Don Laws Apprenticeship Scholarship: Ferelith Senjem

By Kent McDill

Shattuck-St. Mary’s, the private school in Faribault, Minnesota, has one of the premier figure skating facilities in the Midwest, and caters to skaters who are competing at a high level while needing to complete their secondary education.

The SSM Figure Skating Center is staffed by some of the nation’s top figure skating coaches, led by director Tom Hickey, who has coached champions at the U.S. National, International and Junior World levels. It regularly includes guest coaches from around the country and the world to provide unique coaching techniques.

It is fair to call SSM Figure Skating Center a mecca. True believers, in the form of figure skating coaches, come from far and wide to enjoy the coaching intellect and atmosphere and collegiality which SSM offers.

Davenport, Iowa, is one such place from which coaches trek to southern Minnesota. Ferelith Senjem, a figure skating coach at the River’s Edge Ice Arena in Davenport, has gone to SSM as a visiting coach on three separate occasions, bringing her students to enjoy the facilities and to show what is possible for anyone who might want to attend a private school that offers figure skating excellence.

But in the summer of 2019, Senjem left her students behind. She was awarded a Don Laws Apprenticeship scholarship, which allowed her to spend a week at SSM, shadowing the staff and visiting coaches in order to expand her knowledge of figure skating coaching at the highest level.

Senjem said the difference between being a visiting coach and an apprentice is in the details.

“As a visiting coach, you are allowed to shadow the resident coaches with your students, but if you are not working on a certain skill, you are not allowed to shadow,” Senjen said. “As an apprentice, you are taken under the wing of those coaches, and you are allowed to ask the coach anything you might want, in order to perfect your own coaching skills.”

Senjem attended her apprenticeship at an odd time for her. Her home rink in Davenport suffered severe flooding from rains that seemed to be consistent throughout the month of June. She had just finished six weeks of shuttling students to rinks as far away as Chicago in order to get their training.

Spending a week at Shattuck-St. Mary’s was a welcome respite from the headaches that come from rink concerns, especially when that rink is under water.

From left: Tom Hickey, Annette Hickey, Mary Jo Bullin, Terry Hausmann, Ferelith Senjem, Surya Bonaly, Peter Biver, Jimmie Santee, Sarah France, Robyn Petroskey, Moira North, Garrett Kling, Sandra Johansson.

There are two appeals to the apprenticeship program at SSM. The first is the opportunity to work so closely with various coaches with decades of success on their resume. The second is being able to experience the atmosphere that surrounds a coach when they visit SSM.

“The philosophy of their camps is to be on time, work hard, have a positive attitude, look professional, plan ahead, and be kind to each other and to the students,” Senjem said, explaining the relationship between coaches at SSM.

“They stress giving clear directions, creating an environment that promotes 100 percent effort. They make sure coaches and students eat, exercise and have fun.”

Visiting coaches may perhaps work to avoid appearing invasive when they attend SSM, trying to fit in, trying to learn as much as possible and show their students as much as possible without violating the skating center rules and guidelines for visiting coaches.

Apprentices, on the other hand, are brought in for the express purpose of immersing themselves in the coaching lessons they can learn from observing the staff and guest coaches.

In addition to furthering her education via scholarships, Ferelith has pursued her PSA Ratings and is a Certified Free Skating Instructor.

“The week I went, (world and Olympic choreographer) Phillip Mills was the guest coach,” Senjem said. “He taught me how to make our programs smarter, sharper, and how to connect with the audience.

There are always expert coaches that they bring in from somewhere else. And they are always very generous in promoting their skills.

While on the ice, Senjem carried a notebook in order to write down key points she gathered from watching the resident and guest coaches work with their highly skilled students. “I filled notepad after notepad after notepad,” she said, laughing.

She then reads over her notes when she is off the ice to make certain she has the information she gathered in a format that can be easily accessed.

“That’s where it definitely helps to attend camp with your students,” she said. “That way, there is an additional person to take back information to your rink. You have some else to help remember what you worked on.”

Senjem said one of the most powerful lessons she learned in her apprenticeship this summer was the number of safe drills which can be used to teach skills that include an element of potential harm. “Rather than just attempting jump after jump, there are a lot of safe drills we can do, because many of the skills we work on are dangerous,” she said.

Ferelith and PSA Executive Director Jimmie Santee at Shattuck-St. Mary's

The attraction to working at SSM is obvious, but Senjem said there are coaches who would be more likely to benefit from the experience.

“It is a very competitive camp,” she said. “It is very helpful that your students are training to be competitive skates rather than recreational skaters. For example, it would be helpful if your students have achieved an Axel.”

Senjem obviously enjoyed her experience as an apprentice at SSM, and sees it as an extension of her time as a visiting coach.

“Every time I go, I feel refreshed,” she said. “As skating coaches, we tend to work by ourselves. This atmosphere is so cooperative. The other coaches are so encouraging.”

Ferelith works with her skater back on her home ice.

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Don Laws Scholarship

In memory Don Laws, the Trustees of the Professional Skaters Foundation are proud to offer the Don Laws Apprentice Scholarship. Three merit-based apprentice scholarships are available yearly, each intended for the reimbursement of direct expenses incurred for attending the PSA Apprentice Development Program at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, MN. Direct expenses include travel to the program site, lodging, and meals. Awards are based on dedication to coaching, sound character and ethical practices. Applicants must hold a registered or higher rating in any discipline. The program focuses on development of coaching skills by allowing the apprentice to shadow master-rated coaches over the course of six days. Apprentices will have the opportunity to have one-on-one time with each mentor, as well as sit in on lessons.

Applications are due on February 15 of each year. Visit www.skatepsa.com for more information.