How far is too far? What is insane? Are there limits to where, when and with who? I am referring to searching for a skating partner. It has been a painful journey. As a parent you know that your child will graduate from high school and quite often will leave home for a good portion of the year at that time. You give birth and sort of count on about 18 years with them full time. So how are parents supposed to respond when their 15 year old starts asking to move away from home to pursue her dreams? Is that ever okay? I know many skating families who make decisions about training that impact their families. We have friends who decided to split their family for most of the year so their daughter can train at a major training center full time. She is a sixth grader. Dad went with her, Mom and her little brother stayed here. We have other friends who drive three hours each way to reach their training facility. Often they stay for a couple of nights in a hotel. So now you have added that expense to the already mind numbing cost of skating.
The reality is that in order to be successful you need to be at a training center. They offer more ice time, more on and off ice classes, and often have fitness facilities on sight. I love our local rink, it is like family and they take good care of us! I wouldn't trade that relationship for the world, but small, local rinks just can't compete because they are trying to balance hockey, figure skating and public sessions and make ends meet. Usually a training facility has more than one surface of ice so multiple events can be occuring at the same time. It is a whole different world. Add to that the role models you find at a large training center and it just doesn't compare.
Here's the rub, obviously not every skater is destined to be an Olympian, or even make it out of Regionals. Last year my beautiful and amazing daughter had the lowest score in her qualifying round, and as far as I know the lowest score at our regionals at her level. I can defend her somewhat by letting you know she was injured and had a broken skate boot (hastily repaired enough to make it through one last competition) but the reality is she isn't on the top of the list as a singles competitor. This really limits her as a pairs skater in the long run as well because they have to jump, her weakness. Would a different training venue have made a big difference? That is the million dollar question.
On to the partner search. She knows that jumps are not her strongest element. She knows she is a beautiful and artistic skater, with great partnering skills. That means ice dancing is a great option. Our rink has NO ice dancing coach at all. So now a move is more than just a pipe dream to pursue, it is a necessity if she wants to become an ice dancer. She had a tryout in Tulsa, OK last summer. It went really well, but it was too far from home. She wasn't ready for the distance and I wasn't either. When we went for the tryout I prayed that God would let us know what we should do, and it was clear- go home. Now we have received requests from Spokane, WA; Philadelphia, PA; and believe it or not Belgium. So how far is to far? Am I insane for considering any of them? Should she just wait a year and a half till she graduates? I don't know the answers to any of those questions. I am trying to set up times for her to get to the tryouts in the states. She and I have both decided Belgium is too far.
I am fairly certain that all of this crossed the line into insane about a year ago when we first realized that her partner would be moving to Delaware. We were considering the options and she was headed there too. Maybe that was the right path and we missed it? I could second guess all of this, all the way back to the day I let her go to a public session with our neighbor and the brownie troop. Sometimes I wish that I had sent her to the mall instead.
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