6 minute read
Accelerated Coaching Partnerships
By Debby Jones, ACP Chair
The Accelerated Coaching Partnerships Committee was formed late 2019 to update and enliven the former PSA Apprenticeship program. Like its parent program, the ACP seeks to unite coaches to learn from one another in a uniquely personal one-on-one format. Current Partnerships involve 50 participants across the country! Here are two success stories:
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Jackie and Jessica at the 2022 PSA Summit in Chicago
Jackie Brenner, MFS, MM, MDFD, Level IV Ranking
Director of Figure Skating Arctic Edge Arena, Oklahoma City
Jessica Mills Kincade, MFS, CG
Skating Director/Instructor Louisville Skating Academy, Kentucky
The first time Jackie Brenner met Jessica Mills Kincade in person was at the 2022 PSA Summit. She recognized her, of course, after more than a year of virtual meetings. Now, not only was Jessica there in person, but she had just passed her Master Free Skate exam! For Jackie, that was the high point of their Accelerated Coaching Partnership which began in March 2021.
In the winter of 2021, Jessica contacted Phillip Mills, then co-chair of the ACP, looking for inspiration. She had already accomplished a couple of ratings, but felt that she had not done a good job in communicating her knowledge to the examiners. She needed to organize her thinking, get a new perspective, and get going on her ratings exams. The ACP connected her with Jackie Brenner and they agreed to meet for a series of one-hour online sessions.
Jessica says that her Accelerated Coaching Partnership with Jackie was the perfect learning environment for her. As a working mom, not having to travel "was a big plus. But more than that, the pace of instruction suited her.
“Jackie quizzed me using the Ratings Study guide and had me practice performing walk-throughs. Meeting weekly allowed me time to organize my knowledge and process new ideas. We would discuss technique one week and then the following week I could put what I had learned in practice with my own skaters.”
Jackie also arranged for Jessica to meet with other free skate experts. She spent time with Denise Williamson to review IJS rules and critiqued jump technique with Diane Miller. Jessica says, “Jackie helped me realize that I can always look to others to expand my knowledge. Once I asked her a question about the flight paths for single through quad Axels and Jackie phoned Frank Carroll to get the best answer!” Jessica’s ACP experience has helped her make wonderful new connections and forge a network that will carry her forward in the sport.
For Jackie, the Partnership was a refreshing respite from COVID isolation that allowed her to share her love of the sport and look at skating technique through a “fresh lens”. Most of all, however, it was fun to connect with a new friend and play a part in her growth as a coach.
Both women credit the ACP for a wonderful teaching/learning experience, but both emphasize that the friendship they have forged is precious and lasting.
Phillip and Kathryn celebrate at the 2022 PSA Summit
Phillip Mills, MC World & Olympic Figure Skating Choreographer
California
Kathryn Vaughn, MM, SC, CFS
Figure Skating Instructor, Las Vegas
Kathryn Vaughn’s coaching relationship with Phillip Mills began when she was a young skater, so it was only natural for her to contact him for advice when she decided it was time to begin pursuing her PSA ratings. Together they decided to sign up for an Accelerated Coaching Partnership, one of the first to ever have a choreography rating as its ultimate goal. Since May 2021, Phillip and Kathryn have met online most Saturdays for an hour.
Right from the start, Phillip knew it would be easy to mentor Kathryn because, as an accomplished musician and classical dancer, she is already abounding with the skills she needs to be a great chorographer. Kathryn, however, felt intimidated by the wide scope of the choreography discipline. She felt she lacked the confidence needed to communicate her knowledge in an exam setting. The ACP afforded her personal one-onone time with an expert to help her focus and organize her diverse knowledge. During her sessions with Phillip, Kathryn began to develop a better understanding of the terminology that gives structure to the art of choreography. With Phillip, she began to build a stronger scaffold for the “piles of information I have in my head from years of choreographing and performing,” and thus learn to better communicate what she knows.
To hone those communication skills, their meetings often took on a mock exam format, with Phillip firing questions so that Kathryn could practice answering on the spot. My interview took the first half hour of their usual study time, so Phillip offered to run a short demonstration for me. I was totally charmed by Kathryn’s answer to a question about the use of the body movement feature in a step sequence. She remained seated in her chair, but her head rolled, her arms floated, and her leg suddenly appeared next to her ear!
The one-onone format of an Accelerated Coaching Partnership suited Kathryn: it felt comfortable.
“I don’t work as well in a group setting. I think probably from being an athlete and having so many private coaches, it always was on-on-one.”
Her favorite memory in the entire experience is a classic coach/athlete moment. It was at Summit waiting to be called to take her senior choreography rating exam, which was to be her first in-person exam. She was nervous, but “I actually really enjoyed it. [Phillip was with me] and it felt like we were at a skating competition. We went over the combinations I was going to have to do, and I was stretching…and he was [right behind me] in the hallway when I walked in the room meet the examiners.”
Kathryn teared up a bit when asked what she liked best about working with an Accelerated Coaching Partner. She passed her Registered, Certified, and Senior Choreography Exams in a single year. She couldn’t say enough about what she had learned, but it was the personal support that she got from Phillip that meant the most to her. Coming out of a COVID year, a year in which she lost her much-loved mom and also faced her own cancer diagnosis and treatment, the support of her husband, fellow coach Shayne Orologio, and the hours spent immersed in her art with Phillip were a balm to her soul. Now her confidence is fortified and she is looking forward to taking her master exam in the fall.
If you would like more information about the Accelerated Coaching Program, contact Debby Jones at d.jonesskate@gmail.com
