Survival of the Skating Parent

Hello from Buffalo......

One of the first meetings of the day was "Survival of the Skating Parent." It was presented by Kelly Rippon who is a motivational speaker and a life coach. She also happens to be the mother of six children, one of whom is Adam Rippon our current Junior World Champion. She had a very interesting perspective on parenting a skater.

She said that parents should feel satisfaction in their role of 'driver'. She meant this literally and figuratively. The skater can't physically get to the rink without someone driving the car. She also felt they were a "driving" force behind the skater.

Kelly spent time on teaching parents never to phrase statements using the "WE" or "OUR" as the pronouns. That there is no "we are doing that competition" or "our new skates aren't finished'. Don't forget it's the skater who is doing the activity not the parent.

A great quote from Kelly was:

A parent steps in front of a child when bullets are flying but steps behind them when the spotlight shines.

Beil Wiley (Mother of Paul Wiley, Olympic Silver Medallist) also commented on that during parents education seminars that it is important not to make the parents feel that they must know all the ins and outs of the judging systems. Both Beil and Kelly likened this to someone practicing medicine without a license.

Next. Off to more seminars.