November/December 2021 PS Magazine by Professional Skaters Association

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

H AP P Y H O L I DAY S

Wishing you all the joy of the season!

For the coaches. The Professional Skaters Foundation was founded to expand the educational opportunities of PSA members through a non-profit, charitable foundation. Visit skatepsa.com for more information.

All contributions are tax-deductible.

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

COLUMNS 2

Team PSA

President’s Message

Ratings

FEATURES

| Alex Chang

| Cheryl Faust

Sport Science

Education

Coaching Development |

Best Business Practices

| Garrett Lucash

| Carol Rossignol Heidi Thibert

Carol Rossignol's Retirement |

2022 Chicago Summit Preview

The Skating Accommodation Memorandum | By Courtney Fecske

Ice Den Chandler: Fritz Dietl Award Recipient |

Nutrition for Athletes During Puberty

Why Coach Hockey Players?

28 32 34

Kent McDill

| By Julianne Pondelli

We are thankful for all of our wonderful PSA members!

DEPARTMENTS 7

Kent McDill

Professional Development Recognition Professional Skaters Foundation New Members PSA Calendar of Events Elizabeth Thornton | Editor/Advertising Amanda Taylor | Art Director

Issue No 6 |

Find, Friend, Follow

WWW.SKATEPSA.COM

PS MAGAZINE

Looking Forward... W

e are coming into the holiday season, perhaps gathering with family, reflecting on the year so far, and noticing how it may not have been what we were expecting or hoping—or perhaps it was better. Now 2022 is fast approaching with fun events and opportunities to get the PSA Team together, both virtually and in-person. If you’re ready to see your coaching colleagues in-person again, we hope you will join us at Ratings Prep in Las Vegas in February or at the PSA Summit in Chicago next May. If virtual learning is a better fit, keep an eye out for upcoming webinars, find exactly what you need on PSA TV, or take that step to apply for a virtual rating exam. Wherever you are in your coaching journey, PSA has the resources you need.

PSA OFFICERS President First Vice President Second Vice President Third Vice President Treasurer Past President PSA BOARD OF GOVERNORS West Mid-West East Members at Large

Committee on Professional Standards Ratings Chair Events Chair ISI Rep to PSA U.S. Figure Skating Rep to PSA PSA Rep to U.S. Figure Skating Summit Chairs Executive Director COMMITTEE CHAIRS Awards Coaches Hall of Fame Education Accelerated Coaching Partnerships

NETWORKIN G

EDUCATION

MEMBERS HI

REDITAT ACC IO

Where do you want to go with your coaching career?

Area Representatives Hockey Skating Sport Science Endorsements Executive Executive Nominating Finance Nominating Professional Standards PSA Rep to ISI Ratings Adaptive Skating PSA AREA REPRESENTATIVES Area 1 Martha Harding Area Area 2 Kimberlie Wheeland Area Area 3 Andrea Kunz-Williamson Area Area 4 Jill Stewart Area Area 5 Angela Roesch-Davis Area Area 6 Maude White Area Area 7 Nicole Gaboury Area Area 8 Jackie Timm Area Area 9 Mary Anne Williamson

Alex Chang Rebecca Stump Patrick O'Neil Denise Williamson Lisa Hernand Christine Fowler-Binder Phillip Mills Michelle Lauerman Andrea Kunz-Williamson Ashley Wyatt Cheryl Faust Doug Haw Denise Viera Tom Zakrajsek Phillip DiGuglielmo Kelley Morris Adair Cheryl Faust Tim Covington Jane Schaber Heather Paige Kelley Morris Adair Teri Klindworth Hooper Rebecca Stump Tim Covington Jimmie Santee

Andrea Kunz-Williamson Christine Fowler-Binder Rebecca Stump Phillip Mills Debbie Jones Gloria Leous Jordan Mann Garrett Lucash Jimmie Santee Alex Chang Christine Fowler-Binder Lisa Hernand Christine Fowler-Binder Kelley Morris Adair Gerry Lane Cheryl Faust Mary Johanson

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Francesca Supple Charmin Savoy Roxanne Tyler Liz Egetoe Marylill Elbe Tiffany McNeil Russ Scott Stacie Kuglin

DISCLAIMER: Written by Guest Contributor | PSA regularly receives articles from guest contributors. The opinions and views expressed by these contributors are not necessarily those of PSA. By publishing these articles, PSA does not make any endorsements or statements of support of the author or their contribution, either explicit or implicit.

www.skatepsa.com

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

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 (USPS 574770) Issue 6, 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. Tel 507.281.5122, Fax 507.281.5491, Email: office@skatepsa.com © 2020 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.

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Alex Chang, MFS, RM

Framing, Healing, and Understanding One Another T

here is a phrase I’ve heard called ‘Dancing In The Conversation.’ In practice, the intent is to be open to see where a conversation may lead, not steering it to a preset outcome, but to dance in the conversation with another person. Imagine the opportunity to explore, to reserve our ‘mid-sentence judgements,’ and to better understand one another. What comes out on the other end may often astound and even inspire us, and I think it’s time we begin to mend old wounds. If we think about it, by the time you read this, we will have been adjusting to the stress, strain, and loss resulting from COVID-19 for nearly two years. Hard to imagine. The intensity, the conflict, the insomnia, the desperation we have all felt has indelibly shaped our emotions, our communication style, and our own self-mastery. We have been stressed for so long, living with resilience every moment, handling crises within ourselves and towards one another — we have become another version of ourselves. We are emotionally and spiritually depleted. And that’s a hard place to come from when trying to talk and understand someone on the opposite side of any aisle. Recently, I felt the need to add to the phrase: Dancing In The Conversation… In The Absence of Complete Information. I realized that in so many areas of my life, I was seeing this theme come up. For myself, I see that we operate on incomplete information about situations, about the intentions of others, and about how we show up for others through body language, tone and intent, back story, and generalization. Without having all the facts, figures, perspectives, and context, we can only craft incomplete stories on limited information, creating gaps and rifts. We do this by nature because, quite honestly, we have to. We will never get all the facts. So, what we must understand is that our process is what it is — flawed and incomplete. Only then can we dial it back and redraft our understanding, to allow new information to come to light. On one side, our own confirmation bias (listening to what we want to hear to confirm our existing beliefs) yammers inside us and feels great. But the better and more entrenched we feel about our own feelings, the less likely we can explore and hear those around us. Only by letting go, opening up, awakening our curiosity about the other can we cross the divide. Only through real and

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

“ Only by letting go, opening up, awakening our curiosity about the other can we cross the divide.”

authentic communication can we finally get to an “aha!” moment and talk it out. Not easy, not patient, never a quick fix, a real conversation takes a willingness to work it out, to pause and get away from ourselves and say it’s ok if I don’t have all the answers. I am human. So is the other. Mistakes will be made, but we are both necessary to paint a full picture here. I truly mean nothing but love and respect and kindness when I ask all of us to retune our frequencies, to forgive ourselves and those around us, to dance in the conversation, and to reserve judgement. I request that we allow the possibility that there are misunderstandings, that the math is not always correct. We know we have to interpret first impressions, and therefore must allow ourselves room to re-interpret as part of evolving conversations and understanding each other. I know I normally mention all the PSA offerings and important changes we are making (which are all available on our website). But today, I want us all to focus on community, on healing, and joy. Today, let’s take a moment to pull back the lens, shift the framework, and let the light in.

RATINGS Cheryl Faust MFS, MM

Rating Examiner Pathway Program W

e are so excited to have conducted more ratings exams and opportunities than ever in the past year and a half! We are even more excited for and congratulate all of the coaches who have taken advantage of this great opportunity. In order for our ratings program to succeed we rely not only on an amazing PSA staff but an entire team of master-rated volunteer examiners. Without this team giving of their time for each exam site, we would not be able to administer as many high-quality ratings exams as we have. We are so grateful for all of these volunteers and appreciate their knowledge and time. If you happen to see these master coaches in your rink or at an event… please thank them!

Thank you master-rated volunteer examiners Kelley Morris Adair

Carol Rossignol

In addition, we need people to run virtual exams on Zoom. A big thank you to all of our room managers who keep the exams running smoothly:

Christine Fowler-Binder

Jimmie Santee

Scott Brown

Anita Saxena

Alex Chang

Russ Scott

Phillip Diglielmo Elizabeth Thornton Cheryl Faust Denise Williamson Patrick O’Neil Ashley Wyatt Jimmie Santee Barb Yackel Heidi Thibert We are always in need of good examiners! We are very excited to announce the Trial examiners who went through our new Ratings Examiner Pathway program.

Don Corbiell

Kris Shakarjan

Tim Covington

Carole Shulman

Vikki Dalquist

Tommy Steenberg

Jeff DiGregorio

Debbie Stoery

Jason Dilworth

Becky Stump

Cheryl Faust

Danny Tate

Jenny Gwyn

Jane Taylor

Jonathan Hayward

Heidi Thibert

Doug Haw

Jan Tremer

Teri Hooper

Paula Trujilo

Michelle Hocknell

Roxanne Tyler

Grant Huang

Kimberlie Wheeland

Diana Klattt

Andrea Kunz-Williamson

Stacey Kuglin

Denise Williamson

Michelle Lauerman

Sue J. Wagner

Debbie Lane

Ashley Wyatt

Gerry Lane

Barb Yackel

Diane Miller

Jamie Lane-Youstey

Phillip Mills

Nicole Zawojski

John Mucko

Kecia Zimmerman

Patrick O'Neil

Kirsten Miller-Zisholz

Congratulations to our newly appointed examiners: Andria Kelling – Registered and Certified Moves Michelle Hocknell – Registered and Certified Moves Andrea Kunz-Williamson – Registered and Certified Free Skating Nicole Zawojski – Registered and Certified Moves Garrett Kling – Registered and Certified Choreography Kate McSwain – Registered and Certified Choreography

Julie Patterson

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

PROF ESSI O N AL D EV E LO PM E N T

Congratulations to our newly minted master coaches! *Names in bold

Basic Accreditation Amy Dultz Karen Thornburgh Nyah Homolka Tashiya Mathuin Marisol Paiz

Hockey Skating 1 Alesia Smith Emily Rausa Adam Blake Richard Alexander Caylin Rudedenman

Jenna Scioscia Sarah Wright Cassandra McNulty Vage Evetts

August 12, 2021 Virtual Rating Exams Jodie Kristy CG Jacquie Shaffer CG

Jacqueline Nguyen RM Katelyn Brotherton RG

Heather O'Connor RM

August 31, 2021 Virtual Rating Exams Patch David RFS Amanda DeAugulia RFS

Amy Nunn MM Connie Fogle MFS

September 12, 2021 Virtual Rating Exams Alanna Collins RFS Akari Nakahara RFS Gabriella Vinokur RFS

Madeleine Newby-Estrella RM Bonnie Lewis RM Annalisa McGuinnes RM Aurore Michel CM Liara Tillman RM Jessica Mills Kincade MFS

October 10, 2021 Virtual Rating Exams Adam Blake RC,CC Amanda Meek RC Kathryn Vaughn RC

Sharon Smith RPD Jacqie Shaffer RPD Ann Kane RG

Jaclyn Cartwright SG Jillian Moyer RG

Patrica Perrigo Ellen Kenny-Berg Renee Laurin-Roos Alesia Smith Delandra Ramey Sophia Hovey Tashiya Mathuin Sarah Wright Alyssa Craig

Hockey Skating 2 Nastassia Dzemyanovich Ellen Kenny-Berg Renee Laurin-Roos Delandra Ramey Kiana Stadler Madeleine Newby Estrella Lindsay Johnston Alyssa Craig

Hockey Skating 3 Erin Egelhoff Natassia Dzemyanovich Renee Laurin-Roos Mary Nguyen Kiana Stadler Alyssa Craig Madeleine Newby Estrella

Rankings

Accelerated Coaching Partnership

Kaitlyn Churchill Level 3 – Synchronized Skating Karen Bressler Level 2 – Singles Ann Wehr Level 2 – Singles

Scarlett Rose Gibbs: Group Level 1 — mentor Craig Bodoh

New Examiner Appointments Kate McSwain Registered / Certified Level Choreorgpahy Garrett Kling Registered / Certified Level Choreorgpahy Michelle Hocknell Registered / Certified Level Moves in the Field

Nicole Zawojski Registered / Certified Level Moves in the Field Andria Kelling Registered / Certified Level Moves in the Field Andrea Kunz Williamson Registered / Certified Level Free Skating PS MAGAZINE

2014 Golf Memorial Classic Time for fun at the 2011 Dallas Conference

Carol Rossignol –

Retiring After 20 Years of Service to PSA By Kent McDill

pparently, “retirement” has a different meaning for Canadians. Carol Rossignol announced her retirement from the Professional Skaters Association staff this summer. She left her post as Senior Director of Education and AccreditationEmeritus and immediately moved into her retirement phase, which includes continuing her coaching duties at Rochester Figure Skating Club in Rochester, Minnesota. “It doesn’t feel like I have retired,” Rossignol said. “I have retired from my position at PSA, so in a sense I am only semi-retired as I am still coaching at the Rochester FSC. I am mostly coaching L2S classes with a few private lessons for now. “Retirement means I no longer have deadlines to meet, meetings to attend, reports to submit, telephone/emails to respond to, and educational courses, seminars, and events to develop and deliver,” she said. “But I will miss

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

seeing all of the coaches and interacting with them.” Her initial role with the PSA was as ratings coordinator, “then the person who was doing education left, and I was then doing both ratings and education,” she said. She served as Director of Education and Accreditation for the PSA from 2000-2014, became Senior Director of Education and Accreditation from 2014 to 2019, then got bumped up to Senior Director of Education and AccreditationEmeritus in 2019. Considering her long tenure within the PSA, one might expect her to point to some of the differences that have taken place outside of the changes in communication procedures thanks to modern technology. But she does not believe there has been much of an alteration in the mission of the organization. “I think it has changed every time there is a different president, who has different goals of what they feel their mandate is,” she said. “I have worked under many different presidents and two executive directors. “But the mission statement has always stayed the same,” she said. “Education is the mission. I think that is the one thing that is constant.” Along the way, she was presented with the Shulman Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008, followed by the F. Ritter Shumway award in 2021 for her “unending dedication and significant contribution to the world of figure skating”. She remembers the PSA Conference in 2008 when she received the Lifetime Achievement award, mainly because she was quite busy when it was announced. “I was sitting in the back of the conference room, still eating my lunch, and I remember Gerry Lane looking over at me and I wondered why he was looking my way, and the next thing I know they were announcing the award,” she said with a laugh. “That was a shock.”

The U.S.-Canada relationship Rossignol is originally from Canada and was born in Newdale, Manitoba, Canada. Rossignol has a very fond memory of all of the PSA Conferences she has attended, including the joint conferences that were held between Skate Canada and the PSA. “I first got involved with the PSA in 1985 when I came down for one of their conferences in Las Vegas,” Rossignol

Carol with previous PSA Executive Director, Carole Shulman, at a 2017 dinner.

MOST

LIKEL Y TO

Save th

e wrap - Caropling paper

PSA headquarters in Rochester, MN.

With Tenley Albright at the 2012 Boston Conference

Holiday confession time!

said. “I had been at a joint conference prior to that in Boston. At the time, I was coaching in the Maritimes. I have been across Canada.” “I remember in 1992 the PSA and Skate Canada did a joint conference in Ottawa,” she said. “Then I came down here (to Rochester) a couple of times when (former Executive Director) Carole Shulman needed help. I remember before the conference in 2001, which was held in May, I came down and was here for a month. We opened the new PSA headquarters in June of that year, and then I moved from Ottawa to Rochester to work specifically with the PSA.” Rossignol noted the growth that was exhibited in the two joint conferences from the last century and remembers them fondly. “The conference in 1992 was very successful,” she said. “There was a lot of work putting it together and we ended up with 600 coaches. Then, in 1996 we had another joint conference in Chicago and that one we had close to 1,000 coaches. It was truly an international event. We had the ISU president at the time — Ottavio Cinquanta — come to it and spoke. That was a big coup.” Rossignol’s 20 years with the PSA was added to her 20 years with Skate Canada, giving her four decades of service to the education of coaches in North America.

PSA staff at the 2017 Nashville Conference

What’s next? Because Rossignol is still coaching, she does not spend her every waking moment trying to determine what her next step in life is going to be. But it is likely to include a change of location. “I’m not sure where I want to go,” she said. “I have people trying to coax me to go to Florida, and other friends want me to go to Palm Springs or somewhere else in California where it is warm. “Then I have my grandson who wants me to move to Vancouver, and my brother goes to Thailand for six months every year and he wants me to go there. “But I am still busy,” she said. “Working with the PSA and coaching at the club has kept me busy. And I like being busy.”

PS MAGAZINE

SPORT SCIENCE Garrett Lucash, RFS, RM

Part 4

Dynamics of Skill Acquisition in Figure Skating B Y G A R R E T T L U C A S H , K E I T H D AV I D S , P H . D , A N D FA B I A N O T T E , P H . D

Key principle 3 (specificity and generality of practice for enrichment) Specificity and generality of practice are necessary to enrich athlete performance. To summarize so far: in an ecological approach to practice, athletes are given many opportunities to learn to adapt and self-regulate their actions to dynamic constraints of varying performance environments. Particularly, learners should be encouraged to search and explore tasks in practice and choose functional action opportunities suited to their constraints (see Figure 1 for examples). Training environments in which individuals gradually take responsibility for their learning (key principle 2 in Figure 2) may best develop an exploratory and adaptive process in practice. Eventually, they can gain a more active involvement in co-designing those practice environments by working with coaches to adjust and refine specific task constraints, for example. This adaptive enrichment of the surrounding performance landscape means that practice session designs always need to be considered from the performer-environment relationship. In practice, task demands need to be carefully matched to each performer’s action capabilities and adapted as individuals learn to explore the landscape of action opportunities made available by coaches (e.g., through task constraints manipulations; key principle 2). In skill acquisition, specificity — as in sport-specific training — is an immutable principle of learning and practice: It is essential for skill acquisition. It has been highlighted in many professional education and development programs for sport practitioners interested in education, training, learning, and preparation for performance. However, over the years, less attention has been paid to the importance of more general learning experiences in coach education. More general movement experiences, from varied forms of (unstructured and structured) play and physical activities, such as skiing, gymnastics, dance, parkour, and skateboarding, may be most useful in preparing a young child to specialize in figure skating. A program of diverse activities can provide a repertoire that can enrich the foundational movement capacities

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

and general athleticism of an individual, allowing them to quickly adapt to the perceptual, cognitive, social, and movement interactions demanded of performance. Generality of motor learning underpins an individual’s ability to learn new sports (i.e., transfer skills from skiing to figure skating), becoming more prepared for specialized, focused practice in a target sport. To develop general athleticism and functional movement capacities, a constraints-led approach to coaching suggests that individuals need to experience foundational ‘enrichment’ activities, often exemplified by unstructured play and practice, which can empower them to specialize when they are ready. An ecological approach suggests that, although high-level performance is unachievable without specialized practice, coaches should not omit generalized training from performance preparation, believing it to be ‘an ineffective use of time.’ Both specificity and generality of practice experiences are valuable for the enrichment of movement skills and capacities of the individual learner. They are particularly relevant in PE and early development experiences for children prior to specialization in sports training. This idea is consonant with the contemporary focus on ‘physical literacy’ in physical education (see Rudd et al., 2020, for an open-access discussion).

Application to figure skating. In figure skating, children tend to commit to intensive training at a young age, and the principle of specificity and generality is often overlooked. Figure skating coaches should consider challenging existing beliefs about the sport to explore the benefits of developing the athlete first and the figure skater second (all the while, developing the individual as the most vital goal of all). The idea behind developing a general base for an aspiring figure skater is that such a base provides a strong foundation for developing sport-specific skills including steps, turns, jumps, spins, and choreographic movements. Many figure skating skills involve both in-phase (the arms or legs swing forward and backward together) and anti-phase movements (the arms or legs swing in opposition of one another), those that involve upper and lower limb synchronization, and others

“The idea behind developing a general base for an aspiring figure skater is that such a base provides a strong foundation for developing sport-specific skills including steps, turns, jumps, spins, and choreographic movements.” that require each of the athlete’s limbs to act in independent ways (think of a level 4 step sequence when the legs are performing different turns and steps and the upper body is enacting choreographic movements). Another point to consider is that all young athletes grow and mature over time. Their coordination tendencies (the unique way their bodies move) evolve as a result. Therefore, an athlete in adult form most likely resorts to different rhythms and coordination patterns they did as a child. For example, if a child learns a triple Axel before puberty, that skill might need to be redeveloped after the child grows and matures into an adult. The triple Axel in child form would look different than the triple Axel in adult form (and this has been an observable phenomenon in both the men’s and ladies’ divisions in recent years on the world stage), even on the same athlete. The principle of generality and specificity of practice complementing skill adaptation and athletic development, outlined above, encourages coaches to consider how to prepare figure skaters for these experiences. A skater with a diverse base of general athletic movement experiences could better develop, adapt, and refine their skills over time because that base invites a broader range of movement opportunities. Suggested activities and sports for developing a generalized movement base in figure skaters include gymnastics, dance, parkour, martial arts, track and field, skiing, and skateboarding.

Conclusion In summary, this article introduced an ecological perspective on skill acquisition training that we practically transferred to the context of figure skating. In particular, we discussed principles that may help coaches develop their practice designs to support individual learners at different skill and experience levels. To make a scientific theory of ‘how athletes learn’ more understandable for figure skating coaches at various performance levels, we put forth several principles; these include athlete-environment centered coaching, the practice session design (with a focus on exploration, problem-solving, and constraints manipulation), and the specificity and generality of practice (see Figure 2). All presented learning and coaching principles are based on the constraints-led approach, which stresses the emerging interactions between three categories: individual, environmental, and task constraints (see Figure

1 for examples). These constraints need to be well understood by coaches and incorporated into practice, depending on the needs of individual learners. Further, athletes’ roles as problem-solvers and coaches as facilitators, guiding attention towards relevant action opportunities through constraint manipulations, were highlighted. Finally, we would like to recommend the proposed books and (openly accessible) paper references for coaches motivated to dive deeper into psychological, pedagogical, and motor learning theory. References Bernstein, N. A. (1967). The Co-Ordination and Regulations of Movements. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Button, C., Seifert, L., Chow, J.-Y., Araújo, D. & Davids, K. (2020). Dynamics of Skill Acquisition: An Ecological Dynamics rationale (2nd Edition). Champaign, Ill: Human Kinetics. Chow, J.-Y., Shuttleworth, R., Davids, K., & Araújo, D. (2020). Ecological dynamics and transfer from practice to performance in sport. In A. M. Williams & N. Hodges (Eds.), Skill Acquisition in Sport: Research, Theory and Practice (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. Davids, K., Bennett, S., & Button, C. (2008). Dynamics of skill acquisition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Lucash, G. (2020). The athlete’s navigation device. The Professional Skater. March-April. 12-13 Newell, K. M. (1986). Constraints on the development of coordination. In M. G. Wade & H. T. A. Whiting (Eds.), Motor development in children: Aspects of coordination and control (pp. 341-360). Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff. Otte, F. W., Davids, K., Millar, S-K., & Klatt, S. (2020). When and how to provide feedback and instructions to athletes? – How sport psychology and pedagogy can improve coaching interventions to enhance self-regulation in training. Frontiers in Psychology - Movement Science and Sport Psychology, 1(1444). 114.doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01444 - Available online at: www.frontiersin.org Otte, F. W., Davids, K., Millar, S-K., & Klatt, S. (2021). Understanding how athletes learn: Integrating skill training concepts, theory and practice from an ecological perspective. Applied Coaching Research Journal, 7. Available online at: www.ukcoaching.org/resources Rudd, J., Pesce, C., Strafford, B., & Davids, K. (2020). Physical Literacy - A Journey of Individual Enrichment: An Ecological Dynamics Rationale for Enhancing Performance and Physical Activity in All. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01904 – Available online at: www.frontiersin.org Woods C., Rudd J., Robertson S., and Davids K. (2020a) Wayfinding: How ecological perspectives of navigating dynamic environments can enrich our understanding of the learner and the learning process in sport. Sports Medicine – Open, 6 (51): 1-11. - Available online at: https://sportsmedicineopen.springeropen.com Woods, C., McKeown, I., Rothwell, M., Araújo, D., Robertson, S., & Davids, K. (2020b). Sport Practitioners as Sport Ecology Designers: How Ecological Dynamics Has Progressively Changed Perceptions of Skill “Acquisition” in the Sporting Habitat. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00654 Available online at: www.frontiersin.org Wulf, G. & Lucash, G. (2021) Optimizing Figure-Skating Performance part 2. The Professional Skater, March-April, 10-13

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EDUCATION Carol Rossignol, MD, MS, MG, MPD, MFF

Maribel’s Basic Theory B

y the time you read this article, I will be retired from PSA after 20 enjoyable years of service to my fellow coaches within the PSA. During the pandemic, I read many of my skating books. I thought it very fitting to end my contributions to this column by going back to the beginning and reading Maribel Vinson Owen’s book, “The Fun of Figure Skating”. The basics are so important for both the experienced coach and the beginning coach to consider and apply every day in the rink. Let’s look at the following excerpt from Maribel Vinson Owen in which she is writing about the basic theory of skating school figures. Remember at that time “figures” were worth 60%, and free skating was worth 40% of the total score. No matter what level you are coaching, Maribel’s basic theory will apply to figures, free skating, moves in the field, ice dance or pair skating and assist skaters/athletes at all levels to reach their full potential. Please enjoy this excerpt from Maribel:

BASIC THEORY Now seems a logical time to review the basic theory, those axioms of technique, which I [Maribel] mentioned earlier. You have enough mastery of the four eights, the two serpentines, and the four three turns to realize that certain principles run through all the figures studied so far. Those same principles will apply to all your future skating, no matter how advanced it may become or how elaborate some of the turns and movements: 1. The weight of the body must be as much as possible over the skating foot. 2. The skating hip must be pressed in toward the center of the body and [always] held motionless. 3. The hips must not be allowed to rotate in the direction of the circle rotation. To affect this, since the skating hip is immobile, muscular pressure must be exerted through the pelvic area in general and the free side of the body in particular to counteract and control the natural desire of the lower body to turn with the circle. This means specifically that, in the system of skating delineated here, the free hip is pressed ack of the FO and BI edges (hips in line with skate in “parallel” position as much as possible); on the FI and BO edges the pressure on the free hip is forward (hips at a 90 degree angle to the line of the skate, with the free hip inside the circumference of the circle on the FI, outside

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the circumference on the BO). These positions will ensure that the skating hip is constantly being pressed against the rotation of the circle that is being skated. 4. The lean of the body is always to the center of the circle from the side of the blade. 5. The body weight rides on the center back of the blade on forward edges, on the ball of the skating foot on backward edges. As a corollary to rule 5—the body weight must never travel out ahead of the skate either forward or backward. 6. The hips remain level inside the body. 7. The skating knee is in general flexible and “working”. Pressing the knee slowly up (hence, the weight down) increases the run of the blade. 8. For all three turns, the shoulders rotate against the hips beforehand, the body leans strongly to the circle center, and the weight shifts from back to front of the skate for a forward turn, [and] from front to back for a backward one. The turn is a quick pivot of the whole body with the skating side as the pivoting axis, made not by a conscious effort of the foot but by the twist, or “torque” of the body before the turn. As you continue practicing, it becomes increasingly important for you to pay strict attention to the matching size of your circles, to maintaining an absolutely straight long axis for each diagram, and to the close retracing of your lines. The general shape of the figure—that is, the evenness of its lobes and the placing according to axis— must be attended to during the first tracing. If this tracing is accurate, you have merely to worry about putting the next lines on top of the first. Do not make the common mistake of trying to “steer” your skate around the retracing diagrams. This is the cause of more bad school figures than any other. Skate your repetitions figures. Skate them the same as the first figure each time. In other words, repeat your lean and your movements and your timing exactly. [School figures taught muscle memory.] A useful hint is this: It is easier to retrace with a good eye if you always make your first circles as large as you want the finished figure to be and then aim to place the retracing lines just inside the original tracing. In this way you always have a line to aim for and run less danger of wandering far afield from your first diagram. Another useful hint: In practice never retrace an incor-

Maribel Vinson Owen – 1933 PHOTO COURTESY U.S. FIGURE SKATING MUSEFUM & HALL OF FAME

“A figure skater, even a champion, is no better than his mastery of the primary edges.” – Maribel Vinson Owen

rect print. This does more harm than good. Make sure your original figure is correct first, and then retrace. When skating before judges, for whatever purpose, it is better to correct a first tracing error in the second tracing and then place the third over the second than it is to retrace an incorrect line closely each time. If you correct an error and then retrace the corrected line, it shows that you know what is right and can do it. You will get more credit than for closely traced incorrect lines. Good judges demonstrate that they judge this way over and over again, but it is hard for a teacher to convince pupils that they do. Slavish retracing of faults is the worst tendency in modern figure skating. It is up to all judges and all officials to demonstrate by their judging at all times, all over the world that correct print and good style are the most important factors in good school figures. From here on in you can dance or free skate like mad. You have all the basic control needed for either or both. Remember the same edge principles apply, whether you are jumping or dancing the blues. Just as all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, so all school figures and no free skating will make you a dull skater. (After all, it’s because you really want to dance and free skate that

you’ve spent the time mastering the edges, isn’t it?) There is an endless amount of fun in store for you. But don’t go overboard. Whether or not you learn more figures and go on with tests and competitions (in which case you must keep up with your figures), these basic figures should always be part of your schedule. They are always the ultimate test of your control. Maribel Vinson Owen was one of this country’s greatest coaches having coached more than 4,000 skaters from learn-to-skate to competitive elite level athletes as well as housewives and businessmen. She herself was the North America Singles champion for many years, a long with being the North America Pair champion, and a member of three: U.S. Olympic Teams. Both her daughters; Maribel Y. Owen (Pairs) and Laurence Owen (Ladies) were U.S. national champions in 1961 when they died in the ill-fated plane crash killing the American team headed to the world figure skating championship in Prague. Reference: “The Fun of Figure Skating” by Maribel Vinson Owen, Illustrations by Robert Riger, Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, Evanston, and London. 1960.

PS MAGAZINE

Skate to a brighter future. Skate to great. Figure skating teaches you the agility and focus to handle every twist and turn of life. Get started today, visit LearnToSkateUSA.com

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Journeys

It’s time to Chica-GO! Continue your coaching journey at the 2022 PSA Summit. Join us to reflect on where we’ve been and map out the path ahead. In addition to a full schedule of education sessions, we have planned ample time for in-person attendees to reconnect with old skating friends. There will be hugging, laughing, learning, sharing…crying? It’s been a rough road; we won’t judge. We’ll bring the tissues and hugs.

Kadari Taylor-Watson

Session topics include: • Navigating IJS Decisions • Developing Powerful Skating Skills • Expedition into the Choreographic Process • Jumps and Spins • Navigating from Athlete to Coach • Your Coaching Compass: Unconditional Positive Regard

• The Road to Resilience • In Pursuit of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion • Discovering New Technology • Learn to Skate Aspire Pathway • Defining Coaching Values

continued PS MAGAZINE

VENUE

TRADE SHOW

Hyatt Regency Schaumburg, Chicago

Wednesday, May 25 & Thursday, May 26 Join us for our full display of exhibitors. This is a great opportunity to be fitted by the professionals, purchase direct from manufacturers, and view the latest in software, boots, blades, clothing, and more!

1800 E Golf Road Schaumburg, IL 60173 1-847-605-1234

PLEASE NOTE Summit day changes (compared to

previous years): The 2022 Summit begins at 8am on Wednesday, May 25 and will conclude at 1pm on Friday, May 27.

REGISTRATION Registration for the 2022 Summit will open on November 1. The 2022 Summit will offer three registration tracks: in-person, livestream, and on-demand. All registrants,

Special offering this year!

regardless of registration track, will have access to 2022 Summit content via PSA TV through June 30, 2023 and will automatically receive 28 education credits.

In-person

Livestream

On-demand

In-person attendees get the full Summit experience with access to all sessions and the opportunity to reconnect with the coaching community.

The livestream track is perfect for coaches who want to participate in Summit but aren’t ready to travel.

On-demand access brings the Summit to those who are not available during the Summit dates but who are committed to pursuing coaching education.

• Access to pre-Summit recorded sessions • Interactive workshops • In-person networking and social sessions • Ability to participate in Q & A with all presenters • Coffee social and members’ reunion • Coffee break sponsored by Jackson Ultima • Light appetizers and beverages at the President’s Reception • Awards Dinner ticket for every attendee ($90 value) • Access to Hockey 4 Certificate (separate registration required) • Access to in-person ratings (separate registration required) • Join the U.S. Open watch party • Go out on the town and enjoy Chicago with PSA colleagues! • Access to recorded sessions after Summit

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

• Access to pre-Summit recorded sessions • Hosted livestream sessions during Summit with virtual host Matthew Lind • Opportunity to send questions during Q and A with select presenters • Access to recorded sessions after Summit

go see a show!

• Registration available after April 15 • Access to recorded sessions after Summit

go down tro! Navy Pie E XCEL L ENCE ON ICE

EXTRAS Ratings Tuesday May 24 8:00am-3:00pm

Elite Skating

Waukesha, WI

Master and senior level exams in all disciplines will be offered. Registration opens on November 1. Registration deadline: March 15

Kettle Moraine FSC Waukesha, WI

World Arena Ice Hall

Colorado Springs, CO

Hockey 4 Certificate

Metro Ice Sport Facility

Wednesday May 25

Urbandale, IA

The Hockey 4 Certificate course and exam will be offered during the 2022 PSA Summit and is available to in-person attendees only. The registration fee includes access to a pre-Summit webinar, an on-ice session, a study guide, and the exam. Participants must complete and pass Hockey 1, 2, and 3 online prior to the Summit. Registration for Hockey 4 is available within Summit registration.

Register now and be recognized as a progressive training facility dedicated to excellence in coaching both on and off-ice. As a registered facility you will receive an EOI shield for display and international recognition in PS Magazine—all at no cost!

Does your club or rink meet the two requirements?

U.S. Open Professional Figure Skating Championships Tuesday, May 24 at 7:00pm CST

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The Professional Skater – PS Magazine #574-770 October 2021 Bi-monthly, 6 issues annually, $19.95 annual subscription rate 3006 Allegro Park Lane SW, Rochester, MN 55902 Elizabeth Thornton The Professional Skaters Association, 3006 Allegro Park SW, Rochester, MN 55902 Average No. copies each issue preceding 12 months 4715

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PS MAGAZINE

Introducing S.A.M., The Skating Accommodation Memorandum

and the medical specialists determining the reasonable accommodations.

Testing Implementation By Courtney Fecske, PhD, CTRS

he Adaptive Skating Committee for U.S. Figure Skating has been hard at work on new and exciting changes for skaters with disabilities! One new change we are enthusiastic about is the introduction of the Skating Accommodation Memorandum, or S.A.M. for short (with a playful nod to Snowplow Sam!). S.A.M. is meant to create equitable skating standards for skaters with disabilities, develop increased opportunities for skaters with disabilities to continue their skating growth, and support reasonable accommodations to do so. A skater with a documented disability may request exemption from or modification of certain technical rules on the basis that such rule penalizes them in the marking of the assessment and that such rule is peripheral to the skating skill to be demonstrated.

How it Works A Skate United Skater will complete the Request for Skating Accommodation Memorandum form, which can be found on the Adaptive Skating page within Members Only. This form should be sent to the Adaptive Skating Committee Chair. The Adaptive Skating Committee Chair will work with the appropriate team, composed of medical professionals and skating experts, to assess the documentation and provide the skater with an appropriate Skating Accommodation Memorandum to be used at U.S. Figure Skating sanctioned events, including but not limited to test sessions and competitions. The S.A.M. process will be collaborative and autonomous in nature with the team communicating with the skater/legal guardian to secure the most appropriate reasonable accommodations for each skater on an individual basis.

Competition Implementation Once a S.A.M. has been approved, if a skater is competing in a 6.0 event, the skater/legal guardian needs to notify the LOC during the competition registration process. The LOC will notify the Chief Referee, who will notify judges as needed on the panel, to implement skating accommodations. Officials do not determine accommodations, they simply implement what is stated in the S.A.M. Additionally, no information pertaining to the skater’s health or disability is ever necessary to be known aside from the skater/legal guardian

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If testing within the Skate United track or standard track with accommodations, the skater/legal guardian needs to notify the test chair at the time of test registration about the accommodation. The test chair will notify the judging panel of the accommodation that will be implemented. Similar to the competition implementation, no information pertaining to the skater’s health or disability is ever necessary to be discussed aside from when reasonable accommodations are being determined. Officials simply need to provide the stated accommodation for the skater. Should a test chair, LOC, or official have any questions these should be directly addressed with the chair of the Adaptive Skating Subcommittee and no one else. An example of how a S.A.M. could be used is if a skater is completing a virtual test and requires a break between moves in the field elements, a skater may seek approval to complete the test over a three-day period and execute two elements per day under the supervision of an appropriate proctor and within all other virtual testing rules. Another example of a S.A.M. accommodation could be as simple as requiring that a skater’s music be played louder.

Questions Please reach out to the Adaptive Skating Subcommittee with inquiries about the S.A.M.! The Adaptive Skating Subcommittee aims to recruit and support skaters with disabilities in their skating journey and strongly feels these rules will provide a strong foundation to do so. You can find more information about the S.A.M. process and forms in the members only area of the website along with a webinar explaining the new rules in more detail! www.usfigureskating.org The Adaptive Skating Subcommittee chair is Mary Johanson, who may be contacted at coachmaryjohanson@gmail.com If you have any Skate United specific questions you can email Courtney Fecske at courtneyjweisman@gmail.com Courtney Fecske, PhD, CTRS is a member of the Adaptive Skating Subcommittee and serves as the Skate United lead. Dr. Fecske is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor at Indiana University-Bloomington in the School of Public Health and is also a former Team USA Synchronized skater and current official for US Figure Skating. She has founded and worked with adaptive skating programs and conducts research focused on examining the impact of participation in adaptive sports.

3 WAYS TO OPTIMIZE YOUR DAY AND COACH MORE EFFECTIVELY... IN LESS THAN 5 MINUTES SIT IN QUIET 5 MINUTES FIRST THING EACH DAY Find a comfortable spot-on the floor or in a chair-where you won't be disturbed. Set a timer and sit with your thoughts and breathe. Sit just straight up enough that you can breathe fully. Gently close your eyes and allow your thoughts to come and go. I like to imagine them floating by on clouds, and some people like to imagine erasing them from a black or whiteboard.

COUNT YOUR BREATHS ON THE DRIVE HOME As you drive home, while keeping your eyes on the road, focus on your breath. Count each inhale and exhale up to 8, and then start over. If you notice your mind wandering, do not judge yourself... just gently bring your attention back to the breath. You can do this for 5 minutes or longer! Notice how you feel afterwards.

PUT YOUR LEGS UP FOR 5 MINUTES BEFORE BED Lie on your back and put your legs up against the wall. Or, if it's right before bed, maybe you do this in bed! If you can't straighten your legs, inch your body away from the wall until you are comfortable. Rest hands on the belly or open them to a T. Close the eyes and deepen the breath. Let your exhale be longer than your inhale, and watch your body relax. 5 minutes is good, but you can stay longer. Sometimes I fall asleep here! IIG: www.instagram.com/the_skating_yogi

COACHING DEVELOPMENT Heidi Thibert, MFS, MM, MC

A Case for Self-Regard (And How to Build It) D R . L A U R E N K . M C H E N R Y, C M P C , N C C

n a Netflix series titled The Playbook: A Coaches’ Rules for Life, Head Coach of NBA team Philadelphia 76ers, Doc Rivers stated: “Every time I walk into the locker room for the first time I tell my players every year, and I’ve told ‘em for 21 years: I’m Doc Rivers, and I’m human, and I’m going to make mistakes.” Rivers’ opening statement to his athletes each season is a powerful modeling of the ability to take responsibility for mistakes while maintaining a consistent sense of positive self-regard. In other words, Rivers can own his mistakes and continue to accept and respect himself through them—a necessary precursor to learning from mistakes and challenging oneself to improve. And this is just what he wants his athletes to learn to do. To have consistent self-regard is to accept, respect, engage with, believe in, and challenge oneself in any circumstance. With this definition, you might agree that consistent self-regard is an important quality for athletes to develop to own their mistakes without it crushing their confidence, accept your critique without taking it personally, and challenge themselves in the face of fear or adversity. Rivers reminds us that a coach’s way of being—for example, modeling your own consistent self-regard—can be as impactful on athlete development than anything you say or do. Yet modeling consistent self-regard is hard to do! Think about the way you talk to yourself on a bad day. Is it always accepting or respectful? Most people’s (myself included!) response to this question is, “…Nope!” As human beings, we are all susceptible to blind spots and missing information that might help us improve. Become more attuned to your own self-regard by trying one or more of the following strategies. Grow your strengths: What do you have within you that is valuable, authentic, and inspiring for your professional role? Retired head coach of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) gymnastics team, Valerie Kondos-Field, asked herself this question after her first two seasons as head coach in which her team failed miserably. KondosField had compensated her for imposter syndrome by

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mimicking how she thought a coach should be. She took a “my way or the highway” approach and exerted power over, belittled, and shamed athletes. This approach was so ineffective that after two years, she was ready to resign. Yet before doing so, she came across John Wooden’s definition of success: “success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.” KondosField realized that in trying to be someone other than herself, she had not done her best to become her best in her head coaching role. Instead of resigning, she identified and began to capitalize on her own strengths while delegating roles to others in areas she was lacking. Her shift toward coaching with authenticity led to a 28-year career as head coach at UCLA during which she led her team to seven NCAA national championship wins. Take a moment to reflect on what you bring to your job that is valuable, authentic, and inspiring. Consider how you can grow these strengths within your coaching daily. Check your values: Values are defined as the “guiding principles in people’s lives.” Dr. Shalom Schwartz indicated that there are six main features of values: (1) values are beliefs, (2) values refer to desirable goals and can be used to motivate action, (3) values transcend specific situations (e.g., they apply in sport and in life outside of sport), (4) values serve as standards or criteria, (5) values are ordered by importance, and (6) the relative importance of multiple values in a given situation will guide action. We quickly become ingenuine and inauthentic when the values we say are important don’t match our actions. A key strategy is to check your actions with your values daily. For example, head coach of women’s soccer at Idaho State University, Debs Brereton, created an acronym with her top four values—GRIT: gratitude, respect, integrity, and trust. Brereton shared of her daily practice: “I’ve got [GRIT] written on my mirror [in my office], and before I leave the office every day, I look into it and just, you know, be honest with myself for a few seconds and I’m like, ‘Was I good and true to those words today?’ And if I wasn’t, then why? If I was, then ‘Good on you, do it again tomorrow.’”

Draw your boundaries: Brené Brown has found through her research that the most loving and caring people are also the best at establishing and clearly communicating their own boundaries. That means they are clear for themselves on what is OKAY and NOT OKAY in terms of how others treat them and they ensure that others understand this. For example, you might set a boundary around when and how athletes’ parents can contact you as well as how long you need to respond. Then, you may communicate this with an understanding that parents want to be involved and reasoning behind how this structure of communication will help you be at your best for their child. When your needs are protected, then you’ll have a lot more to give in terms of empathy and positive regard for your athletes (and their parents!). Boundaries can also include placing a literal boundary around specific things you do to care for yourself, such as exercise, time with family or friends, professional education/development, or meditation. With such demanding jobs, protecting this time can be most difficult. A key strategy is to schedule an appointment with yourself each day for a self-care action—and put it on your calendar—even if the appointment is as short as 5- to 15-minutes long. Making this appointment and showing up for yourself will improve your quality of work through the rest of the day.

Brown’s research has shown that you only need three to six people—max—in your life whom you truly care what they think of you. Brown offers a strategy to identify these people in which you write their names on a 1”x1” square piece of paper, because that’s all the space you need to fit the names of those who matter most. I like to call this group of people your professional (and personal) “board of directors,” meaning these are the people you want to run ideas by, ask for critique and consultation, and ensure that they will tell you when you’re in the wrong. When it comes to building your own self-regard, it is critical that these are also people who show consistent regard to you—so that even when they give you feedback that is hard to hear, they accept, respect, engage with, believe in, and challenge you to keep striving toward your highest potential.

Practice failure-recovery: Failure-recovery means having a system to take ownership of a mistake and get back into the moment immediately following that mistake. For example, head coach of the Western Washington University women’s volleyball team, Diane Flick-Williams, has a system in which athletes (1) immediately own a mistake, (2) make direct eye contact with a coach or teammate as if to say, “I’m back,” and (3) state a positive affirmation or accept a positive affirmation from a coach or teammate. Implementing a system like this with athletes may come easier if you practice it yourself. For example, let’s say you failed to debrief with an athlete at the end of a lesson in which their actions frustrated you. You can demonstrate failure-recovery by (1) owning the fact that your frustration interfered with a debrief, (2) communicate your awareness of the mistake to the athlete to say, “I’m here and learning,” and (3) remind yourself of your strengths that you will capitalize on in that athlete’s next lesson.

Acknowledgements Thank you to Emilie Lazenby, USOPC Contractor—Winter Sport Performance, Dr. Caroline Silby, Head of Sport Psychology—US Figure Skating, and Dr. Rebecca Zakrajsek, Professor—University of Tennessee for their review of this article.

Establish your professional “board of directors”: Anybody can have an opinion about your coaching. And while a common piece of advice is to “not care what others think,” it is important for your professional and personal development to care what some people think. Brené

Dr. Lauren McHenry is a former figure skater and certified mental performance consultant through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. She holds a PhD in sport psychology and motor behavior and is the lead author of two articles on coach-athlete relationships in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. Lauren is a consultant to athletes and coaches across sports nation-wide and is subcontracted to support the U.S. Figure Skating sport psychology team. She is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Contact: mchenry.lk@gmail.com

REFERENCES Brown, B. (2018). Dare to lead: Brave work. Tough conversations. Whole hearts. Random House, New York. Greenbaum, J. (Director) (2020, September 22). Doc Rivers: A coach’s rules for life. [Docuseries, Episode 5]. In L. James & M. Carter (Executive Producers), The Playbook: A coach’s rules for life. Netflix original network. Retrieved from https://www.netflix.com/title/81025735 Kim, J., Joseph, S., & Price, S. (2020). The positive psychology of relational depth and its association with unconditional positive self-regard and authenticity. Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies, 19(1), 1–10. https:// doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2020.1717983 Kondos Field, V. with Cooper, S. (2019). Life is short, don’t wait to dance: Advice and inspiration from the UCLA athletic hall of fame coach of 7 NCAA Championship teams. Hachette Book Group. McHenry, L. K., Cochran, J. L., Zakrajsek, R. A., Fisher, L. A., Couch S., & Hill, B. (2020). Elite figure skaters’ experiences of thriving in the coach-athlete relationship: A person-centered theory perspective. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 1-21. McHenry, L. K. (2021). A Realist Evaluation of the Professional Development Program Thriving through Being with Professional Coaches and Support Staff of NCAA Women’s Basketball. PhD dissertation, University of Tennessee, 2021. Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An Overview of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). https://doi. org/10.9707/2307-0919.1116 Wooden, J. R. with Tobin, J. (2004). They call me coach. McGraw-Hill, New York.

PS MAGAZINE

An Award-Winning Facility in Arizona

(Not That One, The Other One) By Kent McDill

n 2016, the PSA Fritz Dietl Award for Ice Skating Facility Management went to the Ice Den in Scottsdale, Arizona. At that time, the management of that facility was busy spending $3 million to rehabilitate an ice arena facility in nearby Chandler, 14 miles to the south. It is five years later, and the Ice Den Chandler is now the 2021 Fritz Dietl award winner. The Fritzl Dietl Award for ice Arena Excellence honors the lifeftime dedication of Fritz Dietl to the ice skating industry and his determination to encourage innovation and excellence in facility management operations and programming. “It’s an honor,” said Julie Patterson, Vice President of Programming and Skating at Ice Den Chandler. “We have a great staff in both facilities, and the staff can transfer between facilities. We try to maintain our programs to run the same. “It is a challenge to run two facilities at the same time,” she said. “We have a very large staff that has been with us for a number of years.” The Chandler facility is a stand-alone structure with wide-open spaces

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inside for viewing activity on the rinks. It has a spacious retail shop for both figure skating and hockey, and a food and snack stand which also has a view of the ice sheets. There is actually little difference between the two facilities. Chandler has only two sheets of ice compared to three at Ice Den Scottsdale, so balancing the schedule is a bit more hectic in Chandler. But Patterson and her staff do their best to balance the interest in both figure skating and hockey, which has turned into a huge team sport in the state of Arizona. Does that seem unusual, that skating would be so popular in a state where the outdoors is relatively pleasant year-round? For

those people who don’t necessarily love the excessive heat, an ice rink is the perfect place to get exercise without suffering from the rays of the burning sun. “We have wait lists for some of our classes,” Patterson said. “The past couple of years, it was challenging for every rink to stay in operation, but right now our classes are filled out. “We actually promote it that way,” she said. “‘Come in and beat the heat’” is one of our best slogans.”

A haven for PSA instruction Patterson takes pride in her facility’s working relationship with the PSA and its coaching education programs. “We are very strongly involved with the PSA,” Patterson said. “We promote everything the PSA does. We agree that a coach’s education and continuing education is important. We have quite often held Ratings Prep events for coaches in the area, and we encourage coaches on our staff to have a rating with the PSA. Our staff is very well educated and continues their education yearly.”

their living room,” Tara Patterson said. “There were a lot of great videos on-line that we sent out for people to reference in order to keep moving and keep their skills up.

“We have tried to incorporate more power skating programs,” Patterson said. “The need is there for the families. They ask for it a lot. Whenever we have extra ice time we try to put that out there.

Promoting hockey instruction When the Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996, it opened the doors for the youth in the area to develop an appreciation for a new indoor sport. In the 25 years since the Coyotes started play in the National Hockey League, hockey has recorded a huge interest among the youngsters and teenagers in the area, putting a new demand upon ice time for facilities such as the Ice Dens. “I’m really lucky here in Chandler,” Patterson said. “We have two hockey directors for our travel team and house league teams. We work very closely together. For skaters, when they come to the Learn to Skate level to when they join the hockey program, we try to give them the best pathway to make that transition. We have a great relationship.” Patterson said she is just as likely to field a call about hockey programs as she is to hear about figure skating opportunities.

“I have to be in tune with the public on what they want and what they want the facility to offer and try to keep people coming through our doors.”

Keeping skaters on ice through a pandemic The entire world had to figure out how to operate amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Ice Den management was aggressive in maintaining a relationship with their skaters and families to keep them involved in the sport. “We only closed down for two weeks total,” Patterson said. “We didn’t start classes until the summer (of 2020) and we kept everything at limited numbers, but we wanted people to feel safe and make sure they were comfortable coming into a good environment.”

“We got creative as best we could and kept communication open with our families to let them know we are going to come back as strong as we can,” she said. “We asked them to adapt with us and give us suggestions on how to make them comfortable when they come back.”

The future at the Ice Den Julie Patterson said that her focus in her position in charge of the two facilities is to provide what the public wants rather than hoping what the facility offers will appeal to the public. “We need to keep going where the interest is,” she said. “Team skating is huge right now, and we are trying to promote that in both our facilities. We have five synchro teams in Chandler this year.” The good news is that when you decide to move to the Phoenix area, you do not need to give up your love of ice skating.

Tara Patterson, the Director of Administration and Learn to Skate Manager, was in charge of developing programming for the sudden need for remote instruction. “Some of our coaches did Zoom classes, with students doing their work in their yard, some doing it in

PS MAGAZINE

Nutrition for Athletes During Puberty By Julianne Pondelli MS, RD, LDN

igure skating is a sport where athletes are intensely training at a younger and younger age. As coaches, we may start working with an athlete who is very young and gains success in the sport quickly. Even though skaters in esthetic sports tend to have delayed puberty, the athletes will eventually grow and develop. We can be better prepared to help them through this time if we know what to expect and how to coach them through it. Puberty is a period of rapid growth. For girls, this usually occurs around eleven and a half, but as early as eight and as late as fourteen. Boys tend to be about two years behind girls' development. Delayed puberty can be the result or combination of genetics, inefficient nutrition or overtraining. Whatever age it occurs, both boys and girls will have their adolescent growth spurt at the onset of puberty causing an increase in height and weight as well as change in weight distribution. There will also be hormonal shifts which can impact their emotional state and attitude. Team USA coach Tom Zakrajsek labels the normal attitude shift “storming, norming and reforming”. He defines it as “Storming because when a young adult challenges their parents or coaches it can sometimes create conflict. Norming because once things settle down and normalize the athlete is able to reform their attitudes and achieve even greater success in the sport.” There are both positive and negative effects that are associated with an athlete's performance once they go through puberty. The increase in muscle strength can have a positive impact, while there may be a decline in balance and control which can have a negative impact. Rapid increase in height and weight will change the body’s center of gravity, which will be especially noticeable in a sport like figure skating.

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

While the athlete is adjusting to the changes their body is going through, they may struggle with their skating. Jumps that were once easy may become inconsistent. Coach Tom believes they must “go back to the basics and re-learn every aspect of their technique as their brain is reforming. Sometimes coaches mistake this for them not putting in the effort, especially if they have previously excelled in the earlier stages of their career.” Tom believes this shift is “normal and the coach should be sensitive to helping them re-learn and understand their technique in a more refined way.” Puberty is temporary and the athlete will eventually adjust to their new developed height and muscle. In addition to technique development, coaches can help their athletes through puberty to help limit jump inconsistency and maintain stamina through off ice training and nutrition.

Off ice conditioning: Focusing on strength training and plyometrics at this time will help increase fitness levels that will compliment skating. By using and developing muscle, skaters will become acclimated to their growing body off the ice.

Energy: Ensuring athletes are eating the best possible

foods to fuel their skating while going through puberty. While they are growing, they will need more energy. Extra calories are required during growth spurts, as well as to replenish energy from skating. Consistent fueling can help to ensure that the athlete is not only getting enough energy to fuel their workouts, but also to grow and mature properly. An ideal distribution of macronutrients for athletic adolescents consists of 45-65 % carbohydrates (pasta, rice, grains) 10-30% protein, (lean meat, eggs, tofu) and 25-35% fat (olive oil, nuts, nut butter, and avocado). Athletes need more protein in their diet than their non-active peers.

During puberty, their appetite will no doubt increase. However, if skaters are not making healthy choices during this time when their body is craving more energy, this can lead to an excess in calories resulting in weight gain.

Vitamins and Minerals:

Adolescents need to ensure that they are getting enough calcium during puberty. Calcium will help to build strong bones and an adequate amount of Vitamin D is necessary to enhance calcium absorption. Encouraging reduced fat dairy or dairy free alternatives, such as chocolate milk, or soy milk, yogurt, as well as vegetables such as broccoli, and leafy greens that have high amounts of calcium. Mushrooms, salmon, and eggs are foods with Vitamin D. Here are some ideal meal suggestions that contain both calcium and vitamin D to ensure optimal absorption: An omelet with spinach and mushrooms, smoothie with soy milk and kale, milk and fortified cereal, and fish with broccoli. Deficiency in Vitamin D can lead to low levels of the hormone estrogen, causing hormonal shifts, fatigue, and mood swings. Estrogen regulates food intake, body weight, and glucose metabolism. Therefore, low vitamin D levels can cause changes in appetite, weight gain, and metabolism, so it is important the adolescent gets enough. Iron is another important mineral for all athletes, especially during puberty. Adolescent boys should get 11 milligrams of iron a day and teen girls should get 15 milligrams. Vegetarians and vegans need 1.8 times the standard amount of iron than those that eat red meat. Meats, seafood, and poultry are good sources as are beans, oats, lentils and pumpkin seeds for vegetarians. Foods high in Vitamin C such as strawberries, tomatoes, and broccoli can enhance iron absorption. Oatmeal with strawberries and nuts as well as a chicken, tomato, and broccoli stir fry are examples of meals that combine both iron and vitamin C. It is optimal if vitamins and minerals are consumed through food each day. However, a multivitamin is a good choice to ensure that athletes are not lacking in any micronutrients.

Tom Zakrajsek and Julianne Pondelli

We cannot control the changes that are occurring with the athlete’s body and neither can they. They are most likely feeling awkward and discouraged, so what they need most is a solid support system. Parents can support their skaters by providing healthy and nourishing meals while encouraging them to avoid empty calorie foods that will promote weight gain. Coaches should expect height and weight distribution changes within a normal limit and be supportive during these changes. Coach Tom says patience is key to coaching an adolescent through puberty. One of his proven techniques is asking for a percentage. “If the athlete is having a bad day and they feel like they’re at 55%, then he wants 100% of that 55%. That usually makes them smile and puts them in a mindset where they can try harder to execute any aspect of their skating to their full ability in the moment.”

Julianne Pondelli MS, RD, LDN is a Professional Figure Skating Coach and Registered Dietitian in the Boston area. She holds a PSA Registered Rating in MITF and FS and is an AFAA Certified Athletic Trainer. She is the Head Coach of Northeastern University’s Collegiate Figure Skating Club and coaches at many clubs in the Boston Area. Instagram: @skaternutrition

PS MAGAZINE

P ROF ESSIONAL S K ATE R S F O U NDATIO N

Officers, Board Members and Trustees PRESIDENT Patrick O'Neil VICE PRESIDENT Carol Murphy TREASURER Scott McCoy SECRETARY Gerry Lane BOARD MEMBER

Paul Wylie Carol Rossignol Tim Covington Kelley Morris Adair Jill Maier-Collins TRUSTEE

Richard Dwyer Robbie Kaine Wayne Seybold Moira North Curtis McGraw Webster Skaters' Fund – Donation Levels: • Platinum • Diamond • Gold • Silver • Bronze

$10,000+ $5,000+ $1,000+ $500+ $100+

Recognition opportunities for donors available The Professional Skaters Foundation (PSF) was founded to expand the educational opportunities of PSA members through a 501(c)(3) non-profit, charitable foundation.

The PS Foundation recently joined the Smile Amazon Program. Amazon donates 0.5% of all eligible purchases to a charity that you designate on the Smile.amazon.com website. AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support the PS Foundation every time you shop, with no additional cost to you. Simply go to smile.amazon.com from your web browser, choose the PS Foundation as your designated charity, and use your existing amazon. com account with all the same settings! We all shop on Amazon today; please consider choosing the PS Foundation as your designated charity and start shopping on smile.amazon. com! Please spread the word to family and friends!

A Mission to Assist

The deadline for all scholarships is February 15, 2022.

B Y P AT R I C K O ’ N E I L , P S F O U N D AT I O N P R E S I D E N T

he mission of the Professional Skaters’ Foundation is to assist coaches and performing skaters with educational opportunities or at times when they may find themselves in financial need due to sickness, disability, or age. Several scholarship opportunities have been established and it is the hope of the Foundation Trustees that each of you reading this article will take the time to read about the opportunities and then apply. THE DON LAWS APPRENTICE SCHOLARSHIP • Three merit-based scholarships available yearly • Direct expenses incurred for attending the PSA Apprentice Development Program at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, MN (travel, lodging, meals) • Awarded based on dedication to coaching, sound character, and ethical practices • Applicant must hold a Registered Rating or higher in any discipline • This scholarship focuses on the development of coaching skills • Apprentice with master-rated coaches and one-to-one time with mentors THE DAVID SHULMAN LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP • One scholarship available • Winner will be given the opportunity to attend a PSA Board Meeting as an observer • Winner will able to attend the annual PSA Summit, which includes: o Attendance at the PSA Awards Dinner o Participation in a “one-on-one” Q and A with Mr. Shulman or another past leader o Shadow a PSA leader o Receive travel to and from the summit and accommodation for up to three nights • Applicant requirements include: o Full member in good standing with the PSA o Hold a senior rating or higher in any discipline o Continue to stay committed and engaged as a leader in PS THE WALTER AND IRENE MUEHLBRONNER SCHOLARSHIP • Four scholarships available • Can be used for Ratings Prep, Seminars, Clinics, or Summit • Intended to reimburse associated fees to attend a PSA educational program • Eligible candidates must be: o Full member of the PSA for at least one year o Hold a registered rating or higher in any discipline o Proof of liability insurance o Completed their CERs for the current season THE SKATERS' FUND Founded by Coach Charles Fetter in 1998, The Skaters Fund assists all coaches and performing skaters who need financial assistance due to sickness, disability, or problems due to aging. Since its inception, The Skaters Fund has awarded over $248,000 in assistance to over 80 recipients. Charles Fetter passed in August of 2014 following a 12-year battle with cancer. Among his final wishes was that the Skaters Fund become a part of the PS Foundation and continue to provide assistance to coaches and performing skaters in need. Any coaches or performing skaters who find themselves in financial need due to illness, age or disability are welcome to apply for financial assistance. All coaches are strongly encouraged to apply for these scholarships.

A Community that Cares 28

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

WHY COACH HOCKEY PLAYERS? Excerpt taken from PSA Hockey Skating 1 manual

ockey skating coaches are in high demand, and figure skating coaches have the skating background necessary to become effective hockey skating coaches. You can achieve success in ice hockey by taking what you know about on-ice movement and transferring that information into a means of helping hockey players find the power, agility, and speed necessary for the game of ice hockey. There is a high demand for hockey skating coaches. Several factors exist that leave hockey players with little or no formal training in skating technique. Youth hockey organizations predominately rely on volunteer parents to coach their teams. Consequently, professional figure skating coaches have a unique opportunity to provide valuable and badly needed expertise to this related, but different sport. Many youth hockey organizations, coaches, parents, and players welcome the expertise that professional figure skating coaches offer.

The Benefits of Coaching Hockey Players • Rewarding—Hockey players and their parents generally recognize the positive impact skating instruction makes in their game performance. It is personally rewarding to witness the seconds on a stopwatch decrease as the skater masters a more efficient technique, or be there as a player makes a travel team for the first time as a result of improved skating skills. • Financially beneficial—Hockey skating coaches earn a salary for private and semi-private lessons that is comparable to figure skating coaches. As the professional hockey skating coach earns a reputation for success, opportunities to work with teams and hockey camps may also become available. Instructors committed to improving their players on ice performance will find hockey skating instruction a viable source of primary or secondary income. • Low maintenance—As a skills coach, hockey skating instructors are responsible for just one aspect of their players’ game: skating. Skating coaches are not required to travel to tournaments. There are no competition forms, music to cut, or programs to choreograph. There is a single responsibility: to help your students become the best skaters they have the potential to be.

• Increased credentials/ value—Professional instructors with multiple discipline backgrounds are valuable to both the skating public and the ice rinks that employ them. The more types of students an instructor can teach, the more students he or she is likely to have. • Can improve coaching ability—Figure skating coaches who work with hockey players are forced to expand their usual methods in order to explain skills to this different type of athlete. The exercise of adjusting the instruction can come back around to benefiting that coach in their original discipline by expanding the way they communicate with their figure skaters.

Ready to incorporate hockey skating lessons into your business? Start by pursuing the PSA Hockey 1, 2, and 3 e-learning certificate courses at skatepsa.com. Hockey 4 will be offered live at the 2022 PSA Summit in Chicago.

PS MAGAZINE

BEST BUSINESS PRACTICES

PSA Announces Updated Professional Standards W

hether you are an arena manager or director, a coaching member of the Professional Skaters Association, or just the parent of a figure skater, you have the right to expect that those with whom you have a working relationship will act in a professional manner. In fact, from a manager or parent’s perspective, the minimum standard expectation should be that hiring a coaching member of the PSA will provide you with a qualified, welleducated, and ethical coach. The links on this webpage serve as an educational resource regarding professional standards and the many issues and obstacles facing our industry today. These professional standards provide a framework for the conduct that is expected of each PSA member. These standards are the foundational principles, standards, and moral and ethical expectations for PSA members. As part of these professional standards, all PSA members are expected to abide by, engage in, and support, the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s and U.S. Figure Skating’s policies and codes of conduct. PSA members understand the importance of honorable behavior and respect those in their training environments accordingly. Members of PSA strive to help each skater realize their full potential as an athlete and individual. Therefore, as PSA member coaches we hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards including honesty, integrity, respect, and transparency in our professional relationships and activities; development of professional/coaching competence through a commitment to skill enhancement and continual learning; promotion of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in our programs and throughout the skating experience; and strict adherence to legal standards and governing body requirements.

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

As a PSA member, you agree to accept the following professional principles and standards: • Abide by the U.S. Center for SafeSport Code • Abide by U.S. Figure Skating’s standards and respect their policies • Abide by U.S. Figure Skating’s Code of Conduct • Abide by and recognize disciplinary action by ISU and foreign figure skating federations • Abide by all local, state, federal, and international laws It is your responsibility as a PSA member to self-report to PSA any criminal charge filed against you or any grievance or disciplinary proceeding initiated against you by any other skating governing body including, but not limited to, U.S. Figure Skating, ISU, or any foreign skating body.

RATED ADVENTURER

g n i t a R r u o y t Star t e l d n a y a d o t journey ! n i g e b e r u t n the adve The PSA Rating System is for coaches who want to validate their skating skill and teaching experience. Ratings are an assurance to clubs, rinks, skaters, parents, and the general public that the coach they hire is technically qualified to instruct at the level in which they are rated.

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CALENDAR of E V E N T S

NOVEMBER Date: Event: Credits: Deadline:

November 2, 2021 PSA Hockey Skating Refresher Webinar 1 PSA educational credit November 2, 2021

Date: Event: Credits: Lottery Opens:

November 14, 2021 PSA Virtual Ratings—All Levels of Free Skating & Moves in the Field 1 PSA credit per exam taken September 20, 2021

DECEMBER Date: Event: Credits: Lottery Opens:

December 12, 2021 PSA Virtual Ratings Prep—All Levels of Group, Program Director & Choreography 1 PSA credit per exam taken October 18, 2021

FEBRUARY Date: Event: Location: Credits: Deadline:

February 28- March 1, 2022 PSA Ratings Prep—Free Skating, Moves in the Field & Group LifeGuard Arena, Henderson, NV 18 PSA credits February 1, 2022

APRIL Date: Event: Credits: Lottery Opens:

April 24, 2022 PSA Pre-Summit Virtual Ratings—Registered & Certified Levels for All Disciplines 1 per exam February 21, 2022

MAY

Date: Event: Location: Credits: Deadline:

May 24, 2022 PSA Summit Ratings—Senior & Master Levels for All Disciplines Hyatt Regency Schaumburg–Chicago 1 per exam March 15, 2022

Date: Event: Credits:

May 25-27, 2022 PSA Summit— Chicago, IL Minimum of 21 PSA credits

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2021

Please visit www.skatepsa.com for the most current Calendar of Events

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www.skatepsa.com MOVES IN THE FIELD | FREE SKATING | GROUP

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A PUBLICATION OF THE PROFESSIONAL SKATERS ASSOCIATION

3006 Allegro Park Lane SW Rochester, MN 55902

202 2 S UMMIT

May 25–27

Chica go x

Join us in Chicago to reflect on where we've been and map out the path ahead. There will be hugging, laughing, learning, sharing... crying?

y e n r u Jo It's been a rough road; we won't judge. We'll bring the tissues and hugs!

take in a river boat tour.

More information at skatepsa.com/summit

November/December 2021 PS Magazine

Articles inside

Maribel's Basic Theory

The Skating Accommodation Memorandum

A Case for Self-Regard (And How to Build It)

PSA Announced Updated Professional Standards

Part 4: Dynamics of Skill Acquisition in Figure Skating

Why Coach Hockey Players?

Nutrition for Athletes During Puberty

Fritze Dietl Award Recipient: Ice Den Chandler

2022 PSA Summit

Carol Rossignol's Retirement

Framing, Healing, and Understanding One Another