QnA: When should my child start competitive skating?
ASK THE SKATING PRO
Q. My daughter is turning 6 yrs old and has been figure skating for the past four months. She passed Basic Level 3 skills test. She has a lot of speed, does a good waltz jump and spiral. Her instructor says she has progressed quickly and is ready to compete. Since I have nothing to compare her skill level to, it sounds a little soon to me to talk about competition skating. What do you think?
A. It sounds like your daughter is progressing quickly! Four months does seem a little soon, but realize that it may take several more months to get a program perfected enough to compete with. Most competitions do break down the groups by level and sometimes by age. In other words, she probably won’t be competing against someone with a far superior skill level. Many coaches encourage competitions early to keep students motivated and give them goals to pursue. Frequently, a competition will add new excitement and enthusiasm to skating. Explain to your coach that you want competitions to be an encouraging and a confidence building event. Knowing this, hopefully, they will make sure that your student is prepared before that very 1st competition!
a 6-YR-old with a waltz jump and speed after 4 months. So what? Give her a 9 months to a year. If she’s still progressing quickly and is begging to do competition at that point, consider it. Consider also the expense of 4-5 private lessons a week to start, as well as competition-worthy boots and blades, competition costumes and practice clothing that is AT LEAST as cool as all the other kids’, drive-time to the rink and wait-time at the rink while she takes lessons and practices, the cost of tests, competition entry fees and increased ice time, missed dinners with the rest of the family (remember them), even more lessons with choreographers to choreograph this program, –wow and I could go on! Now what do you think? Personally? I think this instructor is looking for some extra spending money.