The 4R's of the Rink Rat was created by Heather Lowe and i. They stand for....................

1. Recognition

Commitment to sport and school!

2.Responsibility

To ensure success!

3. Relaxation

To enjoy the journey!

4. Recovery

Take the time to keep healthy and balanced!

                                                                                                     ~KATIE SHIPSTAD~

In "my day" figure skating partners were matched together as chldren and stayed together through thick and thin.  Examples of this include Tai Babilonia & Randy Gardner and JoJo Starbuck & Kenneth Shelley. 

Today, if a girl gets too big for a boy, OUT she goes.  If a boy is too old for a girl, OUT he goes.  Even if the team may have won a national medal together, and shows potential, there may we partner switching.

I'm not sure if I'm for or against "musical figure skating partners."  What are your thoughts? 

Worlds: what, huh, why, I don't get it...

  Did you think Worlds was fair? I sure did not! Mao Asada did a triple axel and a triple triple combo! I Joannie shouldn't have been placed so high, She did not do any Triple triple combo. Miki Ando did really good! Fumie Sugurie should have been placed higher. Especially, Alena Leonova should have been place higher. I like Alena the most other than Yu-na Kim. Alena Leonova did awesome with her jumps, spins, and connection with the audience! Also, Brian Joubert did really good except for a fall on only a plain old easy double axel. Patrick Chan should not have betten Brian Joubert. Chan messed up a couple times and had no quads. Brian was talking that: People that don't have quads are chicken. That isn't true but quads give you tons of points. Tomas Verner did a beautiful quad-triple combo! It was amazing! He should have done better in the short!    

What do you think..?  Answer by leaving your comment Now!

Marty Martino died at about 10:30 PM on Sunday, March 1, 2009.   He coached skating in Colorado Springs, Colorado for many, many years.   He was 71 years old at the time of his death.  Martino taught at the old Broadmoor World Arena and then at Sertich Ice Center.  He had many students and also taught several adult figure skaters. 

He died surrounded by his students, who cried and laughed as they shared many "Marty" stories.

Marty Martino never married.  One of his students commented that it was beautiful that a man who never married was in a room full of women who loved him during his final moments.

_{Marty Martino With His "Last Little Competitor" Hannah Johnson - Photo Courtesy of Theresa Johnson}

We go through life looking from the inside out rather than the outside in.  One of my favorite quotes is

"Lord, make me the man my dog thinks I am"  Author unknown

What motivates you to skate and train everyday?  Is it competition? Is it a new jump?  Tell your true motivation.

I received this question a few days ago:

"My daughter is just getting ready to test Juvenile.  She is 13 1/2 years old.  Our rink has no ice dance, no partners, and no synchronized skating.  She wants to go on with her skating, but there is nothing here for her.  Given her age and test level, would it be worth it to move to a town that offers these disiplines?  Has she she gotten too old to be competitive?  Our highest level coaches only skated to Juvenile, and that was 30 years ago.  Our club is currently ISI, with practically no US Figure Skating."

In my opioion, if this skater wants to follow her dream, she is going to have to move.  What are your thoughts?

Further Reading: 

• Am I Too Old to Begin Figure Skating?
• Should figure skaters relocate to train?
• "Robbed of a Figure Skating Dream"

Hi All! 

I am so thrilled to be starting a new blog here on figure skating 360!! Although I write for several different blogs (including Lake Placid Skater, my main blog) I will try to keep everyone updated and at least provide links to LP Skater or one of the other blogs I contribute to. 

The exciting news of the week in Lake Placid is the opening of the Olympic Oval.  Every year around December, the ORDA crew busily starts preparing the ice for two months of speed skating and public skating on the 400 Meter oval. This year, the activity started at the beginning of this week, when the crew started to sweep off the ice. Then the "ice truck" was brought onto the ice to slowly go around the track, dripping water slowly and evenly to fill the ice. The crew continues to add layers until the ice is smooth and even. For photos, visit Lake Placid Skater. 

The oval should be opening this weekend for speed skating and public skating. There is a speed skating marathon this weekend in the mornings, and public skating in the afternoon. For more info, check out the Lake Placid Speed Skating Club website and my blog, Lake Placid Skater. 

For info about schedules, visit orda.org. 

Have a happy holiday!

LP SKATER

yesterday, the skating and Colorado community lost a dear friend, Haley Rose Gans.  Haley was a kind, loving, compassionate friend and she will be missed dearly.  Her love for sport and life is a reminder that we need to embrace the present and live it up.  Haley, you will live eternally in our hearts and minds. 

Last night, my family went to an ice skating party in honor of 2-time Olympic Pair Skating Champion and 6-time World Pair Skating Champion, Aleksandr Zaitsev.  We had so much fun.  It also made me realize that figure skaters forget to have fun at the ice rink.  I recommend that every once in awhile, that serious figure skaters go to a public ice skating session and play!

Social ice dancing is a great way to have fun on the ice.  It's also a great way to make friends.  When I was growing up, social ice dance sessions were everywhere.  I miss those days!   

• What is Social Ice Dancing?
• How to Become an Ice Dancer

When the US Women's Ice Hockey Team won the Olympics in 1998, I got a bright idea!  I decided to try skating on hockey skates.

I bought a good pair of ice hockey skates and was pleasantly surprised!

I found that skating on hockey skates was easy for me because I was a figure skater.

Eventually, I was teaching hockey players to skate. I helped them with their power.  They found that the figure skating "secrets" I taught them made them better, stronger, and faster.

Then I got brave -- I began trying figure skating moves on hockey skates. I was really excited when I realized I could do sit spins, ice dances, and figures on ice hockey skates.

When I was pregnant, my feet swelled up. My feet didn't fit in my figure skates, but I skated on hockey skates until the day my daughter, Annabelle, was born!

• Top 10 Figure Skating Moves on Ice Hockey Skates

_{Jo Ann Schneider Farris Doing a Spiral on Hockey Skates - Photo Copyright © Jo Ann Schneider Farris}

Did you know that figure Skating can be practiced off the ice with PIC® Skates?  Have you ever skated on PIC® Skates or inline figure skates? Share your experiences in the comment section of this post.

• Video of Nathalie Biedermann Skating on PIC® Skates  
• Video of Figure Skating on PIC® Skates and on Ice Skates

_{PIC® Skating -- Copyright © The PIC® Skate Company}

It comes around. 

A student of mine came in to our rink wearing one of the most interesting jackets I had ever seen.  She was from out of town, like many of the people at my work, and I was instantly fond of her jacket.  The jacket has unique markings and is a classic for sure.  I complimented her nearly every day and one day I had a surprise from her.  It was a jacket just like hers and I was totally amazed. 

You see, this is no ordinary jacket.  In order to have a jacket like this, you have to be a part of one our countries most prestigious ski schools.  Luckily her father is an instructor and what do you know, I got lucky. 

I wore my jacket everyday.  To work, during work, heck, I even wore it home.  One evening I accidentally left the jacket on a chair as it was late in the day and I was ready to go home.  I truly forgot I had left it on the chair.  I came into work the next day and was totally upset not knowing where my jacket was.  I of course told the proper authorities and was on a search.  I did let my colleagues know as well that it must have been misplaced.  I gave everyone the benefit of the doubt and held only myself accountable.  I checked lost and found daily, even three times a day.  I had to stay positive, keep lookin' and figured, it'll come around

So I was at work in the late afternoon about a month after my jacket had gone missing.  One of my colleagues was frantically running to me and was banging on the glass, which was very odd.  She pointed to a gentleman wearing a jacket like mine.  I thought, noway could this be happening so I went over to check it out and sure enough, there it was.  As I went to the authority in the building, two adults came to me and said the same thing, that guy is wearing your jacket.  I was absolutely floored and elated.  Soon after, I was able to get my jacket back.  I couldn't believe my jacket appeared in such a bizarre fashion.  I certainly let the person wearing my jacket know that I would give him a jacket if he needed but that I wanted mine back.  You might ask, how did you know it was yours?  Well, I knew the markings and one of them was extremely obvious.    These jackets were a part of a ski school and they had special marking inside.  What are the odds that this amazing gift would be found in such a bizarre way.

I washed the jacket and it occupies my back everyday at work. 

It just goes to show you that if you are persistent and positive, it comes around

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly.
AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." - Nike Ad

It seems the more I watch figure skating - the more I just do not get the judging.  Sometime they seem to get it exactly right...other times they are so far off it boggles the mind.  I have caught most of the Figure skating events for the Vancouver Olympics and particularly, with the pairs competition, the judging just was so off IMO....I do think the right team got the gold - but I think that there was a lot that they got wrong.

On the other hand, the judging for the men's competition seemed much closer to right on.  I think that Johnny Wier got ripped off a little (I thought he should have been 4th)...but over all very fair.

I am anxious to see the Women's competition and will be paying particular attention to the judging...I think it might be cool to be chatting on FigureSkating360.com while the Women's competition is on...I am not sure if NBC will be showing it at the same time across the country, but if so - it would be great to chat with everyone while it is going on.  So if you can - join me in the chat room on Tuesday night.

ok, here is a funny one. While away at a competition, Becky, Alexe and myself had done a little shopping and needed to drop off the bags. Alexe's room was the nearest so we thought we would put them in there. Alexe put the plastic card key in a few times with no luck. I then tried my luck, gave it a rub or two on my shirt to maybe create static, and no luck. Becky then tried her luck with the key and once again, nothing.  We decided to go downstairs and have the front desk give us another key since the one we were using didn't work. Alexe proceeded to han dit to the clerk and upon seeing the key, the clerk said"this key is not for our hotel, it is for another hotel". Alexe looked at it and sure enough, it was her key from the hotel she stayed in the week before. hah, what goofballs we were. 

I usually boast about one of my own three kids, but today I'm going to boast about my brother, Billy's daughter Phoebe Schneider!

Yesterday, 8-15-09, Phoebe became the US National Showcase Champion! (Unfortunatelly, my family is on vacation in California and my parents are in Illinois, so we didn't get to be at the event.)

The way my sister-in-law, Amy, described it is as follows:

Phoebe won the qualifying round. She advanced to the finals and won that too.

That qualified her for the Parade of Champions which was like an ice show with spotlights. All the winners performed.

Everyone waited in anticipation to find out who would win the entire competition. (This reminds me of a Miss America Pageant.)

The podium was set up at center ice. No one knew who the winners were. 4th place was announced. Then 3rd. Then 2nd. Then the announcement came:

"The National Showcase Junior Parade of Champion's Champion is Phoebe Schneider!"

Phoebe skated out to receive her award and "Mr. Debonair" Richard Dwyer interviewed her in front of a the audience! The President of US Figure Skating presented the awards! Phoebe is a US National Champion!

The entire Schneider family is SO EXCITED and HAPPY for Phoebe! We also know that Billy and Amy and Charlie must be so very proud.

In celebration of Adult Nationals week, today's topic is off-ice training for the adult skater. Adult figure skating has taken off in the US and many countries in the last ten years, and will only continue to grow. For those of you who haven't seen the high levels of adult competition, you would be in for a surprise. In the highest level, championship masters, the men have completed triple jumps, and the women double axels in the past few years. And the competition should only get better in the years to come.

Adult skaters have a greater need for off-ice training because, as a skater gets older, he or she is more susceptible to injury. Muscles get tighter, joints break down, bones get weaker, and the body requires more strengthening and stretching to keep it healthy. The problem for adult skaters is the lack of time to skate, balance a family, work, and do off-ice training! I have met some amazing adult skaters over the years who have managed to fit it all in. Completing an off-ice program, whether it be 30 or 60 minutes, one to three days per week, will help to keep an adult skater injury free and risk losing precious training time. Appropriate functional exercises will increase stability of the lower extremities and help to prevent osteoporosis, increase joint nutrition, and best of all- improve your balance, strength, and stability to better your skating! A good training program will create a balance of flexibility and strength in a skater's body, to avoid imbalances that can occur by skating too much. (For example, the ITB muscle and hip flexors can become tight, leading to knee or hip problems).

Sk8Strong created "Adult Training" because many adults complained of products or seminars not being targeted towards adults. I follow the Adult exercise program 2-3 times per week, and I assure you it is not easy if you challenge yourself with the exercise progressions. When most people hear the word 'Adult', they think the exercise program is simplified, but that is not the case. The main difference between "Adult Training" and "The Competitive Skater" is the reduced number of plyometric exercises for adults, as adults don't need to pound on their lower extremities with plyos. The difficulty of the majority of the exercises is the same, just catered to adults to prevent injury.

Good luck to all adult competitors this week, and congrats for all of your accomplishments, whether you are a bronze, silver, gold, or masters skater!

A friend of mine recently went to a Basic Skills ice skating competition and filmed a bunch of other skaters so she could study what was required at a certain level.   A week later, she was told by the parent and coach of one the skaters she filmed that what she did was not correct procedure. 

Did she do anything wrong?

Today, I heard (through my rink's gossip chain) that a talented single skater had decided to leave his singles behind and just dance.

I spent the day thinking about how tough this decision must have been.   Should that little boy give up doing singles at a young age?  Dance may always be there, but time and age take the chance to do singles away.  Jumps and spins don't come back.

I decided to become an ice dancer when I was very young, but there was something in me that said, "Don't give up your singles.  Work on tests.  Go as far as you can in singles.  Don't give up."  I never wanted to be labeled as "The Ice Dancer."  I wanted to be "The All-Around Skater." 

Later in life, being known as an ice dancer did affect my chance at getting parts in ice shows and even may have labeled me at certain rinks I taught at.  I always made it clear that I could jump and spin, and that I had gone far in my figure tests.  

Our sport has changed.  In "my day" it was just not "that cool" to just be an ice dancer. 

Is making the decision to just do dance okay?  What are your thoughts?

  Do you like footwork or spirals better...?

Here are some definition or spirals and footwork.

Spirals: is an element in figure skating when the skater glides across the ice on the left or right foot raising the

leg above hip level. There are different spiral postitions while the skater glides.

footwork: Difficult steps in figure skating, done across the ice or around. There are different moves completed.

You can tell me your answer and whyn by adding a comment. You can not put that you like both :) !

People are getting borred of plain old spirals...

The Schneider-Farris family spent most of Monday 3-23-09 watching the official practice sessions at the 2009 ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

We saw Jeremy Abbott, Evan Lysacek, Brandon Mroz, Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto, Meryl Davis & Charlie White, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, Mao Asada, Miki Ando, Qing Pang & Jian Tong, and many other great skaters!

We can't wait for the rest of the week to happen!

_{The Schneider-Farris Family at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships - March 23, 2009 - Photo Copyright © JO ANN Schneider Farris}

Drama can take place in an alternative "not so healthy" skating world in an ice arena's stands.   Figure skaters and their parents should do their best to not participate in skating rink gossip.

_{Skating Rink Bleacher Gossip - Photo Copyright © JO ANN Schneider Farris}

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
-John Wooden

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.

-Coach Wooden

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.

-Dr. Napoleon Hill

Everyone has a reason to figure skate. Some people just like the feeling of gliding on the ice. Other people like getting exercise inside an ice rink.

Most figure skaters like spinning and jumping. Many say that figure skating is challenging and there are always new things to learn.

There are a few people that skate because they have a parent that forces them to do it; there are others who wish they had the money to skate.

I feel sorry for people who can't skate or live in areas where ice skating does not exist since figure skating has given me so much pleasure.

Why do you skate?

• Join the Discussion - Why Do You Like to Figure Skate?

Parents of figure skaters should follow certain behavior guidelines.

A parent must be a positive role model for those new to figure skating. For example, it is unnacceptable to stand at the barrier and yell at your children or other coaches during practice sessions.

Many parents don't know that it is wrong to solicit private lesson students for another coach. A parent should not encourage a skater to leave his or her existing coach for someone else.

Parents need to teach their children to support other skaters and to respect coaches and rink personnel.

Parents should show good sportsmanship and pass a positive attitude on to their children.

Of course, the most important guideline is to get along with everyone involved in figure skating.

• Figure Skating Parent Behavior Guidelines  
• Your Responsibilities as a Skating Parent from U.S. Figure Skating  
• U.S. Figure Skating Parents Code of Conduct

"When I race my mind is full of doubts - who will finish second, who will finish third?"

-Noureddine Morceli (Algerian athlete, 1996 Summer Olympics)

Moide is a dork, and where is Jane's photo?

The plane ride from Denver to Frankfurt was extraordinarily long. Like 10 hours at least. Maybe got 1 hour worth of sleep. Not enough to write home about. The flight from Frankfurt to Verona was potentially the prettiest because the Alps are so beautiful in the winter. \
The drive from Verona was painless. We had dinner at a pizza joint called La Vie I believe. I had an incredible calzone unlike any calzone you typically get in the states. It was super light and crispy. I could have one of those every day for the rest of my life. Today, we had a practice and did an off-ice. More practice tomorrow then Paul competes on sat and sunday. More to come.

Today, Sunday, December 13, 2009, is a day of packing.  You see, I've been packing to prepare to go to the 2010 US Junior National Figure Skating Championships. This is the third year in a row that my children, Rebekah and Joel Schneider-Farris, have qualified for the competition.

I feel like an "experienced Junior Nationals mom" now! It should be exciting and fun since my brother, Billy's son, Charlie Schneider, also qualified and my parents are coming! We will enjoy being together.  This is a real "Schneider Family Skating Affair!"

Kaleidoscope, a celebration of skating, music and cancer survivorship is airing on Fox, Thanksgiving afternoon at 4pm. Help support women taking action for their health while watching Olympic stars Scott Hamilton & Dorothy Hamill return to the ice for the first time in years since their cancer diagnosis...

Joining them will be Olympic Champions and hopefuls Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan, Viktor Petrenko, Merly Davis and Charly White, Rachel Flatt and Brandon Mroz!

On November 20, 2009, while we were in Wichita at the 2010 Midwestern Figure Skating Championships, the Broadmoor Skating Club skaters were notified that a fellow training mate and club member died tragically in a skiing accident at 11:45 AM in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Just last weekend, Haley's mother, Pat, had written on Facebook that her family had hit the slopes. In her post, she described the joy the family had experienced on top of a mountain in Colorado. On Monday, I told Pat that I saw her post and wished I could take my family skiing soon. She and I chatted about skiing and Pat had told me that the family had purchased season passes for Breckenridge. I replied that our family\\\'s ski trips would have to be put on hold until after Junior Nationals.

Haley Gans was only fourteen years old. She was a beautiful person that was loved by everyone she touched.

The first time I met Haley was on the ice during the summer of 2006 or 2007. I was teaching Annabelle or Rebekah or Joel on a freestyle. We happened to say hello to Haley at the the music machine. Haley commented how great a skater Annabelle was!

Later on, I learned that Haley was deaf, but lived the life of a hearing person since she had cochlear implants surgically implanted in her ears. A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing.

Like my own children, Haley had always been homeschooled, and I also discovered that her mother Pat and I had similar homeschooling styles. We both knew what unschooling was and used that style of homeschooling some of the time.

Just last summer, for her 14th birthday, Haley had a huge birthday party at Water World in Denver. I was so impressed with the party. Haley invited many of the Broadmoor skaters that were close to her age. She seemed to be overjoyed that so many kids wanted to celebrate her birthday with her. Rebekah had a wonderful time. Pat mentioned that she hoped Rebekah and Haley would get to spend more time together since the two girls were so much alike.

This year in particular, I had the joy of seeing Haley skate every day with Larry Ibarra. She and Larry skated at the same time as Rebekah and Joel on the 9:00 AM Dance/Pairs Session at the Colorado Springs World Arena. Larry was teaching Haley everything about pair skating. Each day Haley got better and better. She jumped in the clockwise direction, but Larry did amazing things with her! They would do throws in Haley\\\'s jumping direction, but death spirals in Larry's. The lifts they did were incredible.

Larry recently had gone to Florida with Haley and her family for a pair try-out. Haley so much wanted to find a pair partner and compete.

Just before we left for Midwesterns, Rebekah wore a new waltz dress to the rink. Haley loved Rebekah's dress and told Rebekah how pretty she looked in it. Also, she and Pat wished us well. That was only a few days ago...

My entire family loved Haley. Everyone loved her. My family's thoughts are for Pat and John Gans and Haley's siblings, Rebekah and Jake.

----------------------

From the Denver Post 11-20-09

Girl Dies After Ski Accident At Breckenridge

A 14-year-old Colorado girl has died after an accident on an intermediate trail at Breckenridge Ski Resort. Haley Rose Gans, from Colorado Springs, was skiing on the Spruce Trail, a blue intermediate trail, when she apparently skied into a tree. The resort said ski patrol was summoned to the trail at 11:48 a.m. Friday. Gans was taken to Breckenridge Ski Resort, where she was pronounced dead. Witnesses said the teen was skiing very fast and into a tree. The cause and manner of death are pending investigation, but are related to blunt force trauma of the chest. Gans was wearing a helmet.

Are you a figure skater?  If you are, do you know that your life is on display?  People watch you.  No matter what your age is or what your skating level is, keep in mind that you are someone's role model ON and OFF the ice.

This also means that what you do on the internet is also on display.  If you take part in FigureSkating360, keep in mind that what you do there is public.  Also, be up front about who you are.  Do not pretend to be someone else on the internet or on FigureSkating360. 

One of the coaches at my rink does everything "team style."  It's common to see her skaters cheering and banging the boards when someone lands a difficult jump or completes a difficult spin.  When her group goes to competition, there is a cheering section that includes that coach's skaters and families. 

Recently, other coaches at my rink have copied that coach.  As Sectionals is getting close, there is a lot of clapping and cheering and banging of the boards going on at the rink.

I think that is GREAT!

Unfortunately, not everyone at the rink is part of the groups that are doing the cheering.  The members of the club are excited for everyone, but still, some kids are not getting equal attention.  I've heard that someone complained to the management that certain kids are getting too much attention.

What are  your thoughts?  Should we cheer for other skaters?

I feel so stupid. Last Sunday morning I got up early to do some professional writing. I opened my email and then I opened Facebook. After doing the "fun stuff," I planned to get to work.

A sweet person I know who is in my Facebook account (who I thought was a figure skater) popped up in the chat window. She said she had a financial emergency. She'd been mugged while on vacation in London and needed to borrow money to get back to the U.S.

I told her I had no extra funds, but would do everything I could do to help. I began writing announcements and blog posts announcing her emergency. I even called a person I knew who lived in London who I thought could help her.

It took about 3 hours!

Then I wrote the email address she gave me as contact info (she said her cell phone was stolen and to contact her via email) to let her know of what I'd done to help.

She wrote me in response to that email and told me it WAS A SCAM! She didn't need any money! Someone had broken into her Facebook and email accounts and had contacted all her friends!

I wasted 3 good hours on a Sunday!

I feel very violated. I was talking to a total stranger in a Facebook chat window who was pretending to be someone I knew!

No more live chats for me!

I've been contacted by the producer of a television reality show.  He wants to highlight and follow young figure skaters, ages 7 and 8 (maybe 9 or 10 if they are really cute) who are at the Pre-Preliminary and Preliminary levels.  If you are interested, contact Michael Goldstein at michaelg@authentictv.com.  Happy Skating!

On Friday, 6-5-09, the Colorado Springs World Arena held a Patch session. It may have been the first Patch Session held at the rink in about ten years.  All 20 patches were sold. There was room for me to buy a patch for myself though. I used our family's scribe (now a collector's item!) and scribed circles for me and my own 3 kids. I had fun laying out figures! I wish there had been more time, since I did have time for change double threes, but would have loved to have got to rockers, counters, and change brackets!

• What Was a Patch Practice Session Like When Ice Skaters Practiced Figures?
• What Is a Patch?
• What Is a Scribe?
• I Loved "Doing Patch"

This is the fourth summer in a row that I've pre-signed up my children for ice time at the Colorado Springs World Arena.  Every year, I do it at about the same time as tax time.  With three kids, doing taxes takes less time than filling out the World Arena forms!  It does take advance planning, but my children do get a great summer skating experience!

• Before You Skate in the Summer
• Summer Skating Programs and Camps for Figure Skaters

Some pair skaters also do ice dancing, and some ice dancers also do pairs. In the past, skaters who did not like to jump, chose ice dancing, but in recent years that is changed. Both disciplines require strong skating skills.

• What Is the Difference Between Ice Dancing and Pair Skating?
• All About Pair Skating
• How to Become an Ice Dancer
• Elements of an Ice Dancing Free Dance

My family had a great time in Los Angeles at Worlds!

• Memories From the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles

      Have you seen any of the videos on the video page on figure skating 360 yet? Look at the wonderfull, astonishing, beautiful and awesome Tink and Snow white! They love to have fun and they are full of joy and happiness! Tinkerbell is Talstarr and Snow White is Ola. Ola the technical producer that is the one in charge of everything! The Show is a crazy club creation! There is a group Crazy Club of 2009 that YOU can join! Also join Tink's and Snow White's Fan club page! It is awesome you Know! Tell us some more ideas!

Check it OUT!

Did you know that the mohawk turn is REALLY named after American Indians!?

• Why is the Ice Skating Turn "Mohawk" Named After an American Indian Tribe?
• Mohawk Definition
• Drawing of a Mohawk Turn

_{Drawing of a Mohawk Turn - Courtesy of Artist Larisa Gendernalik}

Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

-john wooden

Figure skating coach, Charles Crawford, has much to be thankful for. He is able to walk and be on the ice. Just a few years ago, Crawford was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Doctors didn't believe he'd walk again.

• Charles Crawford - An Ice Skating Coach Living With Multiple Sclerosis

_{Charles Crawford and Family - Photo by Jo Ann Schneider Farris}

There are many "don'ts" when the time comes to make a switch:

Don't start working with someone else before telling your existing private lesson coach that you are going to make a switch. Don't tell your existing coach you are going to take a break from lessons and then start working with someone else.   Don't leave a message on an answering machine or send an email saying you are changing coaches.

Further Reading:

• How to Switch Figure Skating Coaches
• Choose an Ice Skating Coach
• Choosing a Competitive Figure Skating Coach
• Find a Coach for a Serious Recreational Skater
• Become a Figure Skating Coach
• Changing Coaches by Kathy Casey

Are you going to Worlds? Have you bought your tickets yet? Time is running out.

To Purchase Tickets for the 2009 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, contact:

Tatum Yount
Account Executive, Staples Center
Phone: (213) 742-7578
tyount@aegworldwide.com

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

-Coach Wooden (my personal favorite quote he's spoken.)

"You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day."

-Marian Wright Edelman

"Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can't be two people. Instead you have to inspire the next guy down the line, and get him to inspire his people."

- Lee Iacocca