At the very least why can't USFS use some of their funding to help some highly talented skaters get training?
They do some stuff. For example, clubs can apply for grants for specific programs they've developed. And they offer support to skaters at specific levels.
In my area (Northeast), rinks are almost entirely owned by municipalities. They almost all operate at a loss and get subsidies from the local/county/state government.
That's true in Massachusetts, but not in NY/NJ. So perhaps not all of the Northeast, but I'd be interested in knowing which states this is true in, other than those I've experienced.
For the most part here, clubs buy figure skating ice and coaches are contracted by the club. There is one rink where the rink itself “owns” the figure skating ice but that is a new and unusual arrangement. Club ice can restrict by ability (high freestyle so your tot in a helmet doesn’t interrupt a 2axel), age (adult only
) and discipline (moves/dance or freestyle), where rink ice usually is just a free for all.
Here in NY/NJ, clubs can buy ice, but most rinks I know also offer their own freestyle ice. At most of my rinks, there's more rink-based freestyle ice than club ice. Whether the ice is leveled in terms of test level or type of skater (such as adult, or elite) varies by rink. Some rinks offer only open freestyle, which anyone who owns a pair of figure skates can go on, but many rinks here offer some separate sessions for skaters above/below a certain test level. Only a few offer special ice dance or pairs ice.
P.S. Just for the record. Sambo-70 rink, where Eteri’s group trains, also has ice time issues, and often have to train with many other private lesson skaters and beginner groups, because Sambo/Kristalny rink IS commercial. Anyone wants to practice a Quad with all the little kids on the ice?
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That is not crowded at all for a freestyle, in my experience. Where I am, the freestyles can have 28-32 skaters on them, if it's after school or on a weekend. Those during the school day tend to be fantastic - usually just me and a few others. Here, the elite level skaters tend to either find rinks that have less crowded freestyle ice, or, if they can, go to an elite only session. The elite sessions tend to be less crowded; although those at Hackensack can get pretty busy.
With that said, several of the Russian coaching groups bring some of their skaters to NJ during the summer. They buy a certain number of hours of ice per day, and it's only used by the few skaters they've brought, so they get to work on choreography and etc., and in an environment where no one really knows who they are - there's no one here trying to find out what music they're planning to use, etc.
As for the US ladies, would it be a good idea, or even possible, to do more of what Eteri's doing that works so well? I've seen that, aside from individual coachings, she's got all her students in lots of dance classes and more. I don't have enough info on US training to know if there's much of that going on or not.
There aren't a lot of programs/rinks in the US that have off ice and/or dance classes as part of them, or available in the same facility. Although here, some coaches do want their students in specific types of dance classes, it's usually up to the parents to find those classes and schedule them; and of course, in the US, it can be hit-or-miss in terms of the quality of your dance teacher.
Most rinks in my region of the US don't have facilities for dance or off-ice training. If off-ice is offered at all, it's normally by a specific coach rather than for all students; and it's usually done in one of the rooms they normally use to hold birthday parties on Saturdays, so the facilities are less than ideal. That said, there are some rinks that have nice facilities for such things. This past weekend, for example, someone from the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society mentioned that they're building an off-ice/dance studio on site. That's pretty cool.
Two programs can add up in the beginning with ice time learning the program, paying for choreography, two dresses. I know...skating is in for a penny, in for a pound. But if there are ways to shave off some cash here and there that might keep talented athletes in longer or transfer some training costs...I'm just brainstorming some places where that can be done.
