges and council members met in one room to hash out the systems intricacies, the ISU Coaches commission consisting of Hungarian, Krisztina Regoczy for dance, Tamara Moskvina for pairs, Don Laws for singles, and Canadian, Cathy Dalton for synchronized met in another room to build the scale of values (Menke, 2012).

The physical system itself, the Direct Detail Scoring System as it was called, was tasked to Canadian Ted Barton. A former Canadian Junior Champion, Barton was also considered an expert in video production. He along with Bob Moir, had developed the instant replay used by judging panels from 1997 to 2002. Barton also produced the award winning video series, “ISU Skating Elements” (Beck, 2015).

While work was being done on the new system, the ISU began using an interim judging system. First used at the Smart Ones Skate America in the fall of 2002, the system randomly draws a large panel of judges from a pool that requires each judge to have a competitor of the event. All judges selected in this manner will judge the event. However, the system will before each event session, “secretly draw which marks will determine the results” (Stevenson, 2002). Opponents of the interim system complained that it was impossible to link the scores to individual judges. Octavio Cinquanta was quoted as saying, “We preferred to run the risk of creating confusion for the media and spectators rather than wait another year to do something that will protect the skaters better than the old system” (Stevenson, 2002).

Several weeks later at Skate Canada, the interim 6.0 system was used again to calculate the official results. However, a simultaneous unofficial “secret” result was found using the developing IJS system described by AP writer, Nancy Armour, as “an X-

2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships PHOTO BY VICKI LUY

games style points system complete with high-tech, touch-screen computer technology” (Armour, 2002). This was the second test of the IJS system; the first being accomplished at the 2002 Nebelhorn Trophy, held September 4-7 in Oberstdorf.

The IJS made its debut officially at the 2003 Nebelhorn Trophy on September 3. Jennifer Don of the U.S. won the ladies event without trying a triple Lutz, flip, or loop. Team leader and National judge, Mary Cook was quoted on the U.S. Figure Skating website as saying, “It gave results that we are not used to seeing … I have to go home with the protocol and digest it all.” Don’s coach, Jeff DeGregorio said, “The system favors the all around. It is not just a jumping competition (Zanca, 2003). Following the Nebelhorn Trophy, IJS was used to tally the results at eight events, which included the ISU Grand Prix Series and the Grand Prix final.

Before the new scoring system was adopted however, several countries and members attempted to stop the project. Arguing that the proposed scoring system was voted on as a “project” not a rule, Australia, Denmark, Great Britain, Japan, Iceland, and Norway all submitted written protests (Bianchetti-Garbato, 2004). The ISU’s answers were evasive said Bianchetti, and eventually the National Ice Skating Association of Great Britain filed a request for arbitration with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

After close to a year and a half of legal proceedings it ended with the ISU prevailing.

The new IJS system was formally adopted in 2004 and in 2006 was made mandatory at all ISU events. In reaction to the new system, US Figure Skating voted at the 2005 Governing Council to implement the ISU system as “quickly as possible” (US Figure Skating, 2005). US Figure Skating

put a moratorium on new junior and senior level judging appointments and existing Judges Education and Training programs until the US Figure Skating IJS implementation plan was completed. The Governing Council also approved the establishment of a Technical Panel Committee chaired by David Kirby, to recruit and train the needed Technical Panel Specialists. Mary Cook was named U.S. Figure Skating New Judging System Implementation Coordinator.

The summer of 2005 was dedicated to the training of judges.

A series of schools educated the judges on the grade of execution and the five program components with the end game being the certification of judges in the new system for the 2005-2006 season. The PSA also ramped up their focus on the new system. The annual conference in Denver featured Ted Barton, David Kirby, and Mary Cook, giving many of the attendees their first taste of the new scoring system. One of the first competitions in the U.S. to use IJS was the Lake Placid Summer Dance Competition in which the PSA held a seminar early in the week. Bob Horen and Shawn Rettstatt were the facilitators. That August, the IJS was the major focus for the 15 Nationwide seminars. The season culminated with the test of the system at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Portland, Oregon. The events test were the “junior ladies short program, junior original dance, junior pairs free skate, junior men’s free skate, senior original dance and senior pairs short program (U.S. Figure Skating, 2015).”

During those early years of IJS, the rules were a moving target. Clarifications came often and at one point the PSA began sending alerts directly to a coach’s phone. One of the issues was that the rules were often written in Russian and needed to be translated into English. The intent of the rule was not always easily translated.

There were errors in the execution of the system as well.

At the Japanese Championships in 2005, Nobunari Oda was mistakenly given points for a triple jump he didn’t complete resulting in his gold medal being stripped (Macleans, 2006).

The Vancouver Olympics in 2010 were the first games under the new judging system. The most interesting result was Evan Lysacek defeating the reigning Olympic Champion Evgeni Plushenko. Lysacek narrowly defeat Plushenko by 1.31 points, to the disappointment of the Russians. The debate that raged post Olympics centered on the fact that Lysacek did not attempt a quad. Two-time Olympic silver medal winner Elvis Stojko said in a column for Yahoo Sports, “Lysacek’s skate wasn’t ‘Olympic champion material’ and ‘the judges made a mockery’ of the event by rewarding Lysacek” (Shipley, 2010). Overall, Lysacek maximized his points by executing his technical elements with high GOE’s, level four spins and footwork and excellent program components. Plushenko landed his quad but in comparison to his Torino Olympic program did much less. In his Torino program he landed a quad/triple combination, as well as a triple Axel/ triple toe. He also is known for not having any transitions in his program. The debate continues on today.

From the ISU’s perspective, IJS minimizes bloc and nationalistic biased judging. A key component to the new system was anonymous scoring. The ISU contends that, “Bloc voting is PS MAGAZINE

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now ‘almost impossible,’ and subjectivity has been ‘substantially decreased.’” In fact, so secretive that the scores of each individual judge are locked in a safe at ISU headquarters in Switzerland (Mary Pilon, 2014). Those that would argue the statement, cited Ukrainian judge, Natalia Kruglova, who in 2012 was barred from judging for two years for trying to manipulate the placements at the Cup of Nice. Retired judge Patrick Ibens of Belgium said, “Now every judge knows how to work the system, in reality, everything is still the same… Nobody is honest” (Mary Pilon, 2014). When Patrick Chan defeated Denis Ten at the 2013 World Championships after falling twice, the media claimed foul play and a new term was penned—“Chanflation.” It was an unfair assessment as Patrick had a seven point lead going into the free program and is known for his superior skating skills. Still, even Todd Eldredge piped in on Twitter saying, “No disrespect to Patrick but a skater shouldn’t be able to fall twice & get such high PCS.” Furthermore, during the last 10 years, several academic papers were written regarding anonymous judging. One paper, Does Transparency Really Increase Corruption? Evidence from the ‘Reform’ of Figure Skating Judging, was written by Eric Zitzewitz, an Associate Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College. In his study, he found substantial judging biases. Evidence showed that national bias actually increased with anonymous judging and there was additional evidence that reflected vote trading as well (Zitzewitz, 2010). A New York Times article that quoted Zitewitz’s study, said that bias was almost 20% more than it was in the 6.0 system (Mary Pilon, 2014). Frank Carroll also explained in the article that the vulnerability in the judging system is the program component score. The PCS is comparable to the artistic score from the 6.0 system where a skater received one score for presentation. Under IJS, the component score is actually five scores given for skating skills, linking footwork and movement, performance, choreography and musical interpretation.

The New York Times article was timely. Just two weeks later was the ladies event at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. Russian Adelina Sotnikova defeated reigning Olympic Champion Yuna Kim for the gold. The reaction to the results were explosive with critics placing a petition on Change.org calling for an investigation which topped 1.7 million signatures.

While the technical scores could be argued, Sotnikova’s component scores were suspect to knowledgeable experts. The anonymity of the judges’ scores only fueled the fire. A closer look at the judges, technical panel, and scores, raised more questions than it answered. Four of the nine judges were from the former Soviet Union. Unlike the former 6.0 system that determined the winner by a majority of the panel, IJS is about points. The two Russian girls received more +3 grades of execution than any other skaters. One judge also scored Yuna Kim’s program component marks 5.8 points lower than Sotnikova. Comparing the program components of the two, four judges gave Sotnikova higher scores than Kim while five judges gave the higher to Kim. However, when adding the scores, Kim only won the component marks by .27 points! As the conspiracy continued, the same judge that scored Sotnikova 5.8 higher in the components

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gave Sotnikova GOE’s averaging +2.41 points and Kim just an average of +1.33. Overall, the same four that gave Sotnikova significantly higher PC marks, gave her a GOE average of 2.22 compared to the remaining five judges who averaged 1.63 points.

It SHOULDN'T surprise anyone that for Kim, her GOE’s averaged 1.64 points for the “four” and 2.12 for the “five”. As much as it changes, it stays the same. Since only the official with the keys to the ISU safe knows the answer, we don’t know who gave each mark. As previously mentioned, there were four judges from former Soviet states—Russia, Estonia, Ukraine, and Slovakia. The Russian judge, Alla Shekhovtseva, is the wife of Valentin Piseev, General Director of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia. The Ukrainian Judge, Yuri Balkov, was suspended for a year after being taped by Canadian judge Jean Senft (Pilon, 2014) explaining the final results before the event in question even took place. He served his ban and once again was judging ISU events. It is important to note that the system uses a trimmed mean, throwing out the high and low score. While this would prevent one judge from impacting the results, if several judges work together as was alleged here, it is possible to affect the trimmed mean.

On the technical panel side, there were questions as well.

The panel of three who made the calls was led by Alexander Lakernik. He is the current chair of the ISU Technical Committee for Singles and the Vice President of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia. He was also the assistant referee for the pair event at the Salt Lake City Olympic Games in 2002. Two questions come to mind when reviewing the protocols and programs of the final group’s free skate. The technical calls appear to be accurate. Several of the skaters

were given edge calls on either a flip or Lutz, as well as underrotated notations. Sure, the correct calls, but Sotnikova’s program had two blaring issues. The Lutz was a flutz, and her triple toe loop was short on rotation (Abad-Santos, 2014).

The ISU and Russian Federation vehemently defended the results with ISU President Octavio Cinquanta being quoted by Reutters, “… when point of view and opinion are expressed and are criticism, that is one thing, but criticism of wrongdoing needs to be presented with evidence, so that we can make a difference between opinion and something more precise” (Zaccardi, 2014) However, as Cinquanta is well aware, anonymous judging makes it next to impossible to successfully protest a result. The Korean Skating Union filed two separate complaints which were both deemed inadmissible and dismissed (Zaccardi, Olympic figure skating judging complaints rejected by ISU, 2014). The first ruled that the ISU’s appointment of Alla Shekhovtseva was not a violation of the ISU’s Code of Ethics regarding a conflict of interest.

It was also deemed inadmissible as it was not filed against a person or federation, but to the selection itself. The second complaint demanded an investigation to the composition of the panel. In retrospect they were face-saving accusations for the Koreans as the real issue could not be alleged without knowing which judge gave which mark.

From the first great judging dispute at the European Championships in 1893, to the 2014 Sochi controversy, passionate officials, coaches, skaters, and fans have debated the results. Judges have always taken the blame for either perceived or real national bias. Every bad result as determined by the court of public opinion lead to a call for a change to the rules. What was obvious from the beginning is that politics would determine the direction of the rules, sometimes at the expense of the sport. In Zitzewitz’s 2010 study he says, “Part of the motivation for examining them [bias] in figure skating is that while biases are often difficult to detect and predict in “real‐world” settings, nationalistic bias in figure skating is large and predictable.”

But it is not always national bias. Sport psychologist Inga Wolframm wrote a particularly interesting article for Eurodressage.com. “Judging sports,” says Wolframm, “have also been found to present an additional problem relating to the human capacity to process complex information. When assessing performances, judges are required to deliver their verdict under the increasing time and social pressure to ‘get it right’.

Furthermore, in aesthetic sports, such as ice-skating, gymnastics and indeed dressage, different movements are extremely complex, consisting of a number of technical and artistic elements that all need to be considered at once. However, research has shown that the processing of such complex information simply exceeds human capabilities.” To provide appropriate scores quickly, writes Wolframm, judges fall back on “short-cuts”, which essentially represent a person’s knowledge of how a particular skater generally performs in certain competitions. The judge will run through several steps of processing in order to make a judgement.

They rely heavily on prior knowledge and judges training. Their perception of a particular movement is categorized as good or bad within the context of the event. The final step considers

pertinent memories and other circumstantial information, such as where the competition is being held, and past performances, etc. These “short-cuts” can also be based on a reputation, previous skates, and countries etc., which help judges come up with their marks.

One-third of all Olympic sports are judged and biases show up in all of them. Researchers have determined that there are actually seven different types of judging biases: patriotism bias, halo bias, memory-influenced, social comparison bias, rank order bias, and “conformity bias—refers to the tendency to adapt own scores to those of judging colleagues either through ‘normative’ or ‘informative’ influencing” (Wolframm, 2010). While national and rank order bias is very common in skating, conformity bias is probably the underlying issue that allows the cheaters to manipulate the system. Researchers say the fear of sanction for scores being out of line influences conformity. Wolframm suggests that to fix these issues in general, judging should be made simpler and grade of execution revised to a point-deduction system.

While our former 6.0 scoring system was simpler and focused on point-deduction, this series of judging articles showed that biased and corrupt judging was prevalent throughout the 100 plus years of use. The ISU will continue to work the new system and hopefully the future will provide a better way.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abad-Santos, A. (2014, February 24). A Whole New Set of Questions About Adelina Sotnikova’s Allegedly Rigged Gold Medal Win. Retrieved from The Wire, News from the Atlantic: www.thewire.com Armour, N. (2002, November 1). Skating Tests Another Judging System. Retrieved from Peninsula Clarion: http://peninsulaclarion.com Beck, J. (2015, April 9). BC Sports Hall of Fame Inductees Bio. Retrieved from BC Sports Hall of Fame: www.bcsportshalloffame.com Bianchetti-Garbato, S. (2004). Cracked Ice - Figure Skating’s Inner World. Milano: Libreia dello Sport.

Breakers, I. (2002, June). USFSA Proposes New Juding Reform. Skating.

Gatehouse, J. (2006, September 18). Figure Skating’s New ‘Tamper Proof’ Judging not Tamper Proof.

Retrieved from Maclean’s: www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca Godwin, J. (2004). The Second Mark. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Hersch, P. (2000, MArch 16). Skate Judge’s Penalty Halved to Avoid Legal Fight. Chicago Tribune.

John Barr, William Weinbaum. (2008, April 18). Retrieved from ESPN Olympic Sports: http://sports.espn.go.com Lefevre, J. (2002, August). Perspectives on the ISU Congress. Skating.

Macleans. (2006, January 30). Figure Skating’s New ‘Tamper Proof’ Judging not Tamper Proof. Retrieved from Hisorica Canada: www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca Mary Pilon, J. L. (2014, February 5). Despite Revamp, Figure Skating Gets Mixed Marks. Retrieved from The New York Times: www.nytimes.com Menke, B. A. (2012). Don Laws, Life of an Olympic Figure Skating Coach. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc. Pilon, M. (2014, February 20). Who Were the Figure Skating Judges. Retrieved from N.Y. Times.Com: www.nytimes.com Pilon, M. (2014, February 20). Who Were the Figure Skating Judges. New York Times.

Reeves, J. (2002, August 1). Person of the Week: Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov. Retrieved from Time: http://content.time.com Reynolds, M. (2002, December). Skate Canada: Sasha Wins Gold. Skating.

Shipley, A. (2010, February 20). American Evan Lysacek defends his victory over Russian Evgeni Plushenko. Washington Post.

Staff. (2002, April 7). A Final Death Spiral on Ice? San Diego Union Tribune.

Stevenson, A. (2002, December). Interim Judging System Changes the Skating Experience. Skating.

U.S. Figure Skating. (2015, April 28). U.S. Completes Successful Test of New Judging System in Portland.

Retrieved from U.S. Figure Skating: www.usfigureskating.org Unkown. (1999, April 15). Russian Defends Judges. Retrieved from The Moscow Times: The Moscow Times www.themoscowtimes.com US Figure Skating. (2002, June). Summer Judging Seminars. Skating.

US Figure Skating. (2005, June). Combined Report of Action. Skating.

Wolframm, I. (2010, November 4). Natural Bias, the Hidden Controversy in Judging Sports. Retrieved from Eurodressage: www.eurodressage.com Zaccardi, N. (2014, March 27). ISU boss defends Sochi Olympic figure skating judging. Retrieved from NBC OlympicTalk: http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com Zaccardi, N. (2014, June 5). Olympic figure skating judging complaints rejected by ISU. Retrieved from NBC OlympicTalk: http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com Zanca, S. (2003). SKATERS, COACHES AND JUDGES DISCUSS NEW JUDGING SYSTEM AT NEBELHORN. Retrieved from U.S. Figure Skating: www.usfigureskating.org Zitzewitz, E. (2010, February 8). Does Transparency Really Increase Corruption? Evidence from the ‘Reform’ of Figure Skating Judging. Retrieved from www.dartmouth.edu: www.dartmouth.edu

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themselves with those who are the best at ee lly T o what they specialize in. Take H By professional sports in the NHL, NFL, and MLB for example. Defensive coach, offensive coach, special teams coach, pitching coach, batting coach, Coaches the list goes on and on. Every single in all disciplines person put in place by the head coach/ director has a purpose that suits them should be asking to drive the team toward success. themselves this question– These are just a few examples of Why not synchro? specialty coaches that will enhance your Synchronized skating is no longer program. If it is not affordable for you a discipline of once a week practice to bring in someone to work with your sessions, gathering skaters together for team, you may find that most skaters recreation. Today, successful synchronized are already taking lessons from specialty skating teams engage an entire staff of coaches. Reach out via email. Send video coaches who specialize in stroking, edge of what you were trying to accomplish to work, choreography, freestyle, dance, the skaters’ individual coaches. You can pairs, off ice athletic training, sports use an app such as "coach's eye" to give psychology, nutrition, and more. As the you a comparison of a skater performing saying goes "it takes a village". With the element as desired, compared to the the pending inclusion of synchronized skater in need of assistance. If they do skating to the 2018 Winter Olympic not have a private coach to assist them Games, we hope it takes an Olympic with their singles skating skills, you can Village! This translates into a cooperative recommend one from your arena or club. work relationship for every coach in your In doing this, you will give all coaches arena and those brought in from beyond. a vested interest in your team, while “Primary coaches” who have athletes maximizing potential of each skater/ struggling to stay in the sport because element for your team. The one thing they find themselves not having the synchronized skating provides over any success they would like should consider other discipline in skating, is longevity. recommending their athlete give synchro- The skaters begin synchro at five years nized skating a try. As coaches, we should of age and have the ability to continue want our athletes to stay involved in the to skate all the way through their adult sport for as long as possible. Synchronized years. While they are on teams competing skating offers the athlete that possibility from beginner to adult, they continue to and keeps the skater in lessons. take lessons to improve their skills. This A successful head coach or director keeps ice rented, coaches employed, and of any team or program surrounds teams fully staffed.

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Ways to tap into the unlimited resources of knowledge, experience and creativity of your support staff: Pair coaches: • synchronizing elements, spins, movement • lifts • vaults • throw jumps Freestyle coaches: • matching technique of freestyle elements Choreographer: • music • choreography • interpretation • bring a different look to your team Ice Dance coaches: • stroking technique • lifts • vaults • synchronization • choreography Ballet: • body line • core strength • grace • musical interpretation • flexibility Off-ice athletic training: • core and upper body strength • balance and agility • aerobic endurance • anaerobic endurance • interval training Sports psychologist: • confidence • focus • mental toughness • peace of mind • cohesive team atmosphere

2015 PSA Nationwide Seminars 2015 Full Day AREA LOCATION 1

Boston, MA

9

Indianapolis, IN

16 11 13

DATE September 13, 2015 September 13, 2015

September 13, 2015 Scottsdale, AZ * 5 PSA Ratings Offered September 12, 201 September 27, 2015 Park Ridge, IL September 27, 2015 Denver, CO

2015 Half Day AREA LOCATION 8

Detroit , MI

11

Independence, MO

7

Coral Springs, FL

6

Baltimore, MD

DATE August 29, 2015 August 30, 2015

There isn’t an elite skater out there who doesn’t owe their first coach a debt of gratitude! In response to last year’s strong positive feedback, this year’s seminar agenda will continue to present interactive concepts, tools, and ideas that, while advantageous to coaches of all levels, target the development and advancement of grassroots and beginner (LTS through Intermediate) level coaches.

Our seminar agenda will include (but is not limited to): • Concepts-In-Action: Presentation of IJS and MIF concepts and exercises as they relate to enhancing skater potential beyond beginner.

• Competitive Advantage 2.0: Extremely popular last year was the inclusion of our presenters’ personal experience with making decisions that make a difference.

• Presenter-Attendee Facetime: Each site will have highly accomplished and expert professionals who will share some personal experiences, anecdotes, and advice.

September 13, 2015 October 3, 2015

JULY/AU

GUST

2015

www.skatepsa.co

m

2015

Ph Photo of the

by MA RK

2015 Photo of the Year

W

hat would a magazine be without pictures? They entice, enchant, enthrall and engage. A good photographer captures the moment allowing us to re-live it forever.

This year over 20 photographs were submitted making the choices very difficult.

Mark started shooting in 1976 with a 110 pocket instamatic camera that got him through two years of photo classes in high school. He got his first 35MM camera in 1980 when he attended Minneapolis Technical College for

Year

WALEN

TINY

| Mark Walentiny

commercial art. The first photo he took with it was of his dog Boomer, which proudly sits on his fireplace mantle. In 1992, he was introduced to figure skating photography and was addicted to the challenge of low light and fast action.

Mark’s primary focus is now entertainment (music) photography, but he always welcomes any chance to photograph the sport that gave him his first shot at what he loves to do.

This award is Mark’s fifth Photo of the Year.

His first was shot at Stars on Ice in 2006 and

features Kurt Browning. In 2009 his photo featured Sasha Cohen. His 2001 photo was of Michelle Kwan, and his 2013 photo is of Shannon Brakke, granddaughter of Arline Voepel, the first PSA ratings chair. His 2015 submission, our cover photo, captures the joy of skating of dancers Joel Dear and Cailyn Johnson. Further more, Mark's photos of the 2015 U.S. Open Professional Figure Skating Championships can be seen on page 16.

Congratulations Mark!

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Peter Burrows

BY KENT MCDILL |

W

Photos courtesy of Katherine Healy Burrows

hen asked to describe the most powerful memory of her husband Peter Burrows’ coaching career, Katherine Healy Burrows pauses, and you can hear a catch in her throat as she begins to speak.

“His skaters would try so hard for him,’’ Katherine said. “They would try way beyond whatever you thought they had in them, more so than they tried for other coaches. There was something about the way he worked. He really inspired them to go beyond what their natural abilities were.”

Peter Burrows, who died in the spring of 2014 at the age of 75, is the newest inductee into the Professional Skaters Association Hall of Fame.

Born in Manchester, England, Burrows’ personal competitive skating record including titles in the British Novice, Junior and Senior Men competitions, as well as British Junior and Senior Pairs titles. He was qualified

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to skate in the 1960 Olympics held in Squaw Valley, but had to withdraw due to injury.

In 1966, Burrows moved to the United Sates to teach at the South Mountain Arena in New Jersey at the behest of Hans Gerschwiler.

He taught for the Skating Club of New York at the original Skyrink in Manhattan, as well as at clubs on Long Island.

His intial claim to fame in the U.S. is as a coach for Dorothy Hamill prior to her gold medal effort in the 1976 Olympics (Hamill credited Burrows for her victory in her autobiography).

That catapulted him to the top of the coaching circles, and he began his long career of coaching champion skaters, including Elaine Zayak, who won Junior World, Senior National and World championships under his watch. He eventually coached 14 Olympians, 26 World team members and dozens of U.S. national medalists.

In the late 1970s, Burrows

Burrows with Jason Dungjen and Kyoko Ina in Nagano Japan at the 1998 Olympic Games.

Peter with Dorothy Hamill.

began coaching out of Sport-ORama in Monsey, N.Y., eventually directed a school at the Iceland arena in New Hyde Park, and managed and consulted several other schools in the tri-state area.

Katherine, Burrows’ wife for the last 17 years of his life, said Peter was both a coach and a teacher of skating skills.

“He had a very firm grasp of technique, edge work, that sort of thing,’’ she said, “and he was not what I would describe as a trainer.

He could really teach you how to do something you did not think you could do. But he was also very into working with skaters to get them ready for competitions. He could do both.”

Katherine said Peter was inspirational to his skaters, something she has heard time and again from his former skaters over the year since he passed away due to complications related to diabetes.

“The one thing about Peter is he could take people who didn’t

think they could get to Nationals and he could get them there,’’ she said. “He could take someone who didn’t have very much natural ability and he could shape them up, give them the technique they needed to get beyond where they might otherwise go.”

Coaching for almost half a century, Burrows saw many changes in the sport, not only from a scoring standpoint but also from a technological standpoint. While he managed to traverse those changes (“he certainly embraced video training, but he was not operating the video camera himself,’’ Katherine said with a laugh) he stayed true to some of the principles of coaching that mattered to him.

“He definitely adapted, but there are certain things that are timeless,’’ she said. “Things like work ethic and discipline and being supportive. He always said it is not about winning, it is about how you approach it. I

ACCOL ADES • 50-year coaching career • Joined PSA in 1970 and was a masterrated coach (MFF, MP), held a Level IX ranking, and was a PSGA board member in the early 90s • Coached the likes of Dorothy Hamill, Suna Murray, Gale and Joel Fuhrman, Charlene von Saher, Anita Thornfeldt, Allison Oki, Elaine Zayak, Rocky Marval, Calla Urbanski, Ralph Burghart, Michael Chack, Mark Mitchell, Jason Briggs, Dana Mednick, Jason Dungjen, Kyoko Ina, Lenny Raney, Joelle Forte, Tamar Katz, Christine Mozer and Ella Mizrahi • Figure Skating Director at Sport-ORama for over 35 years • British Junior & Senior National Champion, British European & World Team member

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LEFT: Peter

and Valerie Holman-Hunt—his second pair partner and later first wife—were British pair champions and European and World team members.

NEAR: Peter

with longtime student Gabi Paolini

FAR: Peter and Katherine on their wedding day

ABOVE: With Calla Urbanski and Rocky Marval LEFT:

Peter with Elaine Zayak

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don’t think he changed with the kids much, though. He commanded a lot of respect. In some sense, he realized people could be intimidated by him.”

Katherine said Peter once told her of an aborted attempt to retire from coaching.

“At one point he tried to retire to Florida,’’ Katherine said. “He got down there, and he played some golf – he was crazy about the golf – and he tried to kick back. But after about a month he went totally nuts and came back north. It just didn’t work for him.

“There were normal cycles and times that you burn out, where you have to take a vacation, and sometimes he would grumble about his work. But I don’t think he ever stopped loving skating and loving teaching.”

Peter Burrows had a strong belief in his coaching abilities, but to Katherine he seemed almost unwilling to toot his own horn.

When asked to talk about his accomplishments, Burrows would say “All I do is go to work.”

“But there was something about the way he went to work that seemed to resonate,’’ Katherine said.

Katherine Burrows worked for several weeks to create a memorial page for Peter, which can be seen at memorialwebsites.legacy. com/peterburrows. At the 2015 Edi Awards & PSA Banquet this past May in Bloomington, MN, Katherine accepted Peter's Edi award on his behalf. Her touching acceptance speech can be found in its entirety on the memorial website. She shared that Peter "... would be so profoundly honored by this recognition from his colleagues whom he admired and respected and worked with for so many years." The PSA is honored to induct Mr. Burrows into the Coaches Hall of Fame for his significant contribution to the coaching profession.

Why gamble with your career?

The odds are in your favor with PSA! PSa & isi joint conference PLANET HOLLYWOOD

June 1-4, 2016

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What Does Charlie White Say? When the ice dance team of Charlie White and Meryl Davis, the leaders following the short program, took the ice in Sochi, the stage was set for a history-making moment. And a little over four minutes later, at the end of what was a physically demanding and emotionally charged freestyle program to Scheherazade, White and Davis performed a fast-paced and technically difficult diagonal step sequence as if they were one skater.

The perfectly timed twizzles, the flawless edgework and the smooth and inspired lifts of the program speak to skating together for what was 17 years at that point. And with the posting of a record-setting 116.63 at the close of the 2014 Winter Games ice dance event, they will forever be linked in the annals of figure skating as the first ice dance team from the United States to win an Olympic gold medal. Which is only one highlight of a successful career that has included two World championships, an Olympic silver medal, two World silver medals, and six U.S. National championships from 2009-2014. Now, almost a year and a half after the Olympics, White reflects on ice dance, making history, and what hard work can actually accomplish.

What drew you to skating initially?

I was always drawn to the sensation of gliding and I always loved to go as fast as possible. I grew up as a singles skater as well as a hockey player. I loved the speed I was able to generate on the ice, and how much faster you can go skating as opposed to running.

How did you ultimately decide to focus on ice dance?

Ice dance was a combination of all of the things I grew up loving, between

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hockey, free skating and playing the violin. Hockey had a huge impact on my success as a figure skater. Hockey drills are all about how far you can go, how sharp you can turn and how quick you can stop. I loved the jumps in singles skating but I really liked the ability to tell a story, like in ice dance. I grew up playing violin so I was attracted to the musicality as well. And what made it even more enjoyable was to go out there with someone else who you could rely on and who could share the pressure.

Sharing all of it made it a lot more fun.

You and Meryl were paired together in 1997 when you were eight years old. Did something just click there?

I skated sort of hunched over so my coach put me in ice dance to work on my posture and my grace. My coach paired me with Meryl because we had similar skating styles—we both liked to skate fast and were a little more athletic.

It was awkward at first being young and the opposite sex, but we enjoyed the process of learning and we definitely had a knack for ice dance. Neither of us were huge dance fans and our families didn’t know anything about the sport. All we knew, and all our parents knew, was that we enjoyed what we were doing. We had not even been together a year when we went to the Junior Olympics and placed 2nd (in Juvenile)—so that sort of whet our appetite as well.

What do you think has to be there to pair two skaters together?

The key with Meryl and I was that our parents taught us early on about the importance of respect. Of course, for any team, it is important to be on the same page and have goals that line up—if that isn’t there then it won’t ever work. It all revolves around the ability to communicate with one another and respect each other as a skater and as a person.

Not that Meryl and I didn’t sometimes disagree, but we had great communication and we always understood that we wanted the best for each other.

By Terri Milner Tarquini

You have had an incredibly long partnership with Meryl—what goes into the successful fostering of that long of a partnership and relationship?

We both loved practicing and we enjoyed the whole process of learning. We were both brought up in houses where the act of improving was success. It wasn’t about the medal; it was the process of pushing ourselves to improve and, to be honest, that lasted all the way through to us winning the gold medal.

Day in, day out—what kept you motivated?

There were always new things for us to learn. Especially with the new system, we found confidence in the idea that, going forward, teams were going to be rewarded for putting in the work. Gone were the days of teams coming in and being assured of a placement. It was a big step for ice dance overall, but for us in particular, it was wonderful. Tanith (Belbin) and Ben (Agosto) were the ones who really figured out the new system first. (Belbin and Agosto were the 2006 Olympic silver medalists in ice dance, which at that time was the first time in 30 years that an American team had been on the podium.) They were able to show just how far ahead they were technically, and were rewarded for it.

That said, are you a fan of the IJS system?

Absolutely. For what it has done for ice dancing, it’s been spectacular. I think it’s so different looking at it from an ice dance perspective versus a singles skater perspective, where I know not everyone is happy with it. But, from my point of view, general skating ability—when it comes to things like edge quality and speed—has really improved. The guys at the top of the sport—Jeremy (Abbott), Jason (Brown), Patrick (Chan)—they have so much technical ability, but they are able to do it all with their own style and wonderful basic skating. At the end of the day, with IJS, you can break down the score and figure out what worked and what needs work. In the U.S., I think ice dancers continue to see the IJS as a wonderful opportunity, and we have

2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships | Photo by Vicki Luy

had success because of that. The other disciplines are much quicker to find fault and complain about the limitations inherent to the new system, and I truly believe this is hampering their ability to make the most out of the opportunities they have. So while I think everyone is entitled to their own opinions regarding the system, I think the attitude with which one approaches the challenges IJS presents has tremendous impact on success—and this includes skaters, coaches, and officials.

In the post-figures era, it is often said that it can be difficult to teach skaters things like generation of power, knee bend, body lilt and control—all key elements in ice dance. Do you feel that ice dance has an important role— and could play a bigger one—in skating?

Ice dance doesn’t have the ‘wow’ moments that other disciplines do, so basic skills are more necessary in ice dance. I’m not saying that those other elements are used to distract, but in our discipline, success lies in the very basic movements.

Sometimes it’s overlooked in singles, but it’s so key to skating. Having that in your repertoire can really set a skater apart. Jeremy (Abbott), Yuzuru (Hanyu) and Daisuke (Takahashi)—they have footwork and edges and the ability to land a jump and make it into a transition that separates them from the rest.

It’s an obvious question, but one that has to

be asked: How did it feel to win an Olympic gold medal, not to mention the first one in the history of U.S. ice dance?

(Laughs) To be honest, I never get tired of answering that question. It’s really amazing. In what has been an amazing history of ice dance, I still think it’s crazy. But I really think it had a lot to do with the hard work of all of the teams that came before us. Not to take away from our hard work, but there was a clear path paved before us and expectations were able to get higher and higher. Plus, we were given great character traits by our parents and coaches that shaped how we approached the whole thing.

You can’t bring everyone who had an impact on you up on the podium, but Meryl and I certainly felt they were all up there with us.

I read that you said you knew that the Canadians and Russians had skated well and that that was the most nervous you had ever been.

How did you overcome that to skate such an incredible long program?

Yes, we were the most nervous we had ever been. And from the crowd reaction, yes, we did know the teams before us had skated well. But those things were totally separate. We were nervous because we felt a moment was at hand and we felt we had the opportunity to bring to life all of the years of our

dedication. We were nervous because it’s skating and we’re on blades on ice and things can go wrong, but once we took the ice we both felt confident in our ability to perform how we practiced.

Something Marina taught us very well was to perform how we practiced and to not try to outperform what we did every day. You have to practice so hard day in and day out that it actually feels easy when it comes time to do it on that big of a stage. Recognizing what you can control and what you can’t control is a big deal and something we could control was coming in every day and practicing harder and better than anyone else—so that’s what we did.

In 2010, the Canadian ice dance team of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who are also coached by your coach Marina Zoueva, won the Olympic gold medal and you and Meryl got silver. In Sochi, the results were reversed and Tessa and Scott expressed disappointment after the results. How was it training with your biggest competitors through two Olympic Games?

Our relationship with Scott and Tessa was an evolving relationship that started as very close friends and, over time, the pressures of competition shaped that relationship, but we never lost the intense respect we had for them. They are amazing skaters and have talent as far as the eye can see. Training with them was such a benefit for us because it was a constant reminder that we had to always work hard. Training is ultimately about yourself, but you can always draw motivation from outside sources. Scott and Tessa are one of the best dance teams of all time and the way Marina was able to give all of herself to both teams is something that deserves to be commended.

What is your favorite move to perform?

I like a lift where the music is hitting a big crescendo. I also like where the program has all been building to one specific move and you feel that you have the audience and the judges in the palm of your hand while you’re telling the story. I like that point where you bring it all home.

Continued on page 43

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Legal Ease DAVID SHULMAN

Contracts for Coaching Services C

oaches and their skaters (for this feature, I am using skater interchangeably with parent of the skater, who is generally the person paying the bill) may decide to enter into written contractual arrangements. This may be a different and more formal approach to providing coaching services than what some coaches have used in the past. Written agreements for services provided may, one day, become the norm for coaches. Agreements to provide services of coach, costumer, music editor, transport manager, etc., may include all manner of detail, including scales of pricing and the expectations of the parties. Consequences of breach of contract may be described. Each party’s obligations to the contract may be clearly spelled out and any conduct not acceptable to a continuation of the arrangement should make clear any area of conduct to be avoided.

I expect all agreements will state how much is to be paid, by whom paid and how often payments are to be made. In event of non-payment, the contracts may even specify what should be listed as damage or remedy.

The contract may even contemplate use of credit cards. Credit cards!? Yes, and why not? No coach to whom I spoke at conference could tell me why it felt "strange"... however, they all liked the certainty of having payment immediately upon swiping the card even if there was a charge by the credit card company to open and maintain an account. Another cost of doing business.

Can a contract between coach and student aid the coach in avoiding recruiting action by another coach?

No. Depending on your state’s laws, a coach could perhaps insert a clause for damages or other remedy for a student terminating services early. Remember, however, there is no law which permits a party to compel personal service. Your

"Each party’s obligations to the contract may be clearly spelled out and any conduct not acceptable to a continuation of the arrangement should make clear any area of conduct to be avoided."

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skaters whom you coach are not property and they do not belong to anyone. If your skater breaches his/her contract, however, your contract may establish damages caused by the refusal to perform. You may want to consider retaining a good lawyer to help you draft and understand a contract for you to use with your skaters. The lawyer can also help you establish your comfort level on what you will tolerate and what lights your fuse.

Contracts could include other clauses as well. Remember the word nondisparagement? The newest lawsuits being prepared involving claims of bad products, bad service, or not performing as promised arose from public complaints zipping out on social media and telling the world about bad service, a crummy product, or shoddy work and telling all of this to those persons who receive the twitter.

Enter the seller/distributor/manufacturer with long and complicated contracts and strange, short buried clauses.

These clauses essentially state "No bad words publicly written, stated, or published. If you do such a thing you will be sued, suffer loss of all service, or some other punishing event to frighten everyone into silence. Your state may allow such clauses in personal services contracts.

How do you see such clauses being placed in a coaching contract? Some coaches will, some may not. My recommendation: Be cautious. This is no place for hasty action.

Always read carefully and understand all things you sign.

Have a good lawyer set on your auto-dial. She or he should be high on your list of trusted advisors.

Continued from page 41

If there was one thing you could change about the sport what would it be?

Figure skating has the opportunity to be much more of a transformational endeavor for young people. The administration and coaches have the opportunity to shift the focus from where it is now. I am not saying the focus is entirely on winning, but we can shift it more toward the focus of the kids becoming the best young people they can be, not just the best skaters. I believe changing the culture and expectations will result in the best skaters in the end anyway. Meryl and I were able to do that thanks to our parents and our coaches and, frankly, I want that for everyone.

It should be a primary focus to build character and teach the life lessons of the sport that can sometimes get lost in the worries of competition. It all stems from the basic philosophy of helping kids. If the sport can realize its role as a transformational one, we can capture the imagination and attention of the world.

You mentioned life lessons. What are some that you think skating specifically teaches?

The life lessons are what make skating special. They are inherent in our sport. The first thing any kid putting skates on for the first time learns is perseverance. You get on the ice, you fall down and you get back up. You have to do that; there is no option— so the lesson starts from the very beginning. In addition, the connection between hard work and the payoff is so obvious in this sport. And, on the other side of the coin, there is learning how to lose and having the ability to re-evaluate and be self-critical. These things are key for the rest of your life.

If you hadn’t pursued being an elite competitive figure skater, what do you think you would be doing?

I probably would have graduated from law school at some point. That was the extent of my planning if figure skating hadn’t led me where it did. I have a real knack for arguing with people. (Laughs) I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but I

always thought it could benefit me as a lawyer. But I was so fortunate to be able to stick with skating.

You and Meryl have said that you are not competing this season, but haven’t said “retirement” per se. Is there a chance you’ll come back?

Absolutely. We are leaving our options open. We certainly realize that you don’t compete if you don’t want it with every fiber of your being. We have to be able to give 110 percent—anything less would be such a disappointment for us.

By the time this runs, you’ll be married to Tanith—herself a historical figure in bringing recognition to American ice dance. How are wedding plans coming?

Usually it comes from people outside of skating, but we get asked quite often if we’re nervous about getting married.

For two people who have grown up in the spotlight and as performers, it’s not really a consideration for us. It’s really about bringing our family and friends together and just wanting to celebrate with them and enjoy each other.

Charlie and 2015 Coach of the Year, Rafael Arutyunyan

How would you describe your journey in the skating world so far?

Our journey has been pretty straightforward and I think not a lot of skaters can say they’ve had that luxury. But we were raised with such a solid philosophy on hard work and success that we could meet the challenges head-on and we didn’t have to veer off-course.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

My philosophy since the Olympics has really been just to live in the moment.

So much of our career was planning for the next level. Probably if you ask me that question in a year or two, I can give you a clearer picture, but for now I want to focus on just enjoying each moment.

You and Meryl are now forever a part of the history and success of American ice dance. Can you put into words what that means to you?

It’s still tough to articulate. Meryl and I are really proud of what we were able to accomplish and what it represents and

2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships | Photo by Vicki Luy

we are really grateful for what figure skating provided for us and we have so much respect for that. We worked our whole lives for it and it was not always fun, but at the end of the day, it’s about making a difference. That’s what being in the history books means.

PS MAGAZINE

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New

MEMBERS NEW MEMBER SPONSOR Stephanie Anderson

Britni Kelly

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Robyn Bentley

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Lauren McCabe

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Do you know coaches who are new to the profession, or are there skaters (age 16 or older) in your rink who have the potential to be a great coach?

Sara Zeitler

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Welcom coaches e !

Help them get a head start on their coaching career, and encourage them to join PSA! As their sponsor, you can guide and encourage them to get educated and maintain professional membership with PSA.

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Visit www.skatepsa.com or contact Elizabeth at ethornton@skatepsa.com to learn more about PSA membership opportunities.

Hansel Baxter Jeff Carstenson

PROFESSIONAL SKATERS ASSOCIATION

EXCELLENCE ON ICE Wouldn’t you like to count your club or rink among the most progressive in the nation?

44

MAY | JUNE 2015

REQUIREMENTS

To participate in the EOI program all coaches of the club or rink must be PSA members and carry liability insurance.

Remember to renew your EOI listing for the 2015-2016 membership year!

BENEFITS Register now and receive national and international recognition as a progressive training facility dedicated to excellence in coaching both on and off-ice. As a registered facility you will receive an ‘Excellence On Ice’ shield to be displayed in the arena, international recognition in PS Magazine, and access to a resource coordinator in the PSA office—all at no cost!

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Champion Cords are endorsed by the PSA! Order yours at www.ChampionCords.com OR www.SkatePSA.com

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PS MAGAZINE

45

CALENDAR

OF

EVENTS

J U LY Date: Location: Event: Credits: Host: Contact: Register: Deadline:

Sunday, July 12 Area 7 Oldsmar Tampa Bay Skating Academy, 255 Forest Lakes Blvd N, Oldsmar, FL 34677 PSA FLORIDA State Workshop [12:30 pm – 4:30 pm] 4 PSA credits Vikki Lampros 941-812-7463 vlampros123@gmail.com PSA Office at 507-281-5122 or byackel@skatepsa.com Online at www.skatepsa.com June 26, 2015

Date: Location: Event: Credits: Host: Contact: Register: Deadline:

Sunday, July 26 Area 12 The Jones Center, 922 E Emma Ave, Springdale AR 72764 PSA ARKANSAS State Workshop [7:00 am - 12:30 pm] 6 PSA credits Robin Aprea paprea@jonesnet.org 479-756-8090 x 2302 PSA Office at 507-281-5122 or byackel@skatepsa.com Online at www.skatepsa.com July 1, 2015

Please vis www.ska it tep for the co sa.com mpl Calendar ete of Events

AUGUST

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Date: Location: Event: Host: Contact: Register: Credits: Deadline:

Saturday, August 1 Area 7 Germain Arena, 11000 Everblades Parkway, Estero, FL 33928 Foundations of Coaching Course (FCC) – a professional development course for coaches [8:00 am to 5:00 pm] Lisa Perri plperri5@gmail.com PSA Office 507-281-5122 or byackel@skatepsa.com Online at www.skatepsa.com 12 PSA credits July 8th, 2015

Date: Location:

Event: Contact: Register: Credits: Deadline:

August 13-14 Area 9 Ford Ice Center – Home of the Scott Hamilton Skating Academy 5264 Hickory Hollow Pl, Antioch, TN 37013 [615-742-4399] Oral Rating Site at Ratings Prep [Thurs 8am-8pm, Fri 8am-12:15pm] PSA Office 507-281-5122 or byackel@skatepsa.com Online at www.skatepsa.com 1 PSA credit per oral exam taken Oral Rating Exams June 12, 2015

Date: Location:

Event: Contact: Register: Host: Credits: Deadline:

August 14-16 Area 9 Ford Ice Center – Home of the Scott Hamilton Skating Academy 5264 Hickory Hollow Pl, Antioch, TN 37013 [615-742-4399] Ratings Prep [Fri 1-6pm, Sat 8am-6pm, Sun 8am-12:30pm] PSA Office 507-281-5122 or byackel@skatepsa.com Online at www.skatepsa.com Paula Trujillo Fargo360@cox.net 28 PSA credits Prep Deadline July 24, 2015

Date: Location: Event: Credits:

Sunday, August 16 Area 9 Wilcoxon Ice Complex, 3185 Leeman Ferry Rd, Huntsville, AL 35801 (256-883-3774) [8:30 am – 5:15 pm] U.S. Figure Skating Judges School [Focus on IJS Singles & Pairs] 8 Pre-Approved credits

MAY | JUNE 2015

JOB OPENINGS A U G U S T continued

Contact:

Deadline:

Judge in Charge: Lynn Goldman lynngoldman1@att.net Jim Bowser 256-509-1999 jbowsercoach@yahoo.com or Heather Schonrock hschonrock@hotmail.com July 25, 2015

Date: Location:

Event: Credits: Host: Contact: Register: Deadline:

Saturday, August 29 Area 8 Detroit Skating Club, 888 Denison Court, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302 [248-332-3000] Half-day Nationwide Seminar 6 PSA credits Jerod Swallow jswallow@dscclub.com PSA Office at 507-281-5122 or byackel@skatepsa.com Online at www.skatepsa.com August 3, 2015

Date: Location:

Event: Credits: Host: Contact: Register: Deadline:

Saturday, August 29 Area 11 Centerpoint Community Ice Rink, 19100 E Valley View Pkwy, Independence, MO 64055 [816-442-6128] PSA Oral Rating Site [8:00am – 8:00pm] 1 PSA credit per oral exam taken Michelle Lauerman mlaureman@independenceeventscenter.com PSA Office at 507-281-5122 or byackel@skatepsa.com Online at www.skatepsa.com June 29, 2015

Date: Location:

Event: Credits: Host:

Contact: Register: Deadline:

Sunday, August 30 Area 11 Centerpoint Community Ice Rink, 19100 E Valley View Pwky, Independence, MO 64055 [816-442-6128] Half-day Nationwide Seminar 6 PSA credits Grant Huang grantchhuang@gmail.com & Michelle Lauerman mlaureman@independenceeventscenter.com PSA Office at 507-281-5122 or byackel@skatepsa.com Online at www.skatepsa.com August 3, 2015

SEPTEMBER Date: Saturday, September 12 Area 16 Location: Ice Den, 9375 E Bell Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 [480-585-7465] Event: Oral Rating Site [8:00 am to 8:00 pm] Credits: 1 PSA credit per oral exam taken Contact: PSA Office 507-281-5122 or byackel@skatepsa.com Register: Online at www.skatepsa.com Deadline: July 13, 2015

Additional events can be found at www.skatepsa.com

Figure Skating Coaches Wanted: Looking for enthusiastic, experienced coaches to help grow brand new Academy & Figure Skating Program in Dallas. Coaches within the Dallas Stars’ network have access to six (6) rinks across town to teach private instructional lessons.

Required Qualifications: • PSA Membership, USFSA Membership, Liability Insurance • Prior experience with skill instruction and practice/ competition plan development • Candidate must be a self-starter, be able to work well independently and as part of a team Interested candidates should email a letter of application, resume and reference list to: Aanya Montgomery - 214-387-5587 Dallas Stars | 2601 Avenue of the Stars | Frisco, TX 75034 The Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club located in Ann Arbor, Michigan is looking for elite freestyle figure skating coaches. Successful applicants should have a history of building on past successes of taking skaters to “the next level.” Please respond with a resume. Bonnie Shay – bshay@umich.edu

PSA

Coach Gear NEW! U.S. Open Tee

Go casual and comfortable in this soft unisex tee.

Ladies Half-zip Mock Turtleneck Professional and easy on/off!

Ladies Vest

Stay warm and stylish in our popular vest.

See more at www.skatepsa.com PS MAGAZINE

47

#NNGITQ 2CTM 59 4QEJGUVGT /0

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presente

PRO F E S S I O N A L S K AT E R S A S SO C I AT I O N

Congratulations competitors!

Jodeyne Higgins, Sean Rice, Mayuri Bhandari, Laurie Johnson-Kreuger, Heidi Evers, Adam Kaplan, Ashley Clark, Sari Kauppinen, Colleen Okolski, Sarah France, Kristen Nardozzi, Nick Traxler, Tam Bui, Rohene Ward, Ryan Santee, Kate Charbonneau, Larry Holliday, Shannon Brakke, Kyle Shropshire, Jonathan Cassar, Taylor Blair, Ryan Jahnke, Sarah Santee, Adam Blake

May 23, 2015 Bloomington, MN

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suppor