March/April 2011 PS Magazine

MARCH/ APRIL 2011 www.skatepsa.com

the

Evolution of Scoring

Jeremy Abbott

2010 NHK Trophy Silver Medalist 2-time U.S. National Champion 2010 Olympian

facebook.com/RiedellSkates iSkateRiedell.com Š2011 Riedell Shoes, Inc.

ON THE COVER: Skaters Mandy Garza & Brandon Frazier coached by Dalilah Sappenfield and Zuzanna Parchem. Photo by Vicki Luy

COLUMNS 4 6 8 10 14 18 30 38

Over the Edge | Jimmie Santee

President’s Message | David Kirby

FEATURES 16

Ratings | Kris Shakarjian

IJS Insights | Libby Scanlon

16

Nationwide Seminar Report | by Liz Leamy

20

Golden Testing

24

| by Patty Hagan Sport Science | Heidi Thibert

2011 Honor Roll of Coaches

Education | Carol Rossignol

Best Practices | PSA Survey

Insert

24

| By Kent McDill

Legal Ease | David Shulman

9 12 34 37 40 42

28 Ratings Exams Passed Excellence On Ice Great Tips Meet Your Area Representative New Members PSA Calendar of Events

Jimmie Santee | Editor Lee Green | Managing Editor Carol Rossignol | Contributing Editor Amanda Taylor | Art Director Ann Miksch | Editorial Assistant MARCH | APRIL

2011 ~ No 2 #ISSN-574770

The History of Scoring

Life Lessons: 1961 World Team Coaches | By Patricia Shelley Bushman

REGISTRATION PSA & ISI Conferences: To be held May 25-28th, 2011 in Dallas, Texas. Sign up for extra offerings like the Friday night Rodeo or the elegant Awards Dinner.

Register now!

28

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

East

Doug Ladret Marylill Elbe Dorothy Cassini Patrick O’Neil Denise Williamson Rebecca Stump Burt Lançon Paul Wylie Thomas Amon Glyn Jones Alex Chang Jackie Brenner

PSA

The Skater Comes First

Mid-West

David Kirby Lynn Benson Angela Riviello Christine Fowler-Binder Carol Murphy Kelley Morris Adair

Recently, I went through the Mayo Clinic Executive Health Program. From head to toe, it was three days of constant probing, groping, and pricking …no love handle left unturned. I saw 16 doctors and countless nurses, technicians, dietitians and trainers. After it was all said and done, I received a 38 page report! I was so impressed with the quality of care and the efficiency of the complex scheduling that I purchased the book “Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic.” Published by McGraw-Hill (2008), the book outlines the core values that make Mayo one of the top brands in the world. While I was familiar with mottos, credos, and mission statements, the book’s thesis revolves around their “value” statement - “the needs of the patient come first.”

The simple concept is derived from a speech that Dr. William J. Mayo delivered to Rush Medical School in 1910. “The best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered, and in order that the sick may have the benefit of advancing knowledge, union of forces is necessary ... It has become necessary to develop medicine as a cooperative science; the clinician, the specialist, and the laboratory workers uniting for the good of the patient, each assisting in elucidation of the problem at hand, and each dependent upon the other for support.”

The clinic value statement that Mayo delivers on a daily basis is “woven into the fabric – the culture” of the clinic. The systems and procedures, architecture of the campus, the doctors and medical team – all reflect and reinforce the value. All while moving tens of thousands of patients each day around their campus.

While reading the book, I kept seeing similarities between the clinics’ patient comes first attitude and what should be obvious to those that serve figure skating, the needs of the skater comes first. How many times have you called a rink to find out when there’s ice time and the person who answers the phone, (that is if someone actually answers the phone) puts you on hold, only to have to listen to twenty minutes of Yannie and his magical pan flute playing “Hooked on Classics!” Finally, some disgruntled rink rat with a voice that sounds like two cats fighting in an alley picks up the phone, “what do ya want?” Why is it that the people answering the phone always make you feel like you’re interrupting something more important than anything you might possibly need? As coaches, do we do this to our clients? When the lessons are over, do you sneak out the side door? Do you not answer your home phone when the caller ID indentifies a skating parent? I know I’ve done it! All joking aside, we are not doing ourselves or our clients any favors.

The sad truth is that this is a way too common occurrence and I’m sure that at some point, even the PSA has failed to live up to our own expectations.

There should be no excuse for that…

Another management lesson I learned from the book is the “authority to serve” or “values-based authority.” Values Based Authority gives the employee the “power and authority to act in unique situations.” The authority to make decisions based on their own core beliefs and the value belief that “the patient comes first” allows employees to act in the best interest of the patient. This is another concept that I believe relates to the coach – skater relationship.

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Members at Large

ISI Rep to PSA U.S. Figure Skating Rep to PSA U.S. Figure Skating Coaches Chair Executive Director General Counsel

COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN Awards Coaches Hall of Fame Education Seminars State Workshops Apprentice, Intern Area Representatives Hockey Accreditation PS Magazine Sport Science Ethics, Endorsement, Products Executive Executive Nominating Finance Fundraising ISU Coaches Commission Legal Nominating Professional Standards PSA Rep to ISI Ranking Review Ratings Special Olympics U.S. Figure Skating Coaches

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

Jimmie Santee David Shulman

Scott Brown Robbie Kaine Christine Fowler-Binder Thomas Amon Dorothi Cassini Rebecca Stump Marylill Elbe Tara Hillstrand-Lane Bob Mock Heidi Thibert David Shulman David Kirby Kelley Morris Adair Carol Murphy Larry LaBorde David Kirby David Shulman Kelley Morris Adair Lynn Benson Gerry Lane Brandon Forsyth Kris Shakarjian Linda Crowley Jackie Brenner

Amy Hanson-Kuleszka Anne Marie Filosa Lee Cabell Stacie Kuglin Gloria Leous Mary Lin Kent Johnson Patrick O'Neil Jennifer Cashen Thomas Amon Dan Mancera Andrea Kunz-Williamson Tracy Seliga-O’Brien Leslie Deason Michele Miranda Phaler Karen Howland Jones Andrew Beck

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.

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A GREAT SKATING OPPORTUNITY?

Come Join The World’s Greatest Skaters!

Feld Entertainment® is looking for Male and Female Skaters for its U.S. and International Tours of Disney On IceSM.

For more information, please send a skating resume, photos and current video (3-6 minutes) including all contact information to: Judy Thomas Talent Director and Production Coordinator Feld Entertainment 1313 17th Street East Palmetto, FL 34221 USA or call (941) 721-1234 FAX: (941) 349-4280 jthomas@feldinc.com

©Disney

Coaches should be making decisions that reflect what is best for their skater. Here’s an example: A coach wants to take an advanced level skater to an out of state competition, but traveling with only one skater is cost prohibitive. A parent of a new, low-level skater who hasn’t competed before thinks that traveling out-of-state would be fun. The problem is that this non qualifying competition is known for the excellent level of competition. Many coaches would take the low level skater along to help subsidize the expenses for the advanced skater. But is that the best “first competition” for the low-level skater? If you relied on your own core values and believe in the “skater comes first” mentality, you would look for a better solution.

I often write about the challenges we face every day and on occasion I come across an idea that will make our sport better. I believe adopting the skater comes first and the values-based authority philosophies can improve our sport and your image. In fact, I believe that here at PSA, if we can implement a “coaches come first” attitude and “values-based authority” procedures for the PSA employee’s, your experience with the organization will be better. Borrowing from Dr. Mayo, the best interest for our clients is the only interest to be considered.

Join Us For Disney On Ice ’s 30th REUNION! Calling all Feld Entertainment, Inc. alumni skaters, cast, crew & consumer products staff!

Join us to celebrate wonderful memories of ‘‘life on tour’’ from the past 30 years.

© Disney

July 29 & 30, 2011 Orlando, Florida

It will be a magical affair!

For more information go to http://www.regonline.com/DOIreunion2011 or contact DOIreunion2011@msn.com

PS MAGAZINE

5

President’s Message DAVID KIRBY

Doing The Right Thing Success is simply doing the right thing at the right time.

Many of us have heard that expression before and nod our heads in agreement. To me this is one of the most important lessons an ice skating coach can give a student.

However, for coaching purposes I make one addition. I tell my students that success in testing or competitive ice skating requires, “Doing the right thing, at the right time and at the right place.”

As a young competitive skater my coach use to tell me I won many practice sessions. That means I would do the right thing, but usually at the wrong time or the wrong place. Or sometimes (and I mean sometimes) I would actually do a clean run through preparing for an event or test. Again my coach would say, “Well David, you really can do a clean run through now, which means you should be able to repeat this when it matters most.”

Along with PSA Coaches Peter and Darlene Cain, I have the good fortune of directing and coaching the 2011 Junior Pairs National Champions, Ashley Cain and Joshua Reagan.

Each season I try to find a different theme for my students to focus on. In the 2010 season, our theme was simply, “Just Do It.” For 2011 we all chose; “doing the right thing at the right time and at the right place” as our theme.

Unfortunately, my students heard that saying a lot this past season. For example, at the National Championships on our 2nd or 3rd practice the team missed a few elements

in their run through. Being perfectionists they were disappointed with their practice session. Fortunately, when they got off the ice I said “…remember we are here to do the right thing at the right time and at the right place.” They both looked at each other and agreed they could forget the bad practice because we did not come to Nationals to win the practice sessions.

When our team finished skating the FS program in competition and they were announced as the winners they said to me, “We won, we won.” And of course I said that is true, but more importantly I said, “You won because you did the right thing at the right time and at the right place.” Got lots of nods on that.

As a coach it is my hope this lesson will have more impact in their lives than just ice skating. It is a life lesson that applies to almost everything. And to me that is our responsibility as coaches, to teach our students not just how to do an Axel, but how to be a successful person in life. I understand there are many different standards of success and not everybody will win a National Championship, but we can each do our best for our students to encourage them to use the lessons they learn in the ice rink and apply them to their life’s journey.

If this works we can then apply another popular expression, “It’s a win/win for everybody.”

From the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Pairs’ and Ladies’ podiums.

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MARCH | APRIL 2011

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Ratings KRIS SHAKARJIAN

Motherhood and Master Ratings Is there time for it all?

By Ashleigh Renard and Wendy Mangum

A

t the November 2010 rating site in Colmar, PA I was overjoyed to pass my master synchro exam. The experience was doubly sweet because my great friend and study partner, Wendy Mangum, passed her master moves in the field exam. The feat of preparing for and passing a master rating was not something I thought we could accomplish at this point in our lives. Wendy and I are both moms to very young children. Wendy’s daughter, Gracie, turned three in December and my sons, Jack and Luke, are three and one and a half, respectively.

Nothing prepared me for parenthood. I know it is a cliché, but it has been so true for me. I never imagined the amount of patience, energy, and creativity I would be required to find within myself on a daily basis. Having great support is essential and Wendy and I leaned on each other and learned from each other while sharing the joys and challenges of being new moms. We were in very similar situations, with great husbands who give us a ton of support and credit, but who also work a lot. I continued in my position as Director of Synchronized Skating at Wissahickon Skating Club and Wendy continued as Program Director of the synchro teams of the Upper Mountain Skating Association.

Wendy also kept a very full schedule of private lessons. We both experienced the chronic exhaustion caused by early mornings after sleepless nights and we each had a baby in tow for many practices and all competitions in the 20072008 season. Jack and Gracie were good travelers and our skaters, parents, and fellow coaches were very supportive, but still the balance of work and family was a tricky one.

We tried to figure out how to schedule in breastfeeding and diaper changes before 6:00 am official practices and how to (fingers crossed) schedule naps to coincide with judges’ critiques.

As our children have grown a little older the days are still full and busy. My sleep time is still limited, having welcomed Luke (another baby insomniac) to our family in July of 2009. I was feeling like I was hitting a little bit of a stride, maxed out, but not overwhelmed when Wendy suggested that we prepare together for master exams at the November rating site. My first response was “No way!” I could not imagine adding another time commitment to my already jam packed days with two little boys. That is

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something that I will pursue “later.” Life is just too busy right now. Over the next few weeks Wendy was persistent and encouraging (a nudge from Carol Rossignol helped, too) and I started to believe that maybe we could do it. “We would just need a plan,” Wendy said. So a plan was made.

Here are the factors that we found to be the most effective.

1. Find a Study Partner—We feel that the hardest part of oral exams is communicating the answer clearly and concisely. We knew that we would have to practice answering aloud regularly and often in order to feel confident going into the exams. It does not matter if you are testing in different disciplines or at different levels. A partner offers support and accountability.

2. Set a Designated Study Time—We chose Thursday nights from 7:30–10:00 pm. Our husbands did not work late on Thursdays and were able to handle bedtime.

3. Pick a Study Location—We found that meeting at a bookstore was the best location for us. We wanted to stay out of our houses to avoid any possible distractions.

4. Start Early—We began our regular study sessions at the beginning of September, a full eight weeks prior to the exams.

5. Be Consistent—We made our study sessions a priority and met even when we were tired or if we had not looked over our study guides during the week. Often our only study time during the week was during our meetings and we made progress each time.

6. Be Supportive—So many times we felt tongue-tied and uncertain when we were answering the questions from our study guides. Having a supportive partner can help you get back on track and find a clear answer.

7. Ask Follow-up Questions—Philosophies and teaching techniques are hard to explain concisely the first time around. We asked each other many challenging followup questions that sparked interesting discussion and advanced the learning for both of us.

8. Use the Tools Offered by the PSA—We worked through the study guides and referred to the PSA

Recently Passed

RATING EXAMS Congratulations to the following coaches who passed the Basic Accreditation (BA) written exam at the specified site:

Congratulations to the following coaches who successfully completed the requirements for a Rating Certificate:

E-Learning Management | BA Exams

Greensboro, NC | January 24-26, 2011

Erica Archambault Heather Carusone Jessica Farnsworth Jenna Harrison Michelle Kravette Kelly Lindberg Drew Meekins Jessica Moore Leticia Moreno Enos Uyen Nguyen Sergey Petrovskiy Lisa Rockefeller Andrea Sower

Laura Amelina SM Dena Keller Bryant RG Miriam Gelfand-Pereira SFS, CM Jessica Harman Wasik RM Ann Harrison Wehr CM Renee Lepley RD Kristen Martin RFS

Elizabeth Parker-Silver SM Laura Patterson CM Todd Sand CP, CFS Jimmie Santee RG, CG Jill Smith RFS Nicole Stalker SPD Wendy Wilcox SG

2011 Oral Rating – IMPORTANT UPDATE Beginning May 1, 2011 ...

Moves in the Field exams will include the NEW MOVES IN THE FIELD TESTS » Revised Study Guide available soon Program Director Ratings will now begin with a Registered level » Revised Study Guide available soon »»» Questions contact Barb Yackel byackel@skatepsa.com «««

Directory often during our preparation. The directory has much more than just phone numbers!

9. Reach out to a Master-rated Coach—Wendy and I were both thrilled by the knowledge and encouragement shared by the coaches who we contacted for help. Wendy worked on off-ice with Suzy SemanickSchurman. I was fortunate to receive phone and email help from Jeannine Weinschrod, Holly Teets, and Becky Stump.

10. Plan to Celebrate—We booked a cabin in the Poconos and planned a celebratory trip with our children. Often during the exam preparation we reminded ourselves that after we passed we would take a couple days off from work and take Gracie, Jack, and Luke on a camping adventure. Be optimistic and believe that your hard work will pay off!

The exam preparation and testing process was a valuable learning experience for both of us. It was a challenge to find the time and energy to take on this project. In the end, instead of feeling overwhelmed and burdened, we found

that taking time for ourselves really helped to add some much-needed balance to our lives.

If I had waited until “later” to pursue a master rating, “later” would have never come. Is there ever a time when you don’t feel busy? Is it likely that at some point in the future free time will be so plentiful that we can actively seek out a project to fill it? I think the answer is no.

Is there something that is keeping you very busy these days? Is there anything you want to pursue, but you are waiting for “later?” Maybe taking some time for yourself and some time for professional development is exactly what you need, too. ______________________________________________ Ashleigh Renard is the Director of Synchronized Skating at Wissahickon Skating Club. She holds a Master Synchronized Skating Rating. She lives with her husband, Manny, and sons, Jack and Luke in Warrington, PA. Wendy Mangum is the Program Director for the Synchronized Skating teams at Upper Mountain Skating Association. She holds Master Moves in the Field, Certified Synchronized Skating, and Registered Free Skating ratings. She lives with her husband, Dan, and daughter, Gracie, in Yardley, PA.

PS MAGAZINE

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IJS Insights LIBBY SCANLAN

ISU Communication 1611

Levels of Difficulty—Singles STEP SEQUENCES All Juvenile, Intermediate, Junior and Senior programs must include a leveled step sequence. During this sequence emphasis must be placed on executing the correct entry and exit edges in the turns. It is important to remember that edges are always done on a curve—never a flat or straight line The turns must be done on one foot.

TYPES OF TURNS

TYPES OF STEPS

All turns must be executed on one foot. If a turn is jumped, it is not counted as performed.

Toe step: A step where the skater steps from one toe to the other without jumping.

Three turn: A turn made from an outside edge to an inside edge or an inside edge to an outside edge, with the curve continuing on the same lobe as the entry curve. The skater turns in the direction of the curve.

Chasse: A series of two edges in which, on the second edge the free foot is placed on the ice beside the skating foot, but not ahead of it, an the free foot is lifted with the blade parallel to the ice.

Twizzle: A traveling turn with one or more rotations quickly rotated with continuous (uninterrupted) action. A series of checked three turns is not acceptable as this does not constitute continuous action.

Bracket: A turn made from one edge to a different edge where the skater turns in the direction opposite to the curve. The edge before and after the turn is on the same lobe.

Counter: A turn which maintains the same edge before and after the turn. The skater turns in the direction opposite to the entry curve. The edge before and after the turn is on different lobes.

Rocker: A turn which maintains the same edge before and after the turn, with the exit curve on a different lobe from the entry curve. The skater turns in the direction of the entry curve.

Loop: A turn which maintains the same edge and direction. The skater draws the edge into the lobe to create a smaller lobe, and exits maintaining the same edge and direction.

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Only with the proper execution of the steps and turns can a skater trigger the possibility of achieving other features in the step sequence.

The pattern of the sequence can be done in a Straight Line (short barrier to short barrier), Serpentine (two or three bold curves short barrier to short barrier), or Circular (completing a circle using the width of the ice). In the short

Running steps: (Progressives) A step or sequence of steps in which the free foot passes the skating foot before it is placed on the ice, bringing the new free foot off the ice trailing the new skating foot.

Mohawk: Steps from forward to backward (or backward to forward) from one foot to the other in which the curve of the exit edge continues the curve of the entry edge. The change of foot is outside to outside edge or inside to inside edge.

Choctaw: Steps from forward to backward (or backward to forward) from one foot to the other in which the curve of the exit edge is in the opposite direction to the curve of the entry edge.

The change of foot is from outside to inside edge or from inside to outside edge.

Change of edge: A step that remains on one foot changing from one edge to the other, forward or backward without changing the skating direction.

Cross rolls: A roll is a short or long, forward or backward edge. A cross roll is a roll started with the action of the free foot approaching the skating foot from the side, so as to strike the ice almost at right angles to the skating foot. The change to the curve in the opposite direction creates a rolling movement (can be done forward or backward)

inside

outside

program, the end of the pattern is either the moment the skater reaches the opposite short barrier (straight line and serpentine), or closes the circle (circular). In the free skate program, the pattern of the sequence is unlimited but will be called according to pattern of the first part of the sequence. A Step Sequence will only receive a level if at least 50% of the pattern is performed. Retrogression is allowed.

There are seven listed steps, and six listed turns considered in the step sequence. The glossary of step and turn definitions with diagrams is on the opposite page.

FEATURE 1. Simple variety (Level 2), variety (Level 3), complexity (Level 4) of turns and steps throughout (COMPULSORY) In order to assess feature 1, it is imperative to understand the meaning of the terms simple variety, variety, and complexity of turns and steps.

Simple variety must include at least seven turns and four steps. None of the types of steps and turns can be counted more than twice. If a simple variety is achieved the skater is eligible to receive one additional feature and a Level 2, if the additional feature criterion is satisfied.

Variety must include at least nine turns and four steps. None of the types of steps and turns can be counted more than twice. If variety is achieved the skater is eligible to receive two additional features and a Level 3, if two additional feature criteria are satisfied.

Complexity must include at least five different turns and three different types of steps all executed at least once in both rotational directions (turning to the right, turning to the left). Skating forward and backward is not a change of rotational direction. If complexity is achieved the skater is eligible to receive 3 additional features and a Level 4, if three additional feature criteria are satisfied. A skater cannot receive a Level 4 if a complexity of steps and turns has not been achieved.

It is important to note that Feature 1 is considered compulsory, and if a minimum of simple variety (seven turns—four steps) has not been performed, the level cannot be higher than a Level 1.

We will continue and conclude discussion on Step Sequences with a focus on Features two through five, in the next IJS Insight article. Please email crossignol@skatepsa.com with any questions or comments.

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PS MAGAZINE

11

PROFESSIONAL SKATERS ASSOCIATION

EXCELLENCE ON ICE 2010-2011 Membership Year

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

PSA TO CELEBRATE 75TH ANNIVERSARY WITH BOOK ABOUT COACHES Do you remember your first skating lesson?

Who taught you an Axel?

How did your coach change your skating and your life?

The Professional Skaters Association wants to hear your stories about your coaches. The PSA is inviting skaters to contribute their personal stories for a book celebrating the group’s 75th anniversary. The book, to be published in 2013, will tell the story of the PSA and how it grew from a small group of committed coaches into a a 6,400-member education and certification organization.

The Joy of Coaching will be produced by the PSA headquarters staff and a team of researchers and writers led by Patricia Hagen, an Indiana-based coach, author and journalist. It will include essays, memories, anecdotes and photos submitted by skaters and coaches. If you would like to submit a story for consideration by the book’s editors, or if you have a question about the book, send an e-mail to psa75years@yahoo.com.

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FRANK AND EVAN LYSACEK FRANKCARROLL, CARROLL,OTHER OTHERWORLD WORLDTEAM TEAMCOACHES COACHES ANDOLYMPIC WORLD CHAMPION CHAMPION E VAN L YSACEK KNOW LEGAL CONCERNS. DO YOU? EGAL ISSUES ISSUES AND AND C ONCERNS. D O YOU ?

KNOW WHO WHO TO TO CALL CALL WITH WITH L

619.232.2424 or 619.572.9984

Jonathan Geen Attorney at Law Partner, Borton Petrini, LLP Over 20 years of legal experience National Judge in Singles / Pairs Former Skater http://bortonpetrini.com/bio/geen_se.pdf Coaching Agreements Rink / Coach Agreements Dispute Resolution / Grievance Counseling

Agent Agreements Show / Entertainment Contracts General Business Law and Trademark / Copyright

2011 P S A C on feren c e

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES It’s springtime and that means the PSA will soon be hosting its International Conference in Dallas, Texas, May 25-28, 2011. We expect nearly 600 coaches to be in attendance along with the attendees drawn for ISI and we hope that you will also be there.

We are inviting companies to sponsor one of our many conference activities. Your company’s banner will be prominently displayed along with any other literature you choose and your company name will appear in all PSA publications that are provided to Conference attendees as well as visibility in the May/June issue of PS Magazine, providing a market reach of over 6,000.

(Magazine deadline is March 24th, 2011)

The PSA Conference offers many opportunities for additional exposure to your company in various price ranges. Contact us today!

We hope that you will consider joining us for this landmark event.

For more information contact

Lee Green 507-281-5122 lgreen@skatepsa.com.

PS MAGAZINE

13

Sport Science HEIDI THIBERT

Rossiter: Steps for Injury Prevention

By Nancy Stilson-Herzog and David Henre HOW TO FIND A and overuse. Rossiter attacks the source hat do overly stiff boots and joints ROSSITER COACH of a problem by fundamentally changing have in common?

To find a Rossiter coach the nature of connective tissue. It loosens They can be the culprit of overuse injuries in your area, visit www. connective tissue naturally while restoring that affect skaters’ feet and ankles, and therossitersystem.com and the space and circulation the body requires contribute to injuries further up the kinetic contact the instructor in to function properly. your region. chain including shin splints, and pain in the “Everything in the body revolves lower back, hips and knees. Today’s figure HOW TO BECOME A around the theory of appropriate space,” skaters, focusing on triple and quadruple ROSSITER COACH Henre said. “You’re body can tighten down technical jump combinations, spins, pairs so much, requiring assisted relief. Rossiter and dance lifts, are experiencing the perforVisit www.therossitersystem.com first provides temporary relief like massages. mance-crippling effects of lace bite, pump to register for classes.

However, it has much greater long-term bumps, tendonitis and stress fractures. effects because we’re actually helping you Although repetition is the key to learning, manipulate your tissue.” it unfortunately increases muscle tightness and joint Rossiter is deeper than stretching. It involves two people: clogging, which can cramp flexibility and mobility. Limited the coach and the person in charge (client). The coach uses range of movement prevents skaters from performing a a pin-and-stretch method to anchor connective tissue in key move accurately, making him or her prone to falling and areas while guiding the client through a series of stretches overuse injuries. As figure skating performances dramatito restore space and mobility. These are deep and technical cally evolve, so do overuse injuries and the dire need for stretches the skater cannot achieve on his/her own. “The smarter off-ice conditioning. patient is the one in control,” Henre said. “We don’t stretch Progressive off-ice conditioning coaches, Nancy Stilsonyour connective tissue for you. We pin it down so you can Herzog and David Henre, work with the Fort Collins achieve a deeper stretch.”

Figure Skating Club in Colorado to attack overuse injuries Most of the 200 Rossiter stretches involve weight at the source of the problem. They use a convenient, natural from the coach’s foot; a few involve weight from the and non-invasive technique—the Rossiter System—that elbow. The average session varies from 15-45 minutes and takes the “issue out of tissue.” involves elongating and loosening connective tissue so that Rossiter is a proven connective tissue stretching method movement becomes pain-free, supple, fluid and normal. used for injury prevention and rehabilitation that quickly and effectively restores proper function in the body. Rossiter ROSSITER FOR SAFETY returns the body’s corrupted connective tissue to normal, Young skaters with immature bodies are at risk of serious allowing all body parts and organs to move and function as musculoskeletal injuries, if not early in their skating career, they’re supposed to. “Athletes stretch their muscles and need than later. “Rossiter is the key to longevity of your connecto stretch their connective tissue too,” said David Henre, tive tissue and skating career,” said Stilson-Herzog, advanced certified Rossiter Instructor. “Rossiter goes hand-in-hand certified Rossiter Coach. “It allows skaters to reach their with the flexibility and mobility components of off-ice goals with as little risk of injury as possible because it allows conditioning.” a greater range of motion. If you have mobility and strength in your joints, your body has a greater tolerance for extreme HOW DOES ROSSITER WORK? movement.”

The anatomical system of space inside your body is the “Muscles are made for moving,” Henre added. “If connective tissue system. Tightness, swelling, pain, aching a person can’t move an area the way it is designed to and limited movement in muscles and joints occurs when move, the area will deteriorate, weaken, shrink or become connective tissue shortens and tightens from repetition

W

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or traumatized, it shortens and the body loses its ability to communicate effectively. Nerves cannot communicate with muscles; messages to and from the brain are short-circuited.

Rossiter alleviates pressure in the injured tissue, which allows the body to receive adequate amounts of enriching food and oxygen. Tissue needs a certain amount of nutrition to remain healthy, vibrant, free of waste and able to repair and perform freely.

nonfunctional.” Joint position and motion are controlled by surrounding muscles. Joints need a balance of flexibility on all sides to move in a proper range of motion. If an imbalance of muscle support and length exists, a skater will perform a slightly misaligned movement over-and-over, which makes him or her more prone to injury. When muscles are restricted in movement, nerve impulses are suppressed in their ability to send messages. Fatigued impulses lead to miscommunication and delayed reaction time. Rossiter keeps tissue loose allowing for adequate circulation, blood flow and control.

ROSSITER FOR PERFORMANCE Joint immobility and inflexibility restrict proper skating techniques. “Sure spirals and split jumps require extraordinary flexibility, but even basic elements require a certain muscle length to be performed safely and accurately,” Stilson-Herzog said.

Muscle flexibility and joint mobility control the angle of the ankle, knee and hip joint on a jump take-off and landing. Any deficit in muscle length can affect the quality of a jump. “Rossiter has proven to enhance performance by increasing range of motion,” Henre said. “Skaters are experiencing increased jump height, stroking power, rotation speed of jumps, improved upper-body strength for choreography movements and enhanced posture on ice.”

“If we keep everything loose and mobile, then muscles will fire properly,” Stilson-Herzog said. “This affects how much control skaters have of their body and their aptitude to succeed. Kids are more confident as they’re noticing they’re faster and more powerful.”

ROSSITER FOR RECOVERY Rossiter naturally expedites any rehabilitation process and gets injured skaters back on the ice quicker than surgery recovery time. When connective tissue is injured, overworked

ROSSITER: FOOT-IN-FOOT WITH OFF-ICE CONDITIONING Off-ice conditioning coaches are required to pay careful attention to the health of their skaters’ bodies. “Off-ice conditioning coaches understand the physiology of each individual skater’s body,” Henre said. “It makes sense to have your trainer, the person whose job is to understand and improve your body, to be the one who makes corrections.”

Personal trainers who are certified to apply Rossiter have the ability to address issues immediately. “If the skater or coach recognizes a problem, we can get to the issue right away, which makes Rossiter convenient and cost effective,” Stilson-Herzog said. “Skaters don’t have to schedule an appointment or wait for results because we can get to the source of the problem and attack the issue immediately.”

Rossiter helps off-ice conditioning coaches gain a competitive advantage. It improves the effectiveness of work with clients, boosts income and gives the trainer a powerful approach to pain relief that does not involves drugs, surgery, splints/braces/appliances or medical intervention.“It’s a valuable system to add to your tool box,” Stilson-Herzog said. “There’s a great demand for off-ice conditioning coaches to be able to perform these preventative exercises because we spend a lot of time with the skaters. We need to be well-versed in all things related to fitness and recovery.”

Parents and coaches trust Rossiter. “We’ve built a high level of trust within our figure skating network,” StilsonHerzog said. “The coaches and parents always say ‘go to the trainer—tell them what’s going on’ and the skaters know how we can help them. They are conditioned to know when they need to be stepped on and where they need to be stepped on. Parents, coaches and skaters believe in Rossiter.

David is The Pain Slayer and I’m The Miracle Worker.”

Nancy Stilson-Herzog has over 25 years of personal training and group fitness class experience and has been working with figure skaters for 14 years. Nancy became a certified Rossiter Coach in 2008 and in August 2010, she completed the advanced Rossiter workshop ‘Pain Slayer,’ which only 10 people in the world have completed. fitnas@hotmail.com; 970-231-7201 David Henre is active in Colorado’s athletic and bodywork community. David is one of the top 12 original Rossiter instructors in the Unites States and the first in Colorado. He became a certified Rossiter coach in 2004 and has trained more than 50 Rossiter coaches. In August 2010, he completed the advanced Rossiter workshop, Pain Slayer, which only 10 people in the world have completed. coloradocore@rossiter.com; 970-420-9603 PS MAGAZINE

15

REPORT

PSA Nationwide Seminars a Runaway Hit

By Liz Leamy

Knowledge is everything, especially for those coaches looking to increase their knowledge, cultivate their students, and build their business, and is probably much of the reason why this year’s PSA Nationwide seminars have been such a hit.

This year, the popular annual instructional series was held from August 28th through October 10th and drew more than 800 coaches who trekked to one of 18 seminars in arenas in states such as Texas, California, North Carolina, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, New York and Massachusetts to learn about the newly revised U.S. Figure Skating field moves, jumps, spins and effective teaching methods, as well as other subjects.

Participants appeared excited at the prospect of having attended these seminars and were applauded for their efforts.

“I praise you for being here,” said Jackie Brenner, the main speaker at the Skating Club of Boston seminar in September. “Truly, we have to continue learning to keep growing.”

The Skating Club of Boston hosted two separate day-long seminars on September 18th and 19th that drew more than 200 total coaches from all over the New England and North Atlantic regions. Attendees sat through off-ice classes that ran through the entire morning, then followed it up with extensive on-ice afternoon instruction.

Janet Champion at the San Fransico Seminar

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Brenner, a national PSA master-rated coach from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, did an exceptional job. She provided interesting and helpful information on the new field moves, the International Judging System and general jump and spin technique.

The Detroit native, who had managed to build her Oklahoma-based skating school and competitive camp from scratch, also encouraged coaches to work as hard as possible to help raise the bar of the sport here in the U.S. “I welcome you to challenge yourself in terms of growing in all aspects of this sport,” said Brenner.

GOOD SKATING SKILLS A MUST According to Brenner, good skating skills are necessary for any skater to succeed in this sport.

“Skating skills ought to be strong and in harmony with a skater’s development,” said Brenner, who added that field moves are the basis of good skating and need to be addressed on a regular basis.

Good skating is the result of an athlete using their knees, ankles and feet as effectively as possible and to effectively perform good ankle flexion. Skaters should also understand the functions of the four different quadrants of the foot.

“The knees have to be involved but so do

Doug Haw at the Eagan, MN, Seminar

the ankles and feet,” explained Brenner.

In regard to step sequences, Brenner urged that coaches break down each turn on circles and arcs, reviewing every entry and exit so that these elements are executed in a clear and precise fashion.

Good jumps, according to Brenner, are based upon rock-solid mechanics. “The timing and forces might be different among singles, doubles and triples, but the mechanics all remain the same,” she said, adding that greater takeoff strength and quickness are required for increased jump rotation.

Brenner said skaters must learn to read their takeoff and landing ice prints so they can differentiate a good from a bad jump, as well as recognize the proper sound of a well-done jump. She also said skaters need to have substantial ice coverage in regard to their landings and avoid putting their jumps in the corners.

Since skaters use nearly 97 percent of their lower bodies to execute a jump, it is important they drive their lower body to the upper one on the takeoff.

“The body must be square to the edge and aligned properly at the takeoff to achieve maximum height and distance,” she said.

Quality spins, meanwhile, are the result of good centering, position and speed, all of which are largely determined by the execution of the entry three–turn.

“The entry edge centers the spin and the timing of the free leg is also important,” professed Brenner.

Brenner emphasized the importance of classic spin positions and said that in regard to variations, each skater has certain styles that work best for them.

“Trying different spin positions is like trying on jeans, everyone’s body varies, as does their flexibility, so as a coach, you have to understand that,’ concluded Brenner.

IT’S GOING TO BE BIG! Join us at the PSA International Conference Skating Industry Trade Show to be held jointly with ISI in Dallas, Texas!

The PSA and ISI Conferences will bring together hundreds of attendees for several days of intense learning, technical updating, professional reassurances, social activities, and to top it off, an ice skating industry bonanza! Skating coaches are the most influential people to skaters and we strongly believe if you make the coach a customer, the skaters will follow.

The joint Trade Show will take place on

May 26th & 27th, 2011

Be sure to reserve your booth today!

For more information contact Lee Green at 507-281-5122 or lgreen@skatepsa.com

OO Figure

Eights

the

Life Force of

Figure Skating

TM

Karen Courtland Kelly

PSA Endorses New DVD

“Figure Eights: the Life Force of Figure Skating” Master the Skating Skills Learn the Foundation of the Moves in the Field Figure Eights make Everyone a Better Skater

Order Now:

www.PeakEdgePerformance.com 518-523-8706

PSA On-Line Store www.skatepsa.com

PS MAGAZINE

17

Education CAROL ROSSIGNOL

An Educational Round-up...

Deep in the Heart of Texas!

PSA

coaches thrive on learning new skills and sharing ideas with fellow coaches. Why not share ideas with rink managers and operators at this year’s joint conferences with the ISI? The ISI and PSA are partnering up for a concurrently hosted event with all educational sessions included in one conference admission. Special social events will require additional fees. Both you and the rink can become better leaders both on and off the ice. What better way to gather these like-minded individuals together than to attend the 2011 PSA/ISI Joint Conferences and Trade Show in Dallas, Texas! It is the premier event whether you are a coach, administrator, sport scientist, program director, or rink manager/operator to network, learn, connect, and celebrate America’s top ice skating leaders.

This year’s conferences and trade show will be held at the Westin Galleria in Dallas’ lavish Galleria Complex, home to more than 200 retailers and a diverse collection of restaurants at all price points. On-ice sessions will be conveniently located at the on-site Galleria Ice Skating Center, minutes away from the hotel conference rooms.

You will find the keynote speakers thought-provoking and our presentation sessions informative, giving you a renewed passion and energy to reach higher. Join us for “an educational western round-up . . . deep in the heart of Texas,” May 25 to 28, 2011.

The 2011 PSA/ISI Joint Conferences and Trade Show feature several keynote speeches and numerous workshop sessions, such as: • David Dore, ISU Vice-President, will host two questionand-answer sessions in the round.

• Kevin Cottam, ACC, BSC. is an inspirational and motivational coach, speaker and facilitator whose purpose in life is to encourage and develop personal, team and corporate potential.

• The PSA Awards Dinner “An Affair to Remember” is a highlight of the conference. Awards to be presented include Coach of the Year, Developmental Coach of the Year, Pieter Kollen Sport Science Coaching, Betty Berens, Sonja Henie, Gustave Lussi, and many more awards, plus the Coaches Hall of Fame inductees.

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• The ISI will host its own awards dinner.

• A joint ISI and PSA Presidents’ Reception will be hosted on Wednesday evening, May 25.

• A Program Director track featuring “Effective Communication and Customer Service,” “Creating New Business Models,” “Staff hiring, firing, training, evaluation, supervising, …” and more.

• A Beginner Class Instruction Focus Group Study will take place for Group Instructors both on and off-ice. The study will take two groups of first time skaters to participate in three classes on-ice followed-up with an off ice meeting to get feedback.

• 2011 Ice Arena Trade Show will be bigger than ever - ISI and PSA are partnering up for an ice skating industry bonanza so do some trail-blazing networking and marketing.

• Pair and Dance Coaches College sessions • Robert Horen, Technical Controller for Dance and member of the ISU Technical Dance Committee will provide the latest ISU Dance information • Friday night social is a Rodeo Roundup, featuring a barbecue dinner, dancing, and a private live rodeo at Mesquite Championship Rodeo, with bus transportation provided.

• You can even tour the Dallas Cowboys stadium if you come in early on Tuesday, May 24.

• The Saturday morning Breakfast Panel will feature “Abuse in Sport—physical, mental, and emotional” with Paul Wylie, Pat St. Peter, David Dore, Nancy Hogshead-Makar, with moderator, Jimmie Santee.

• There is a “Technology for Coaches in Action” presentation on-ice.

• “Inside the Coaches Studio” features Frank Carroll interviewed by Scott Brown.

• Special demonstrations will be featured by Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the 2010 Olympic Ice Dancing champions, along with their coach, Marina Zoueva.

• Janet Champion will continue with her “Spins 2010” and feature “Spins 2011.”

Program Director—Angela Riviello, Janet Tremer, Emily Cassella, Gerry Lane, Nancy Mariani; Group Instruction— Janice Forbes, Randy Winship, Susi Wehrli-McLaughlin, B.L. Wylie, Shane Douglas; IJS—Charlie Cyr, David Kirby, Robert Horne

• The Sports Medicine Symposium will be held in conjunction with the conference on Saturday afternoon with presentations on S.T.A.R.S., Concussions, and Weight Management with Dr. Nanna Meyer, Peter Zapola, Michael • Other presenters include David Shulman, Karen Courtland Cook, Lauren Colizza plus others.

Kelly, Chris Conte, Nick Perna, Sheila Thelan, Jonathan Geen, Alice Shelley, Peter Zapola, Heidi Thibert, plus many • Discipline presenters include: Singles—Audrey Weisiger, others.

Kathy Casey, Diane Miller, Kori Ade, Jackie Brenner,

The 2011 PSA/ISI Joint Conferences and Trade Show Doug Haw; Pairs—Doug Ladret, David Kirby, Todd truly is the best investment you can make in 2011. It’s your Sand; Dance—Marina Zoueva, Bob Mock, Pierre Panayi; sport and our sport! Join us at the 2011 Dallas Conference Synchronized—Holly Teets, Lisa Darken, Jill Cipresso; and don’t miss out.

Moves in the Field—Kelley Morris Adair, Brandon Forsyth, Christine Fowler-Binder; Hockey—Tara Hillstrand-Lane, The Advance Deadline is April 15th, so Paul Paprocki, Donna Helgenberg, Karen Howland-Jones; REGISTER ONLINE NOW!

A.M.

MONDAY

PSA Rating Exams, Examiner & Trial Examiner Training Sessions

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

ISI Dallas Cowboys Stadium Tour (extra fee $35 before May 1)

ISI Management, Operations & Instructor Sessions

PSA Rating Exams, Examiner & Trial Examiner Training Sessions

PSA Rating Exams, Examiner & Trial Examiner Training Sessions

PSA Conference Opening

P.M.

ISI Conference Opening

PSA Rating Exams, Examiner & Trial Examiner Training Sessions

PSA Rating Exams, Examiner & Trial Examiner Training Sessions ISI Cocktail Reception & Awards Dinner (extra fee $60)

PSA Newcomers’ Meeting and Area Reps Meeting Grand Round Up (Keynote Opening) plus Joint On & Off-Ice Sessions

PSA / ISI Presidents’ Reception PSA Gala Awards Dinner “An Affair to Remember” (extra fee $60)

THURSDAY

ISI Management & Operations Sessions ISI & PSA Joint Sessions On & Off Ice

ISI Management & Operations Sessions ISI & PSA Joint Sessions On & Off Ice PSA Membership Meeting Trade Show Opening with Cocktail Reception

FRIDAY ISI Management & Operations Sessions ISI & PSA Joint Sessions On & Off Ice

SATURDAY

PSA Breakfast Panel “Abuse in Sport” PSA & ISI Joint Sessions

Trade Show with Buffet Lunch

Second Keynote Address ISI & PSA Joint Sessions On & Off Ice Mesquite Rodeo & Dinner (extra fee $35 includes transportation)

PSA & ISI Joint Sessions Sports Medicine Symposium & Conference Closing

PS MAGAZINE

19

»» SPECIAL OLYMPICS ««

{GOLD}EN testing

by Patty Hagan

Two Indiana women made history in September of 2010 when they became the first athletes to pass the U.S. Figure Skating Special Olympics gold dance test.

“I started jumping up and down and hugging,” said Shannon Lamb, describing the moment she received the papers saying she had passed the Westminster Waltz, her fourth and final gold dance, at Winter Club of Indianapolis. She celebrated with her friend Katie Crawford, who achieved the same skating milestone.

Some of the first hugs went to their longtime coach and partner, Donny Adair. “That is the joy of teaching: to help others achieve a goal and feel good about themselves,” he said.

The gold medal was a long time coming.

“I thought I would never get there,” said Katie, 38, an Indianapolis resident who has competed internationally in Special Olympics in skating and several other sports. When it was time to test the “West,” she said, “I had faith in myself. I knew I was going to do it.”

Shannon, 40, started testing the preliminary dances in 1983, said her mother, Sandy Lamb, a PSA past president who has coached dozens of gold medalists in dance.

As Shannon progressed through her dance tests, Lamb was simply the mother, while Adair was the coach.

“Other than being a shorter pattern than a regular dance, her dance was very good,” said Lamb, who lives in Morgantown, Ind. “I was so proud. I just couldn’t believe that she could actually do the rocker/counter section,’’ which trips up many dancers.

“There were places in many dances we thought they would never get. When we got to the golds, it was a remarkable thing.

You just grow into it, and that’s what they did. I was surprised how well they picked up dances,” Lamb said.

Adair, who has partnered more than 50 skaters through the gold dances, said his Special Olympians each had her own learning style. “Shannon has incredible internal timing and easily memorizes steps. Katie

MISSION

The Special Olympics mission is to provide year-round sport training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disability by giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

Today, Special Olympics involves Over 1.7 million athletes More than 200 Special Olympics Programs Athletes in more than 150 countries • 26 Olympic-type sports • 500,000 volunteers around the world • More than 140,000 coaches around the world • More than 20,000 competitions around the world each year •

•

•

*from www.specialolympics.org

SPECIAL OLYMPICS HISTORY Special Olympics began in 1968 when Eunice Kennedy Shriver organized the First International Summer Games at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The concept was born in the early 1960s when Shriver started a day camp for people with intellectual disability. She saw that individuals with intellectual disability were far more capable in sports and physical activities than experts thought.

In December 1968, Special Olympics was established as a nonprofit charitable organization under the laws of the District of Columbia, USA. The National Association for Retarded Citizens, the Council for Exceptional Children and the American Association on Mental Deficiency pledged their support for this first systemic effort to provide sports training and athletic competition for individuals with intellectual disability based on the Olympic tradition and spirit. Since 1968, millions of children and adults with intellectual disability have participated in Special Olympics around the world. | *from www.specialolympics.org

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OPPOSITE PAGE: Katie and Shannon hold their test sheets, complete with a large ‘PASS’ mark, on the ice with their coach and partner, Donny Adair.

THIS PAGE: The girls give

coach Donny a thank you smooch!

needs more repetition and for me to say the steps in time with the music,” Adair said. “I also had to change some of the words that I use to help them be more consistent.”

Shannon and Katie have been trailblazers since the mid-1980s when figure skating was added to Special Olympics International, a program which allows people with intellectual disabilities to train and compete in a variety of sports. After a trip to the Special Olympics Winter Games in 1981, Sandy Lamb re-

alized the athletic opportunities available for Shannon and others with similar disabilities. “I came home all excited and started the program” in figure skating, she said.

Since 1985, Sandy has been figure skating director for Special Olympics International.

Thousands of Special Olympians have learned to skate in classes offered in central Indiana and beyond. There has been significant growth in the number of Special Olympics and Therapeutic skating programs over

the years, said Brenda Glidewell, figure skating programs manager at U.S. Figure Skating. USFS recently launched a new Therapeutic Skating Badge Curriculum for Basic Skills programs and strengthened its focus on Special Olympics skating, she added.

Special Olympics dance tests are a work in progress. “When the girls got through pre-silver, we added the silver” and so on, Lamb said, adding that Shannon and Katie continually surpassed the expectations of the organization’s coaches and directors.

Special Olympians do the same dances as skaters on the regular track, now from preliminary through gold. SO tests are judged by one or three judges and graded pass or retry. SO skaters at all levels must show preliminary-level knowledge of steps, pattern and timing.

“We were in uncharted territory with both of them,” Adair said, “but I knew they could achieve a gold medal in ice dancing. Their skating ability was pretty good.”

Shannon, who has competed and judged at national and international SO events, said she was proud to pave the way for other Special Olympians. “There is hope for these Special Olympics people to make their dreams come true. I made my dream come true,” she said.

DID YOU KNOW...

Photos Sought for PSA International Award

JR 1.01 Judges Standard of Conduct

Rochester, MN

The following Judges’ Creed Standard of Conduct is established for the guidance of all judges of figure skating, ice dancing, and synchronized skating: I consider it an honor and a privilege to be a judge of figure skating, ice dancing, or synchronized skating.

I shall make my judgment to the best of my ability with all humility and then shall keep my own counsel unless questioned officially.

I shall free my mind of all former impressions, be cooperative and punctual, and do my best always to improve my knowledge and to uphold the dignity of the sport.

Highlighting the PSA International Conference in Dallas, Texas will be the 43rd Annual International Awards hosted by the Professional Skaters Association. The winners will be presented with an Edi award, named after Edi Scholdan, World and Olympic coach and the first president of the PSA. Edi is also an acronym for Education and Dedication International.

• PHOTO OF THE YEAR •

Once again, interested parties are invited to submit photos to be considered by a panel of judges.

Photographers, publishers and fans are encouraged to submit their best action photo for entry into the contest. The photos will be judged on quality, drama, balance, timeliness and the ability to have captured the moment. The winning photo will be published as the cover of the Professional Skater Magazine’s July/August 2011 issue in addition to being presented the Edi. The awards have been established to give recognition to deserving people in the skating world, to commend people in all areas of the sport and to give respect and visibility to those who often go unrecognized.

Entry Deadline: April 15, 2011 • All entries must be received in the PSA office by April 15, 2011 and include no more than five(5) photos, a description of the photo, a contact person, company name, address, phone number, and email address. Photos may be of any size but take into consideration that the winning photo will grace the PS Magazine cover.

Photos will not be returned. Please do not email submissions.

PS MAGAZINE

21

DARTFISH

Introducing PSA/Dartfish TV The newly compiled Singles Skills Collection is now available!

This collection contains clips of jumps, spins, and steps at various athlete levels from the 2010 season. From beginner to Senior, some of the videos feature key teaching positions and observational descriptions of crucial aspects of the skills.

The skills can be searched by multiple criterions via a menu. Simply check the level, discipline, skill etc to

find exactly what you are looking for.

The first skill archive of its kind in skating, we hope you will find it a valuable and fun interactive study tool!

Content will be continually updated and added throughout the season, so check back regularly for more great interactive study tools! Future collections will include skills for Pairs and Synchro as well!

Access Dartfish TV through the PSA website www.skatepsa.com

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MARCH | APRIL 2011

Conference Extra

REGISTER NOW!

May 27, 2011 Only

$

35

Includes: Transportation, dinner, and show

Join the PSA for a wild good time Friday when we step out for a taste of Texas - rodeo style! This extra event will offer attendees dinner and a show. The fee also includes transportation so sit back and enjoy. Guests welcome!

Sign up at www.skatepsa.com

Conference Registration

DEADLINE April 15, 2011

Everything will be held at...

WESTIN GALLERIA DALLAS 13340 Dallas Parkway Dallas, TX 75240

Highlights of the 2011 PSA International Conference and Trade Show May 25-28, 2011, include joint sessions with ISI, U.S. Figure Skating, the Sport Medicine and Science Symposium, hockey, as well as the joint ISI/PSA Presidents’ Reception, Trade Show Reception and Luncheon Buffet, and the Saturday Breakfast Panel.

Considering the confusion and consternation surrounding the current state of scoring in the professional figure skating community, this seems as good a time as any to figure out this question:

How did we get here?

Photo courtesy of World Figure Skating Museum & Hall of Fame

By Kent McDill

W

“The level of free skating began to increase significantly after World War II...There was a period of skating, a Golden Age of American skating, when you had skaters who were all good free skaters...” � BEN WRIGHT �

hen ice skating became a competition in the late 1800’s rather than a hobby or simple pleasant exercise, there came the need for a standardized system to determine which skater performed better. A scoring system that used numbers to represent judging determinations was required.

The complication that has existed since the beginning of figure skating competition is that comparing one skater’s performance against another’s is a subjective exercise and one judge’s subjective determinations will, by human nature, be different than another judge’s subjective determinations.

To examine the history of scoring in figure skating, let’s go back to the beginning, and the beginning for figure skating sends us back more than 200 years.

the Beginning

Ice skating was first an act of survival, taking place in parts of the world where ice covered the land for most of the year.

Ice skating as a sport did not exist until the mid 1700s, when an ice skating club was formed in Edinburgh, Scotland.

King Charles II is credited with bringing ice skating to Great Britain, and it was there that skaters became dedicated to skating figures “on” the ice.

The term “figure skating” differentiates itself from “ice skating” because from the beginning of skating competitions, skaters were asked to demonstrate proficiency in skating “figures,” which are specific and clearly defined designs that can be etched into the ice in a continuous pattern on one skate.

“They were diagrams drawn on the ice —stars and crosses and all kinds of things —which were part of the disciplines up until World War I,” said figure skating historian Ben Wright.

Figures were the only element scored in competitions until 1895, when new rules were adopted that managed to last until 1973.

The figures themselves were tight designs skated on very small “patches” of ice. The British, apparently, enjoyed skating figures because the act lent itself to a very stiff, precise manner on the ice, with the body straight and upright, and arms by the side. It was all about the physical relationship of the skate to the ice. There was no upper body movement to distract from the performance of the task at hand, or rather, at foot.

Originally, skaters were required to demonstrate six figures on each foot. That requirement was changed after World War II to six total figures skated on alternating feet.

Judging took place after the skater finished the figures. Judges would take to the ice to see how well the figures were followed. Usually, outcomes were easy to determine. Lines were either followed or not. Mistakes were easy to see.

There were compulsory figures, which were more than three dozen ways to skate in and out of a figure eight. There were also special figures, which allowed for some individual expression but were still limited to “unique” figures skated into the ice. There is very little information prior to 1895 about how figures were scored, whether there were ordinals or a rating system created and applied.

Haines and the French

While the English were skating upright in the late 1700’s, the French had adopted ice skating as a sport but were more interested in learning how to dance on ice. While skating figures was indeed an art, it was not seen as artistic by the French and, eventually, by Americans as well.

In the mid 1800’s, an American skater named Jackson Haines became a competitive figure skater, but violated the precepts of the

British and American styles by incorporating what he had seen from French skaters in his youth, namely upper body movement and expressive leg movements. He won the United States Figure Skating Championships in 1863 and 1864 but felt vilified by the establishment for attempting to change figure skating into a broader form.

While Haines clearly influenced figure skating overall, his innovative style and artistic flair affected scoring as well.

In 1882, Vienna hosted what historians determined was the first-ever international skating competition. The skaters in that competition were asked to skate 23 compulsory figures, one “special” figure of the skater’s choosing, and a four-minute program that allowed for the kind of artistic expression Haines made so popular.

the International Skating Union

In 1895, European skating officials formed the International Skating Union (ISU) in an attempt to formalize and centralize the skating competitions. At that time, the ISU held separate competitions for free skating and figuring (The name by which compulsory figures were known in the early days).

Starting in 1895, scoring for figure skating events was developed and essentially maintained until 1973, and “figures” remained the predominant element through that time. Whether it was the 6.0 system, a 10-point system or something else is not known. What is known is that originally “figures” skating was more heavily weighted than free skating.

Values assigned to figures were two thirds of the final total for each skater, and free skating was valued to be one third of the final score. The values for figures were reduced to 60 percent around the time of World War II, and remained that way PS MAGAZINE

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Photo courtesy of World Figure Skating Museum & Hall of Fame

until 1968, when the value of figures was again reduced to 50 percent. “The level of free skating began to increase significantly after World War II,” Wright said. “There was a period of skating, a Golden Age of American skating, when you had skaters who were all good free skaters, like Dick Button and Carol Heiss. They all had to do figures, but they excelled in free skating, and it was obvious something was out of whack. It took a long time to get the powers to be to change their point of view toward figures, and a lot of us regret the change.”

the Role of Television

Television played a role in the reduction of the value of figures. In the 1960s, television networks began to see the appeal of sports coverage and figure skating was a predominant sporting choice. Because of the enclosed space and the singular object being filmed (the skater), figure skating could be covered with one or two cameras and the expressive movement of the skaters lent itself to television coverage.

That was only true, however, of the free skate program. Figures were still a part of the competition, but were rarely presented on television and rarely drew much of a public audience either.

Figures were usually performed in relative seclusion, and therefore judging was rather clandestine as well. This occasionally created the opportunity for what might be called “judging fudging,” otherwise known as score fixing or cheating. This unfair judging often followed national or political lines, and numerous controversies occurred.

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Because television audiences wanted to see free skating and they wanted the free skating portion of the competition to be the determining factor in the outcome of the competition, figures continued to lose value.

Because skaters would much rather practice their free skate routines than their figures, another pressure came into play and figures were completely eliminated by 1990.

the 6.0 System

The scoring system that was put in place in the early 20th century and which lasted until the early 21st century required judges to score skaters on numerous aspects of their performance. Even with the reduction and eventual removal of compulsory figures from competition, scores still relied heavily on the judgment of technical aspects of skating.

The system used for decades in figure skating was the 6.0 system, in which a perfect performance was judged to be a 6.0. It was an attempt to provide a concrete mathematical equation to the subjective world of ice skating judging.

Throughout the 20th century, skating competitions were held in two sections, figures and the free skate. As time passed, the formula that favored compulsory figures changed to an even 50/50 and eventually to 60 percent for the free skate and 40 percent for figures. This dichotomy came to a head in 1972, when Beatrix “Trixie” Schuba of Austria won the World Championship because her compulsory figures score was so much higher than her competitors’ scores; she was able to

withstand the free skate portion of the competition, in which she finished ninth.

The ISU’s solution to this problem was the introduction of the ordinal and the short program.

Ordinals

The first solution that came out of that controversy was to maintain the scoring system within each program, but upon completion of each program, skaters were placed in order by each judge from best to worst and given an ordinal corresponding to their place. First place gets a ‘1’; second place gets a ‘2’ and so forth.

From 1973 until 2004, the short program ordinal was 33 percent of the final tally, and the long program was 67 percent. Under this system, a high placement in the free skate was twice as important as a high placement in the short program, but mathematics entered into the final standings in a way the public often could not fully grasp.

What the public usually saw were the raw numbers given to the skaters by the judges. What made it confusing for outside viewers was that one judge could give a skater a mark of 5.2 while another judge could give the same skater a score of 5.7, and yet those hard numbers mattered little in determining the event outcome.

What mattered was where the skater’s 5.2 mark from Judge A placed him in comparison to the scores given by that judge to the other skaters. It truly didn’t matter if one judge used 4.0 as his average mark and another judge used 5.0. The score didn’t matter; what mattered is where the judge

placed the skaters in relation to each other.

The appeal to the public had little to do with the creation of the 6.0 system, but it did have its benefits as skating grew in popularity. When scores were announced (whether it was by hand with numbered cards held high by young club skaters called “caddies” on the ice or upon scoreboards), fans could see the scores and determine whether they agreed with the judges on the numbers.

But experienced skaters and coaches knew to look at the numbers not as a value, but as a placement. One judge’s 5.5 simply was not the same as another judge’s 5.5, but first place was first place no matter what the hard numbers said.

the Short Program

The ISU’s second response to Miss Schuba’s victory was the original program. First introduced for the 1964 season for pairs as the “connected program,” the short program for singles was introduced in 1973 and required 6 elements to be performed; three jumps, two spins, and one step sequence.

Throughout the years it went through several name changes, including the “original program” and the “technical program.” The required elements were increased to 7 and then 8 and the mandatory deduction was introduced for the 1976 season.

The short program was judged on required elements, while the “free skate” was judged on the difficulty of the elements performed. Each program was then judged on two sub-categories.

In the short program, skaters were judged on required elements and presentation. The required elements mark required proficiency on numerous technical aspects of skating, including jumps and jump combinations, spins, and footwork. The presentation mark involved judging the composition of the program, the difficulty of the transitions from one maneuver to the other, the full utilization of the ice surface, and the expression of the skater.

As the years went on and skating became increasingly athletic, the required jumps became more difficult and the spins more involved. Skaters who failed to include an element in their short program would have points deducted from their score, which is an aspect of scoring that did not exist in “compulsory figures.”

of scores. Therefore, the short program leader could build a scoring cushion that was difficult to overcome with the tighter long program scoring.

“Simply put, what is appealing artistically to one judge is lost on another.”

the Olympic Scandal and the Code of Points

The long program had no required elements, but skaters were expected to do jumps, spins and steps and get judged on the difficulty of the maneuvers. In the long program, skaters were definitely competing against each other.

Through most of the 20th century, figure skating scoring was done separately in the two programs, with a score given between 0.0 and 6.0 in each program. Each skater would get a score for the two programs, the scores would be added together, and a winner would be determined by total points.

Because the short program involved more technical judgments, it allowed for more deductions, which allowed for a wider range

As precise as the technical elements of skating are, judging remains a subjective act, and such subjectivity allows for disagreement and controversy. When the development of free skating and the need to judge artistic elements became more valued, the opportunity for gaps between judges’ scores was magnified.

Simply put, what is appealing artistically to one judge is lost on another.

For all that was right or wrong about the 6.0 system, figure skating had used it for more than a century, in one form or another. That changed, however, in 2002, when Olympic judges were caught colluding on scores to determine final outcomes. The cheating took place in pairs and ice dancing, not single skating, but the damage was done and changes were made.

In 2004, the ISU announced its new judging system, which came to be known as the Code of Points. The new system was designed to make the scoring process more objective and transparent.

In singles competition at the highest level, the ISU Judging System demands skaters ☞ continued on pg. 32

Photo courtesy of World Figure Skating Museum & Hall of Fame

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LIFE LESSONS A Look at the Legacy of the 1961 World Team Coaches

By Patricia Shelley Bushman

Photo courtesy of Anita Entrikin Miller

The legacy of the 1961 World Team coaches can be found in their students, whose vivid memories of those halcyon BELOW: Bill Kipp days are filled with admiration, love, and gratitude for pictured with his the skating instructors that molded their lives. A Bill six champion students at the Kipp student said, “There was just something about 1961 Southwest that guy that brought out the absolute best in everyPacific competition body.” This sentiment was echoed by many students of the six celebrated coaches. Bill Kipp, 28, in Los Angeles, Danny Ryan, 31, in Indianapolis, Linda Hart Hadley, 31, in Seattle, Maribel Vinson Owen, 49, in Boston, Edi Scholdan, 50, in Colorado Springs, and Bill Swallender, 52, in Detroit, were surrogate parents to many of their students, who not only taught them figure eights, jumps, spins, lifts, and twizzles, but life lessons that continued to shape their students Peggy Fleming, Ron Frank, Anita Entrikin, Dona Lee Carrier, throughout their Wanda Guntert, Roger Campbell lives.

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A PO SI TI V E ATTI TUDE Coaching was not a job, but a passion. Bill Kipp was always positive and bubbly on the ice. “He was dynamic, exciting, and a great coach,” dancer Ray Chenson said. “When he stepped on the ice you could just see the talent there and you wanted to emulate him. We all wanted to skate well to make him look good as a coach.”

Kipp was serious about his coaching but he liked to joke and he incorporated that fun element into his teaching.

“People remember what they laugh at,” U.S. dance champion Sharon McKenzie said. “Bill would present things in a humorous way to get a reaction—and it worked every time.”

It was obvious to everyone that Edi Scholdan loved to teach. He was a great cheerleader and seemed happiest when on the ice. His strongest teaching trait was enthusiasm combined with a positive mental attitude. It didn’t matter if you were a champion or a beginner skater—he had a genuine interest in all of his students. “We always tried to do everything he said and tried to please him because he cared about us,” one student said. Edi had a unique ability to speak to all ages and tailor his message to his audience. “He could get anything out of anybody,” another student said.

Danny Ryan and his wife Rose Anne created a positive environment at the Winter Club of Indianapolis.

From encouraging parents to join their kids on the ice, to handing out a spearmint lifesaver every time a student dropped by his office, Danny’s students were eager to come to the rink every day. They remembered their skating career as “fun.” “They made skating something that you wanted to get up and go to,” Sandy

Photo courtesy of Ruth Scholdan Harle

ABOVE:

Edi Scholdan on the ice with his step-daughter, Dixie; student Margaret Jurmo

Lamb said. The Ryans had a way of bringing people together, fostering unity, and instilling an atmosphere of camaraderie.

CON C ER N F O R T HE I ND I V I D U A L The coaches showed great personal interest in their skaters. Linda Hart Hadley was always prepared for each lesson. “We were there to work and not blow the money our parents sacrificed for,” student Ron Kauffman said. “In the beginning it was recreation, but once we made the step to make it serious, she expected us to work hard.” When the Kauffman siblings went to the 1961 Nationals to compete in junior pairs, Linda wrote a card to the Kauffman parents, outlining her goals for their future, and how she envisioned them moving up the competitive ladder.

Danny Ryan looked out for his students when he negotiated a wonderful deal with the Indianapolis Coliseum. Once his skaters had competed at Nationals they had as much ice time they wanted for only a dollar a day, paid on the honor system. Bill Kipp not only looked out for his own skaters, but all skaters. One time he approached another skater after a competition and said, “You got the royal screw on that last figure.”

He wanted all skaters to be treated fairly, not just his own. Maribel Vinson Owen instinctively helped people out, even students of other coaches from coast to coast.

It was not unlike her to write a letter to other skaters after Nationals, critiquing their performance.

Danny Ryan and Bill Kipp were part of a new generation that began to share their knowledge with other pros. In the past pros rarely talked one with another about their students. But Danny or Bill would say to another pro at Lake Placid, “Here’s what I know, maybe it will help you with your student,” and that attitude quickly spread among the new generation of coaches.

COM M UN IC ATION Honest and forthright communication was the key to transmit knowledge to a new generation. Compared to other coaches, Bill Swallender was low-key and mild-mannered, but he was easy to work with, always

RIGHT:

Bill Swallender with

enthusiastic, and Photo courtesy of Sally Wells Van De Mark someone who built up his students and never tore them down. “He was a very calming type of individual; never cross and always very steady,” World bronze medalist Virginia Baxter said. “His explanations made complete sense to me—the how, what, when, where, and why you did things. It was very easy for me to understand and to pick up on what he wanted me to do.” In turn, Bill Kipp, a Bill Swallender protégée, quickly became a rising coach because of his teaching skills and tremendous rapport with his students, many of whom were older than he. He taught with tremendous zeal and explained things without making his students feel inferior. “He was real easy-going but when you were doing something wrong he was straightforward and told you directly,” one adult skater said.

TE ACHI NG TE CHNI Q UE S The 1961 World Team coaches taught with exactness and consistency. Danny Ryan was an advocate for technical perfection. Besides focusing on strong edges, Danny was a stickler on body positions and the perfect alignment of the body.

Bill Swallender was also a disciplinarian for posture. He believed the body had to be in the perfect position to execute a correct figure or turn. His secret weapon was his leather glove. “If my arms were too high on my figure eight, he would take his glove and smack the top of my hand to get them down to waist level,” one student said. “He didn’t have to do that often—it worked well.” Swallender paid attention to detail and explained everything clearly.

Linda Hart Hadley did not have competitive experi-

BELOW: Danny and Rose Anne Ryan with their oldest son, Kevin

Photo courtesy of Rich Rosborough

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Best Practices For Effective Coaching How do you help your skaters own more responsibility for improving their skating and practicing?

There were three basic responses to this question, and the most popular one, coming from 53 percent of the respondents, was “Track tasks, structure training and use journals”.

“Over the last two years, I developed a system where all of my skaters have a log book,’’ Sappenfield said. “I came to realize it was important for my skaters to see their progression or lack thereof. So I developed this logbook where they log every jump, every throw they do on a daily basis. It helps me count my numbers and helps them to have a goal to reach a certain level. That keeps the kids very accountable to their work. It is in black and white.”

Thirty one percent of the respondents said “Have clear discussions with the skater to reinforce and create accountability, and % connect strong training ethics to good progress.” % Tw e n t y - n i n e

31

53

29%

respondents said “Set goals.”

Kaine said honesty is the best policy “I am completely honest with them,’’ Kaine said.

“You recognize when they do something well but it is not the quality they need, and nothing short of that will do. They have to find a way, they must do whatever it takes. I tell them ‘The reason you are not getting it is you are doing the same thing over and over again.’”

Zakrajsek looks for answers wherever she can find them.

“I call myself a digger,’’ he said. “I dig with the family and the athlete and sports psychologists. That is an uncomfortable process and some people don’t like it, but you have to identify the elephant in the room. The sooner people know what is going on, the better they perform. I do understand things evolve over time, but I know you can speed up the process with information.”

Other answers included “Elicit help from parents” and “Help skaters enjoy their time on the ice.”

Track tasks, structure training, use journals Set goals Have clear discussions with skaters to reinforce and create accountability; connect strong training ethics to good progress

What do you do when you are having difficulty reaching a specific skater?

“Seek advice from another coach’’ was the most popular response in the survey, with 30 percent of respondents selecting that method. “Ask skater what they think the issue is” and “Reassess the problem; is it the coach, the skater or personal issues” were the next two most popular responses.

“Usually, I try to figure out what is distracting them,’’ Zakrajsek said. “There is usually some sort of distraction on their part. Sometimes I double-check myself to see that I am in the right mental place to give them a lesson.”

Sappenfield believes in asking the skater for help in discussing the difficulty.

“For me, it is important that my skaters can feel very comfortable speaking to me,’’ Sappenfield said.

“Their feedback and input is very important to me because I am dealing with a discipline that has a safety factor. It is important I teach my skaters to communicate with each other and I let them know it is important that they communicate with me.”

Kaine draws on his years of experience, knowing that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

“I think there are a lot of different ways,’’ Kaine said. “If one key doesn’t work, get another key, go to another door, try something different. Don’t keep trying the same thing over and over again.”

CONCLUSION: Even when coaches are staid in their approach, different students sometimes require different approaches.

At the 2010 Professional Skaters Association annual conference, a panel of coaches discussed the results of a coaching survey about best coaching practices.

The survey was created and developed by Merry Neitlich, Director of the Coach’s Edge, an instructional coaching program. Neitlich moderated the panel, which included men’s singles coach Frank Carroll, dance coach Robbie Kaine, pair skating coach Dalilah Sappenfield and ladies’ singles coach Tom Zakrajsek.

There were a dozen questions asked in the survey and this column will present the results of the survey along with comments from the coaches on the panel.

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Photo courtesy of Sharon Dowling and Lawrence Hart

LEFT:

Photo courtesy of Barlow Nelson

ence to draw upon and initially borrowed freely from other coaches as she developed her own teaching techniques; in time she became known for her students’ new moves. Edi Scholdan tried to bring the best out in each student. He wouldn’t tell his student that something was wrong, but what was right. Many coaches have used his way of teaching. “We try to be on the positive side and not the negative,” one former student said.

I NNO VATIVE TR A IN I NG Linda Hart Hadley consistently encouraged her students to go beyond what was considered the norm in training. For example, she taught many of her students to do jumps and spins in both directions. Maribel Vinson Owen’s training included off-ice activities, including dance classes, gymnastics, attending plays, and other cultural activities. She suggested students see a performance of the famous mime Marcel Marceau because she wanted them “to be in the presence of somebody who communicates incredibly well with his audience without saying a word.” Edi Scholdan also encouraged his students to immerse themselves in the arts, advising them to study sculptures, paintings, the theatre, and so on. “Observance of good art helps to make one think, feel, and evolve original movements in skating,” he said.

RO LE M O DEL S In their own individual way, the coaches were role models for their students. Danny Ryan had a caring, fatherly manner and was always pushing his students to better themselves.

Sometimes he went to great lengths to make sure his students practiced. After one student repeatedly overslept at Lake Placid, he startled the student one morning when he walked into his bedroom in his skate guards to wake him up.

Bill Swallender was always very businesslike yet always very friendly, and never ran down his students or yelled at them.

Edi Scholdan gave equal time and attention to both the small tots and his Olympic champions. As one student said, “It’s not what Edi taught me but moments that I was with him, where his humanity was so apparent.”

“Maribel [Owen] was a dynamic influence,” one student

Maribel Vinson Owen at the Cambridge Skating Club RIGHT: Linda Hart Hadley with a student in Seattle

recalled, “not only as a skating coach, but because her values of morality and character were imbued in us. We learned the importance of good sportsmanship and consideration of others.” Besides grooming her students to become champions, she steered many of them toward a career in judging. As passionate as she was about figure skating, her mantra was “skating isn’t your whole life.” She was a strong advocate for education and constantly stressed the importance of doing well in school. She often drove her students to skating rinks around Boston, and she used the captive time to give her students guidance, discussing history and English, quizzing them on vocabulary, giving them spelling bees, correcting their grammar, or talking about SATs. Maribel was just as concerned about their life beyond skating as she was about teaching them to land a jump.

LI FE LE SSO NS For the 1961 World Team coaches, training with their students every day was not just a skating experience, but a life experience. Bill Swallender instilled a love of skating in his students and created a nurturing environment for them to do their best.

Edi Schodan had an amazing talent to teach his students how valuable they were. “That was the reason so many of his kids did so well and why he had so many champions,” step-daughter Dixie Wilson said. “He had the most incredible way to inspire you; he could make you feel like you were a million dollars. I saw him do it with everybody and it certainly worked with me.

There wasn’t anything he didn’t believe you could do.” Coach Ron Ludington, speaking of his association with Maribel Vinson Owen, said, “She was the best thing that happened to me.” The six coaches left an indelible impression on the thousands of students they coached. Their examples of commitment, passion, and concern for the individual are an inspiring message for every subsequent generation of coaches.

Please visit www.1961team.com to purchase a copy of Indelible Tracings: The Story of the 1961 U.S. World Figure Skating Team, or the limited edition picture book Indelible Images: An Illustrated History of the 1961 U.S. World Figure Skating Team.

PS MAGAZINE

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continued from pg. 27

perform technical elements: seven or eight in the short program and 12 to 14 in the long program. Each element is given a core value by a technical expert, then that element is judged by 12 judges and given a score (a Grade of Execution, or GOE) that ranges from –3 to +3.

But wait, there’s more. The GOE is then altered into a new value using an ISU converting table. The highest and lowest scores from the 12 judges are dropped, and the remaining 10 scores are averaged. The average number is then added or subtracted from the base value set by the technical expert, and a final value for that element is determined. Eight final values are then added to come up with a final score.

What all that means is this: each skater is required to do eight elements (jumps, spins, combinations, skating sequences) and each judge gives a point total for each element.

That describes the element scoring system.

At the same time, skaters are also judged on 5 program components, which include skating skills, transitions, execution, choreography, and interpretation. These components are graded on a scale from 0 to 10 in quarter-point increments. Again, the highest and lowest scores are dropped and the remaining scores are averaged. The individual component scores are added together to create a program component score, which is then added to the technical score. There are then two total scores, one for the short program and one for the long program, which are added to create a total score for the competition.

This new system has faced severe criticism, and one of the criticisms harkens back to the ingredient that eventually led to the elimination of figures. The viewing public, whether in person or watching on a broadcast, has no idea what is going on until the final scores are presented.

“The same problem still exists; they didn’t solve the problem,” Wright said. “By making it all anonymous, dropping the high and low scores hasn’t solved it. The people who are going to cheat are still going to cheat.”

Proponents of the new system say that it allows judges to critique skaters individually rather than comparing skaters. Judges do

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not place skaters in an order themselves, and in fact do not know themselves what final score they have given any individual skater, because the numbers they give are crunched by a computer before a final total is determined.

In March 1944, the Figure Skating Club of New York wrote to the USFSA saying, “The many evidences of wide-spread dissatisfaction with results of the judging of figure skating competitions have made it seem wise to those who have the future welfare of figure skating at heart to review the present judging system.” As much as we would like to find the perfect scoring system, it has been a work in progress for over one hundred years and will continue to evolve as the sport does for the next one hundred. As USA Today reporter Tom Weir once said, “Skating is not a sport, it’s an opinion.”

The scoring system for today’s figure skaters has morphed greatly from the system that athletes first encountered in the sport’s infancy.

Photo by Vicki Luy

Photo by Vicki Luy

“The definitive account of the tragedy that forever changed figure skating.”

– John Powers, Olympic Sports Writer, Boston Globe

Bb

“Meticulously researched… superbly woven together…

A must for any skating fan.”

– JoJo Starbuck, two-time Olympian, World Medalist, and U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Famer

Bb

To buy a copy of Indelible Tracings, visit www.1961Team.com.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Memorial Fund.

PS MAGAZINE

33

GREAT TIPS FROM AMERICA'S TOP COACHES

TIPS FROM THE COLORADO CONFERENCE

Excerpts from David Santee’s

“Waltz Jump to Axel” 2010 PSA Conference

I

believe in basic concepts in jumping. I really like to see jumps placed in good spots on the ice. I like to see the Waltz jump, Axel, double Axel and triple Axel right between the two faceoff circles (at the end of the ice), I use that as my target area . There are two very important reasons for this:

doing what I call a circuit so that they are reminded about the take-off. If the take-off is correct you have a lot better chance to execute the rotation in the air, if the take-off is missed then obviously you have a bigger problem.

2. The longer you wait the more likely you’ll miss and you might end up in the boards which, as far as I know, is not good for your health.

Three things that happen on the take-off, we have the arms, free leg and skating leg moving. My arms and my free leg are there for rhythm and direction so I like to see both working at the same time. We use the term ’jump to the target’. You have that imaginary target ten feet out in front of you and you’re going to try to jump (towards it).

The skating leg is your power source so I’m looking for that (skating) knee and toe to push right through to the target. Many coaches like to have the free leg come through straight, I agree with that because we can always bend it a little when we get to the Axel and double Axel.

Another basic rule that I have is teaching the same setup on a Waltz jump, Axel, double Axel or triple Axel, for muscle memory I just think it’s a lot easier. When we work on a double Axel, I’ll go back and do a Waltz jump, a ‘click’ Waltz jump, a single Axel, a walk through, which I call a ‘fake’ double Axel, and then a real double Axel. I’ll keep

EXERCISE: Stand (in a safe spot on the ice) and put a glove in each hand. All you’re going to do is throw both gloves forward and let go of them at the same time. If both arms

1. I don’t like to wait too long (going into a jump).

Anytime you wait too long it’s likely, especially on double and triple Axels, that the right side will over power the jump and you will end up over rotating.

I like to put that jump right in the middle of the ice where we can control the “up and out” a lot better.

34

Colorado Springs 2010

MARCH | APRIL 2011

On the Axel, the first thing we are going to do is work on the arm swing.

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David Santee’s basic rule of jumping is “lift and then turn” are swinging through at the same time the gloves will go the same distance and roughly in the same direction. A lot of times (just like in the jump itself ) you’ll see the right (free side) arm do more than the left (skating side) and then the right glove will end up going further to the left and the left glove probably will not go very far at all.

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Next, we review the Waltz jump and after that a ‘click’ waltz jump or a ‘bell’ waltz jump. I don’t mind hearing the sound of the click of the blades or the thump of the boots together because that tells me they’re getting that action (with their feet). You want the free leg to get a really big snap back in (together). It’s like taking a rubber band and pulling it apart, the further you go out (with it) the more it can come back. You want to try to get the free leg through as much as possible without getting it too far away from the body because it gives you lift and direction.

I also like the ‘click’ Waltz jump because, if you turn too much, you cannot get your feet in. For the same reason, I also like to teach the Axel from forward edge rolls or a one turn Axel to work on getting “straight to the target.” If the right arm and leg come around too much then we have the skater’s body rolling to the left on the take-off. When this happens it’s going to be very hard to get the second part of the jump. If this is a problem have the skater do a walkthrough or a step-through Axel. I love these exercises. I do them on single, double and triple Axels. I even have the skater do them at competition. If I see somebody struggling a little bit I’ll just bring the skater into the corner and have them do this walk-through exercise. Then I go back to my basic rule of jumping: “lift and then turn.”

Remember that our hips and shoulders should go straight up to the target and then snap.

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35

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Meet your AREA REPRESENTATIVE

KAREN HOWLAND-JONES Las Vegas, Nevada Area: 16 Ratings/Ranking: MFF, MG, MPD, SD, CCS, SM, Hockey Level I/II Karen Howland-Jones has seen many changes in a career that spans a half-century. One important change was the loss of the 1961 World Team – a tragedy that opened the door for her two years later.

“I was first alternate on the team that went down,” HowlandJones recalled. “The next year I had Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Coming back from that was tough, so making the team in 1963 was a really big thing for me.

“It was the last Worlds held outdoors,” she said of her treasured memories from Cortina, Italy. “Doing figures in the wind and freestyle in the shade of a building—it was very different than today.”

She said coaches could demand more discipline from their students in those days without fearing they’d change to a “feel-

good” coach. Still, she said skaters must first, and foremost, have fun skating, no matter how hard the work gets.

With today’s new techniques and technology, Howland-Jones said one thing coaches should do will never change: “Learn, learn, learn!” she exclaimed. “There’s never an end to learning, so open your eyes and ears. There’s never a day when you don’t learn something.”

She credits PSA for providing opportunities for coaches to stay up-to-date.

“I’ve gained so much from the PSA, and now as an Area Rep, I’m trying to give back,” she said. “It’s all about giving back.”

Today, Howland-Jones coaches adults and hockey players —and plays a lot of golf with her husband in sunny Las Vegas.

MICHELE PHALER Foster City, Calif.

Area: 15 Years coaching: 28 Ratings/Rankings: MFS, RG, Level III-04 Michele Phaler is living a life of good fortune as the Area 15 Representative. As a coach in the Bay Area of northern California, though, she said local athletes have different goals for their skating than in other areas of the country.

This presents different challenges for coaches under her care, as well.

“In our area, a lot of our families are highly educated,” Phaler said. “For our skaters, their first priority is grades and school.”

Students in her area put more emphasis on their academic futures at Stanford University or University of California-Berkley than on winning competitions.

“Our coaches have embraced that and encourage our students to go on to be better balanced in life,” she said. “We’d all love to have champions, but we embrace the bigger picture.

As a mom, you want the best education for them, and I think it’s working.”

Phaler is also helping to ensure her 8-year-old daughter – the light of her life – is on track academically. In addition to coaching, she works as an extended care teacher at her daughter’s private school.

Phaler’s flexible schedule allows her to serve in many areas, including as an Area Rep. “I’m happy to give back and glad I have the time right now to be a representative. It’s nice to have the answers to help our coaches, and to live up to the standards of quality and expectations of the PSA,” she said.

“I’ve been very fortunate. Not too many people get paid for doing something they love.”

PS MAGAZINE

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Legal Ease DAVID SHULMAN

…AND IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES

I

n these times of tight money, fewer lessons, and the closing of rinks, the strain on families can erupt in serious long term consequences.

following a divorce and such change is not always for the better. In what may seem like a hopeless financial case a former spouse may seek relief in bankruptcy.

When money troubles complicate the marriage relationship, many couples simply give up and prepare for the dissolution of the marriage. Children or not, if the bickering over the family spending develops, the family counseling and eventual debt restructuring becomes paramount.

When a divorced spouse has financial obligations to the other former spouse, a threshold question emerges. The filing ex-spouse will wish to have the debt owed discharged, essentially cancelled. The ex-spouse who is owed this obligation will claim the debt survives bankruptcy and is not discharged.

Under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, child support is nondischargeable. Also non-dischargeable are alimony, spousal maintenance and other payments tied into the payment of these specific items.

It is in this environment that bankruptcy may be the suggested solution. Not a pleasant subject but based upon the number of questions to which I am now responding, I felt it necessary to offer some general guidance and suggested direction. New rules enacted by Congress are in place to keep intact certain financial obligations found in divorce decrees. This information may assist one or the other spouse in arriving at settlement of a divorce if they know, despite what the other spouse told them, some financial protection is available.

“Advice from an attorney, retained by you and having some skill in bankruptcy matters, is vital.”

Financial situations may bind a divorced couple for many years following a court proceeding involving alimony, support and shared property ownership. Financial fortunes change

38

MARCH | APRIL 2011

An important practical item of advice is required at this point. It is absolutely essential to not let yourself be guided by what another well meaning family member or friend tells you about what rights you have or don’t have in such a situation.

Advice from an attorney, retained by you and having some skill in bankruptcy matters, is vital. Additionally, getting advice quickly will avoid losing rights to object to an attempt to file for discharge of debts which, but for an objection, might slip through a bankruptcy proceeding.

It is required that an action to determine the dischargeability of a debt has only a certain number of days to be filed.

If that objection is not timely filed it is lost forever. These time limits and the discharge or non-discharge of a debt arising in a divorce were specifically addressed by Congress in the reform act which revised much of the bankruptcy law.

Even though Congress imposed tighter restraints on the use of bankruptcy to avoid obligations under a divorce decree, ex-spouses must be vigilant and act promptly to protect their settlement rights. If you receive a notice from the bankruptcy court, or any court…do not ignore the papers and immediately seek competent legal advice.

PS MAGAZINE

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New

MEMBERS NEW MEMBER Alexandra Adams Ben Agosto Stephanie Albrecht Oleg Altukhov Christopher Anders Justin Andrus Arielle Avant Melissa Barrella Sheldon Baxter Megan Bellman Emma Borders Caraline Brockman Marshall Campbell Kirsten Clark Andrea Clark Elizabeth Conley Claire Craig Diane Dolkiewicz Raven Dryden Maki Fairbanks Megan Floyd Sara Franzen Christopher Gaarz Stephanie Goldfein Courtney Gouger Lisa Greene April Gross Shannon Grossman Isabella Guddat Malinda Gudgeon Carolyn Hall Lynn Hanson Jenna Harrison Cameron Henry Kelsie Hickcox Janet Huppi Megan Jones Mary Joyce Muriah Kayser Jamie Kim Josh Kogan Erin Maher Jennifer Maizlish Audrey Mastrovito-Dorn Bridget McKeever Elise McNamara Therese Mellerowicz Olivia Molina Eva Monsma Briana Moore Elizabeth Newell

SPONSOR Jeddy Bassford-Riendeau Robbie Kaine Stanley Houston Gennadiy Karponosov Shannon Damiano Sima Baker Damon Allen Adriana Ryan Vicki Dixon Marianne Mazur-Stewart Teri Ballard Quinton K. Clemons Michael Garren Rebecca Hatch Purnell Darin Hosier Karen Pool Thomas Vaughan Shaw Isabelle Brasseur-Mavaldi Ryan Yearous Christopher Darling Herbert Wiesinger Amy Forbes Rebecca Healey Shelly Perrone Robin Dillon Byron Darden Kelsey Weisheit Dawn Piepenbrink-McCosh Evelyn Muller Kramer Abby Loeffelholz Andrew Foland Rose Esteb Dolly Duke-Maggio Sarah Capizzo Sofia Inthalaska Cynthia Shea-Luzik Paula Wagener Elena Novak Debbie Lane Herbert Wiesinger Jacki Munzel Kristina Kelly Sarah C. Smith Regina McManus-Burton Tracy Fancher Christina Welch Rachel Bauld Lee Susan Liss Ann O’Neill Ann O’Neill Joan Disbrow

NEW MEMBER Jacqueline Nguyen Colin Norgeot Sarah Pifer Chelsea Powall Jesse Quinlan Stacey Raffi Chip Rauth Tara Reillo Meagan Rhoten Caitlin Roman Susan Schilling David Schilling Stacey Stevens Nikki Thigpen Lauren Thomas Yvonne Turnage-Hanson Anna Tyrlik Aerin Williams Jenna Zietara

SPONSOR Lisa Lueking-Dahl Mandy Curtin Sara Burnside Colleen Wade Thomas Brittany Wisenor Lisa Sussman Jimmie Santee Gilbert Viadana Kirsten West Stefanie O’Connor James Schilling James Schilling Amy D’entremont-Allen Denise Kuchiki Laurie Rossetti Emily Chase Naperkoski Karen Hutter-Branson David Kirby Renee Bissonnette

PATRON Gale Denis

JOB PLACEMENTS EXPERIENCED & ENTHUSIASTIC husband/wife Professional Skating Coaching/Choreography Team looking to join progressive Skating organization! With a combined 40 plus years experience, we can manage, direct, supervise, implement, administrate, train & grow an organization ... It’s what we love to do! We coach all levels from learn-to-skate to National level Figure Skating and are also certified Powerskating Instructors.

To learn more, please email us at trishanddarren@gmail.com

Job Placement Ads which advertise a job opportunity are $25 per 50 word insertion, $.25 for each additional word over 50. An additional $25 is required to place your job posting on the PSA web site. Copy should be sent to the PSA office at Lee Green’s attention by one week prior to the first of the month preceding publication.

The 31st Annual Cranberry Open August 16-21, 2011 Tony Kent Arena South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Presented by: The Yarmouth Ice Club The Cranberry Open is proud to announce an exciting addition to our competition:

!"#$%#&'()"*+(,'()"&"(-*!#%.#'& $%#*/%&0"-1-12"*34'-"#5 This new and innovative program will provide your skaters a unique opportunity to work one-onone with their own United States Figure Skating National/International Judge and a National/ International Technical Specialist. This program is being offered to those skaters at the Juvenile Freeskate/Pairs level and above.

Each skater will be allotted 15 minutes of ice time with a Judge and Technical Specialist, and there will be at most 4 skaters on the ice at any one time. The Skater and Coach can decide on what elements of their program are looked at during this time.

The fee for this program is $250 that includes ($100 for those not competing in The Cranberry Open): Participation in the Performance Enhancement Program with 15 minutes of on-ice time with a Nationally Ranked Judge and Nationally Ranked Technical Specialist.

Short and Long Program Entry Fee in the Cranberry Open Individual Critiques after both the Short and Long Programs (Skaters not in the Performance Enhancement Program receive group critiques) Due to Ice Time constraints, this program will be limited to the 100 up

of applications to The Cranberry Open, the Performance Enhancement Program will be held on either Tuesday or Wednesday (August 16th or 17th). Applications are available on the Yarmouth Ice Club’s Cranberry Open website at: www.TheCranberryOpen.com or for more information please contact: Paul Crugnola: paul.crugnola@gmail.com PS MAGAZINE

41

CALENDAR

OF

EVENTS

MARCH Date: March 1-3 Area 16 Location: Ice Den, Scottsdale, AZ Event: PACE/AZ Contact: PSA Office 507-281-5122 ratings@skatepsa.com Deadline: February 7, 2011 Date: Location: Event: Contact: Deadline:

March 26 Area 14 Ben Boeke Ice Arena, Anchorage, AK 1:30 - 6:30 pm Alaska State Workshop David DeCaprio & Lisa Henry 907-688-3919 oscstmblt.ddecaprio@gci.net Written Exams February 28, 2011 Workshop - March 11, 2011

Date: Location: Event: Contact:

March 26 Area 11 Des Moines FSC, Metro Ice Sports Facility, 5100 NW 72nd Street Urbandale, IA 50322 U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills Workshop [11 am - 5:15 pm] Susi Wehrli 719-635-5200 ext. 423 swehrli@usfigureskating.org Local Contact: Debbie Noe dnoe@crgpros.com

Date: Location: Event: Contact: Deadline:

March 26 Area 14 Olympicview Arena, 22202 - 70th Ave. W, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043 Rating Zone 6: Oral Rating Site PSA Office 507-281-5122 ratings@skatepsa.com Oral Rating Exams January 24, 2011

Date: Location: Event: Contact: Deadline:

March 27 Area 14 Olympicview Arena, 22202 - 70th Ave. W, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043 Entry Level Coaching Course (ELCC) [8 am - 5 pm] PSA Office 507-281-5122 ratings@skatepsa.com March 7, 2011

APRIL Date: Location: Event: Contact:

April 3 Area 16 Ice Den, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills Workshop [9 am - 1 pm] Susi Wehrli 719-635-5200 ext. 423 swehrli@usfigureskating.org Local Contact: Julie Patterson jpatterson@coyotesice.com

M AY Date: Location: Event: Contact:

42

May 15 Area 8 Farmington Hills Ice Arena, 35500 W. Eight Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48335 U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills Workshop Susi Wehrli 719-635-5200 ext. 423 swehrli@usfigureskating.org Local Contact: Michelle Sibley mssk8tr@aol.com

MARCH | APRIL 2011

M A Y continued Date: Location: Event: Contact:

May 16-18 Area 8 Hyatt Regency Dearborn, 600 Town Center Drive, Dearborn, MI 48126 U.S. Figure Skating - NARCE Skating Director Course Susi Wehrli 719-635-5200 ext. 423 swehrli@usfigureskating.org

Date: Location: Event: Contact: Deadlines:

5/23-25 Area 12 Westin Galleria Dallas, 13340 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75240 Zone 4: Oral Rating site at 2011 PSA Conference PSA Office at ratings@skatepsa.com or 507-281-5122 Oral Rating Exams: Monday, March 21, 2011 Written Exams: Friday, April 21, 2011

Date: Location: Event: Contact: Deadlines:

5/25-28 Area 12 Westin Galleria Dallas, 13340 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75240 PSA/ISI Conferences & Trade Show nner! i d s d PSA Office at office@skatepsa.com or 507-281-5122 Awar Advanced Deadline: April 15th, 2011 PSA

JUNE Date: June 26 Area 7 Location: Jacksonville Ice and Sportsplex

3605 Philips Highway, Jacksonville, FL 32207 Event: U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills Workshop [1:00—5:00 pm] Contact: Susi Wehrli 719-635-5200 ext. 423 swehrli@usfigureskating.org

Local Contact: Paula Wagener pwagener58@msn.com

BA Rating exams to be held following workshop Deadline May 20, 2011 Date: Location:

Event: Contact: Deadline:

July 11-12 Area 5 Ice Works Skating Complex 3100 Dutton Mill Rd, Aston, PA 19014 Zone 1 Oral Rating Site at the Liberty Competition PSA Office at ratings@skatepsa.com or 507-281-5122 Oral Rating Exams: Monday, May 16, 2011

Please visit www.skatepsa.com for the complete Calendar of Events PS MAGAZINE

43

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