To become a member of USFS, you must join either through a skating club, or as a individual.
United States Figure Skating is the Congressionally appointed governing body for figure skating in the U.S..
Dues start at abour $45.00, and each club has their own fees. Professional and Associate memberships are also available for coaches and those who primarily belong to another club. Family memberships are usually available.
The purpose of a skating club is to provide a support for skaters. Most clubs have a board of directors, a junior board and other volunteers who look after club finances, schedule tests, organize and run competitions, and arrange for officials and judges to be at events. Parents and Skaters are often involved with these responsibilities, and the volunteer participation is vital to maintaining a good, supportive skating club.
A skater must be a USFS eligible member in good standing in order to reach the officially recognized competitive levels leading to the Olympics and International competition.
USFS events involve larger numbers of competitors and are more intense.
Events are offered in Basic levels, and 8 levels of competition: Pre Preliminary, preliminary, Pre-Juvenile, Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice, Junior and Senior. Events are offered on local, regional, national and international levels.
In USFS, Judges are not coaches, and must pass rigorous tests to be appointed to their positions.
Skating clubs are not affiliated with specific rinks, though many are "based" at one or more rinks, and may have a bulletin board of information posted. Many clubs regularly purchase ice time designated for club use. If you are a member of a club, you can skate on "club ice" and pay the member rate. If you do not belong to the club, you may have to pay a little bit more. This helps to fund various club programs and events throughout the skating season. You can look up skating clubs in the U.S here: Skating Clubs on the web
There are two organizations for Figure Skating in the United States.
ISI (Ice Skating Institute), and United States Figure Skating (USFS). USFS is officially appointed by Congress as teh recognized governing body for Figure Skating in the United States. In order to take recorded tests, compete, and perform, a skater must join one of these organizations.
Both organizations require a membership fee, and charge for each test level taken. There are differences in each organization of which a skater must be aware when choosing what path to take in skating.
Skating is much more than just a sport . . . it's artistic as well! When you skate, you perform athletic moves like jumps and spins. But it's also important to learn grace and poise. Ballet and dance classes can help you learn these. Daily stretching exercises are also very important in order to stay limber. Strength training through cardiovascular workouts (exercise that maintains your heart rate at a high level for more than 30 minutes at a time) is very important in order to build your endurance. Then when you go to competitions, tests or performances, you don't run out of steam too early!
Practice, Practice, Practice! No matter how many lessons you might take, nothing can substitute for the time you spend practicing. You can practice at home too by watching your movements in a mirror and remembering to stretch on a daily basis!
* * Competition entry & coaching fees vary and are the sole responsibliy of the skater
ISI is the "recreational" side of skating. Membership is very affordable at $13.00 annually per person. A skater is considered a member of the ice rink where they sign up, and competes for that rink's "team" at various events.
Many ice rinks model their group classes based on ISI's Learn to Skate program, and offer membership applications, testing, competition and more.
When a skater takes a test, they receive a badge. They are then eligible to skate at that particular level in competition.
Skating levels start at Tot, Introductory, and Pre-Alpha, and continue on to Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Freestyle 1 through 10, increasing in difficulty.
Events are offered on local, regional, national and international levels.
In ISI, coaches volunteer as judges at events.
ISI Competitive groups are broken down by ability level as well as by age. Competitors have opportunity to build up their confidence, and develop more performance and competition experience.
Practice Ice
Practice times are usually available at ice rinks on daily basis. Club Ice is one option, Freestyle sessions (figure skaters only) are usually held in the early morning and late afternoons, and on public sessions. Public skating is usually the best bet for your money because the sessions are about 2 - 4 hours long and cost about the same as a Freestyle or Club Ice session. The only drawback to public sessions is the occasional crowd. Skaters of all ages and abilities are welcome to skate on a public session, which can make the ice difficult to navigate if you plan on practicing a skating program. Also, there are exceptions, but generally public sessions do not allow competition music to be played unless it is not crowded.
Competition
Competition is a great opportunity to showcase all the hard work you have put in during practice time. You have tested, trained and psyched yourself up for it, and now it's your turn to have the ice all to yourself! It is also a wonderful opportunity to learn about yourself, your own motivation and self-discipline, and what you can accomplish.
There is a lot of hard work that goes into an event for each skater. And even though the skater is the one on the ice, it is, and should be a team effort. A team consists of the skater, the parent(s), and the coach. Each of these people is very important in making the competition a success. And it is also important to realize the definition of the word success. If you practiced hard, focused yourself mentally, and did your best during the event(s), and had a good time, then you have succeeded! Winning a medal is a very nice feeling, and it is always something to strive for, but it should not be looked at as the reason to enter a competition.
Competition can lead to many opportunities to do better in skating, eventually skate in a show, or even head to the elite level of world competition. The experiences you have along the way are what make it interesting. If you have a good competition story to share, please send it to me and I will post it on the STORIES page.
