by Alane Carin Swiderski, CAM, CAP, CSD
The writer, Alane Swiderski, in her element — on the ice — with a student.
PROFESSIONAL COACHES Are You Walking the Talk? S
OMETIMES IT SEEMS like it was just yesterday. After starting as a skate guard and then working my
way up to receptionist and any other job they’d give me for two to three years, I started as an instructor for the Skokie Skatium in 1993.
Tere were three coaches on the staff
about to go on maternity leave and after teaching alongside a veteran coach for one session of classes over the summer, I was assigned 17 classes for the fall session. If you registered for Pre Alpha, Alpha or Beta, you got me. Te only problem was that I didn’t really know how to teach — I knew how to skate.
LESSONS LEARNED
By year end, I had 20 private students. Tat was a sign of the times rather than a testament of my teaching ability. Te Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan shenanigans had started and the response from the American public was overwhelming. Unfortunately, I didn’t
keep most of my students for more than a year. Particularly through my first competition as a coach, I learned the hard way that what I was doing entailed a lot more work than I was prepared for. Many valuable lessons learned that first year or so shaped who I am as a professional and helped pave the way for my career.
Te greatest benefit of teaching the
class levels I did that first year was that I had to correct the mistakes I made in one level in the next, and in the next, and often again in private lessons. It was one thing to have to correct someone else’s mistakes but to fix my own was quite a jagged pill to swallow. I am passionate now about teaching skaters how to push properly the first time because it is just so darn hard to get them to stop pushing with their toe picks after they start. I also take a lot of time with crossovers and stroking because those basics carry into so many more elements, and it shows for many years to come if you cut corners to push them through.
As I have moved from coach to
director to administrator, it’s hard not to realize how lucky I was to have grown up professionally when and where I did. Great value had been placed on being professional and earning your stripes, not just to get in the door but every step of the way. Tis was the norm not only in the rink that I worked in but also in area rinks and the recreation industry at that time. Most of the Illinois rinks were run by park districts that were the frontrunners of entertainment and recreation opportunities. I was trained in customer service even as a skate guard, and we had dress codes from day one. First aid and emergency training were also standard issue. CPR was added to the slate for certain positions, such as instructor.
I was required to be an ISI Professional
member and attend seminars. District 8 ran a coaches education series with top- notch speakers such as Paula Wagner, Tom Hickey, Jimmie & David Santee, Dr. Balague, Janet Champion and so many
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