Freestyle

Back in the dark ages when I first started skating, I finished all of the levels of group lessons and wanted more. I had private lessons during public sessions and then my coach suggested that I skate the early morning patch and freestyle sessions. I was a young adult and thrilled that this extremely strict coach thought I was good enough to skate those sessions. I couldn't wait to sign up. The Skating School Director had reservations. In order to skate the freestyle sessions, I had to prove my worth. Basically, I had to audition for the privilege to give a rink my hard (very hard) earned money. So, there I was, on the ice, demonstrating that I could do all the necessary basic moves of crossovers, turns, stops and freestyle moves of jumps and spins. Although they had their doubts because I was and still am a lefty, they reluctantly gave me permission to skate with the good skaters on freestyle sessions. The young skaters who skated with me on the ice, spent the first month or so, landing jumps as close to me as they could to see if I would flinch. I stopped flinching and skating near the boards when I received my first program about three months later. I bring this up only because yesterday, I skated a session where there were ten skaters who could not skate at all. Not just freestyle, I mean not at all. Zero. Zip. Nada. I'm talking marching, walking and tripping across the ice. And generally just being in the way. What happened to having to know how to actually SKATE before being on a freestyle session? Sessions like that are just expensive public sessions with programs being played. UGH! My fellow adult skaters and I took down several of these skaters, not on purpose (kinda) because we'd be doing something and suddenly BANG! There they were. I had lined up a jump, stepped forward and totally didn't see that little boy OR his sister. Amazing how easily they go down and pop back up. So, what happened to having to know how to skate prior to being allowed to skate a freestyle session? Is it now all about money and safety be damned? Years ago, a kid kept spinning in the corner, her early trials of a camel spin. A male skater, probably a senior in high school, tried three times to do a jump in that corner. Finally, he got angry, caught her free leg and said, "Don't spin in the corner." She never did again. Where is that guy now?