Club Wish List
Most serious skaters belong to a local figure skating club, where they pay dues in order to get testing and competition privileges. Since most skaters are under 21, the majority of the club members are minors. It makes sense that the local clubs cater to the youngsters since they make up most of the club membership.
I know that club leaders do their best and are made up of volunteers, and that I could run for the board to get my voices heard (I don’t have the time or the interest). Instead, I thought I’d write down a wish list of things I’d love to see our local club do. This is not meant to be a complaint-fest, but instead a list of ideas on how to make our club better.
- Celebrate our successes: Gossip travels fast, especially during test sessions. We never seem to know who passed their tests, and the club doesn’t post results. Our club used to congratulate skaters on the website, but that section hasn’t been updated in over a year. I’d love to see how skaters are progressing and how they place in competitions as well. We need to celebrate our skaters’ achievements.
- Recognize skaters’ major milestones: The club just displayed some new plaques that recognize skaters who have passed their Senior Moves, Senior Free Skate and Senior Dance tests. Um, what about the adults? And shouldn’t we all be invited to their gold medal ceremonies or receive an email about these major accomplishments so we can congratulate them?
- Maintain the website: Our website hardly gets updated, so it’s nearly impossible to stay up-to-date.
- Make the adult skaters feel included: I’m already a lefty skater in a righty world, so I know I’m already an oddball. But I feel even more left out as an adult skater in our local club. I meet other adult skaters through classes and practices, but I don’t feel connected to the rest of the club. There aren’t any adult-specific events or mixers, and as I mentioned earlier, most of the activities are geared toward the younger skaters. I’d love to feel like I’m part of something.
I am sure there are other things I’ve left out, but that is all I could think of right now. I’d love to hear your thoughts on whether my wish list is consistent with yours or if our club is unique with these gaps.
