President's Message

Bouncing Back and Looking Forward

By Rebecca Stump

Take a moment to reflect on the impact that the pandemic had on our sport. Who would have imagined rinks across the world closing for undetermined amounts of time? Our daily routines of going to the rink—something that most of us have been doing for our whole lives, first as a skater, then as a coach— abruptly ceased. At first, competitions were cancelled. When they were able to be held again, the only “audience” allowed were cardboard images in the stands. What a strange world that was!

Our business of coaching took a great hit due to the pandemic. It was worrisome and difficult for all of us. But consider this: one of the many life lessons we have learned from this wonderful sport of figure skating is resiliency. Resilience is defined by the American Psychological Association like this:

This is us! We’ve learned this through every fall on the ice, every test we did not pass, and at that competition where someone else beat us. We learned how to be resilient then, and we are a resilient community now.

We’re bouncing back. As coaches, we had to reinvent how we keep our athletes conditioned, trained, and motivated. Our world turned into a virtual one, for both teaching technique and sharing mental health tips. Off-ice training took on a whole new dimension, but we made it through.

Thankfully, things are starting to feel a bit more “normal” again. We’ve had a full summer with many competitions returning to the calendar. We are able to travel again and network with each other face-to-face. It feels so nice to greet each other in person again, and perhaps even share a hug.

Throughout this time, many of us started to reevaluate many areas of our lives. We have evaluated our way of coaching, our needs as a coach, and the needs of our skaters, too. We are looking ahead and then taking actions to meet those needs.

In all of this, our sport is moving forward, too. Some of the many changes have included rule revisions, new names for test levels and disciplines, and the decoupling of testing requirements from the competitive track. With all of these changes in our sport, how do you keep up with them all?

Here are some thoughts:

Our written communications and emails such as PSA Today are a great starting point. Our Area Representatives e-reach emails are an incredibly valuable resource across all disciplines for the most updated information.

You could also consider registering for a webinar where informed presenters explain the changes. Have you heard about our new “Webinar Wednesdays” initiative? Once a month, the PSA will be hosting webinars where you can learn new information, ask your questions, and get an informed answer. The best news: if you can’t attend on the evening of the presentation, you can review it on PSA TV at a later time.

When was the last time you actually attended a live PSA Summit, formerly called PSA’s Annual Conference and Tradeshow? Or maybe you have never attended a PSA Summit, at all. Our next Summit will be held in Orlando, Florida in May 2023. If you want to save money, be sure look for our Cyber Monday registration sale. It will be a great time with great information for all coaches. I look forward to seeing you there!

Between now and our next Summit, consider taking advantage of other educational opportunities that the PSA provides year-round. PSA’s membership is comprised of coaches, athletes, judges and officials. The PSA builds opportunities for all of its members to learn together, side by side. We continue to offer live seminars and the Foundations of Coaching Courses (FCC) several times throughout the year. For a more flexible option, consider our Accelerated Coaching Partnerships (ACP). The ACP is a valuable apprentice/mentorship program that allows coaches to work one-on-one with a master-rated coach to expand their knowledge base. And of course, our PSA Ratings and Ratings Prep training continue to be very popular. Did you know it is not just coaches who participate in ratings? We have athletes, judges and officials who have earned PSA ratings, too! Exciting, right?

We have so many wonderful opportunities to improve ourselves as coaches, our athletes, and our sport. Let’s continue to move forward together, side by side!