Coaches College 2020
by Taylor Kennedy
This past weekend, U.S. Figure Skating held its annual Coaches College for synchro coaches. While the weekend was originally set to be held in Colorado Springs, CO, the event moved online for three days of Zoom calls due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The weekend began on Thursday night with a call for junior and senior coaches in the ISP with USFS staff to discuss the upcoming season. On Friday, coaches of preliminary, pre-juvenile, and open juvenile teams were invited to a ‘New to IJS’ seminar as these divisions will be competing under that system this season.
Friday afternoon continued as all coaches in attendance learned about domestic and international rule changes for the 2020-21 season. This included an overview of changes made just for this season to help teams navigate a non-traditional season as a result of COVID-19 as well as domestic and international changes to program requirements and technical calls for IJS teams. The USFS Competition Committee also gave an update on planning for the competitive season where it stands now as individual competitions determine guidelines for health and safety. Friday ended with a virtual happy hour where coaches had an opportunity to connect with one another.
Saturday started with two sessions for all coaches before the afternoon’s breakout sessions. In the first session, called ‘Synchro Life Hacks’ coaches of different levels and from different sized organizations spoke about how they, their coaching staff, and their teams have adapted to a COVID-19 season. The biggest takeaway from this session was the understanding that this season will look different for everyone without frequent competitions, exhibitions, and team events to look forward to. What everyone on the panel spoke about was their desire to create an enjoyable season for their skaters nonetheless by maintaining the culture of their organizations and focusing on the things they can do rather than what they can’t.
Saturday afternoon’s breakout sessions covered a variety of topics, from a session on IJS math, a Q&A with DREAM Skaters, a lesson on maximizing component scores, and a discussion on the pipeline for skaters and teams. The weekend ended with closing remarks from the staff at USFS and best wishes for the season ahead.
From all of the weekend’s sessions, two overarching themes emerged – emphasis on younger skaters and the pipeline and how to plan for a season impacted by COVID-19. As preliminary, pre-juvenile, and open juvenile teams prepare to compete under IJS for the first time, several sessions throughout the course of the weekend covered just about every detail of the IJS. Several sessions run both by USFS staff and panel discussions from coaches highlighted USFS’ considerations for competitions this season and coaches gave tips on how to train when teams can’t connect on the ice and need to enforce social distancing.
While the weekend’s Zoom format did not allow for as many one-on-one connections and conversations an in-person event would have, there were still opportunities to connect with coaches from across the country. It was nice to hear from other coaches about their plans for the season, particularly other collegiate coaches as we have the extra layer of university restrictions and requirements to contend with.
This was my first year attending Coaches College and I ended the weekend inspired to work with my skaters during this nontraditional season, to create experiences for them that bring them together as a team – whether that’s virtual or on the ice – and to remind them why they skate in the first place.