Figure Skating and Gym Teachers: Why Is There a Disconnect?

Frankly, I'm not sure my daughter's gym teacher even realizes that figure skating is a sport! But as the coach of the track (and field) team, he reaps the benefits when he puts her in the high jump event. That's something she knows how to do, get up some speed, jump and twist! (And the big mat is a lot softer to land on than ice!) I know when I was in high school, I got P.E. credit for taking dance classes, and if I'd been really on top of it this year, I should have seen if I could have gotten my daughter credit for skating (since two days a week, P.E. is the first class of the day and a perfect time for me to have had her skate!). But I'm sure we'll never have that morning P.E. slot again…

And I love the comment… “students aren't allowed to bring in their own skates because then everyone would want to do it”. Um…. everyone who HAS skates.

My 9 year old has been excused from gym and wearing an aircast for the past 3 weeks (except for on ice training). All her teachers seem to think we are crazy. She is only in the 4th grade though, and kicks butt on the President's physical fitness tests so thus far, no real push back from the gym teacher. I expect less cooperation come middle school.

Some of our schools here are incredibly inflexible- one of our skaters is on the senior level of the Haydenettes and still had to take gym….I mean, seriously?? The girls was trying to find some extra time for school work, but of course the world might end if she didn't take high school gym.

Honestly, if figure skating were an NCAA sport, I think there would be less resistance from the schools. Would anyone know if there is a form letter type thing that we can use to petition for figure skating? Maybe start an email campaign?

We're lucky, PE teacher is former skater. Asks daughter about her skating frequently. Gotta love that!

We had a pretty supportive PE teacher at DS's former school. I have heard that schools are getting pretty strict about waiving PE. The good thing is that there are alternative types of PE that kids can take, and often enjoy them, like recreational PE including introductions to sports like bowling and golf.

The other thing about PE (if you have to do it) is that it works muscles that kids don't normally use while skating, so it is good cross training which is important for injury prevention.

I don't understand how PE teachers can disregard skating as a sport though, but then again, we still have lots of youth coaches and personal trainers out there that think that if you don't throw up, you aren't working hard enough. That is what some of us are trying to change by education.

Hi, synchromomto2.

That's ridiculous. I have a friend who went to his school district's gifted and talented coordinator. His daughter had been to Jr. Nationals and placed well. He argued that she is a gifted athlete and they should accommodate her. The school is allowing her to leave one hour early, have credit for gym (skating), and make it to early ice at a nearby rink.

He's an exception around here, though.

Can you imagine the chaos, Casey, if everyone were allowed to bring her own skates?

I do understand that all the extra equipment has to go somewhere. I get it: kids swipe things from one another.

But, don't tell me we can't accommodate someone's needs. Latest educational best practice is that fair isn't equal. Let's say my kid is a gifted math student. Should she receive the same homework as a kid who is still struggling with multiplication tables? Should the struggling student receive math puzzles instead of the math skill drills he needs? No. That's ridiculous.

Let's say I have two kids. One kid lives in Florida and really needs a new air conditioner. My policy has always been to treat both kids exactly the same. So I buy both my kids new air conditioners, even though one lives in Alaska and doesn't need or want one. Sure, it's equal, but is it fair to give one kid something she really has no use for?

Do the volleyball players need special skates? No. Does my kid need special skates? Definitely. Sure, it's equal for no one to bring her own skates from home, but it's sure as heck isn't fair.

Rant, rant, rant!

Why do the teachers think you're crazy? Because your daughter still trains? Because your daughter injured herself skating? Because she's amazingly fit and loves a sport?

Rant, rant, rant!

I'm so envious, Denise, I can hardly stand it.

Thanks for the comment, skatermomp.

You know, our school district is really pretty good about PE in general. They take a lifelong fitness approach and I approve of that. Classes walk up to the bowling alley for bowling, they use treadmills and weight machines, and they even fish, for Pete's sake.

I think giana's right: figure skating's not a recognized NCAA sport. The gym teachers have no experience with it, so to them it doesn't exist.

The gym teachers like how fit Ice Girl is, but they complain if she comes in with some ache in her leg or bruise on her hip. They're totally dismissive of it, but they'll coo over a basketball player who twists her knee in practice or a baseball player who injures himself during sliding practice.

Maybe it's that they can relate to these sports. No idea.

I don't know if there's a petition, giana, but if there isn't, we should start one. V. smart.

I went round and round with the Middle School PE teachers when my son was that age. They thought it was marvelous that he reached Presidential Level on the test at the beginning of the year when they have to work so hard all year to get the rest of the class even “close” to that level. They commented to him repeatedly how he should run track but he decided against this because it would interfere with his ice time. Of course they didn't understand this at all, but you know what I did? I got both of them AND their little girls (they each had 2 girls) tickets to the Christmas Show at the rink (yes, it cost me $10 each) to watch local skaters of all levels (including my son). They absolutely LOVED the show and two of the little girls asked their parents to take them ice skating and one even wanted to take lessons after that! HA, I won! Also, he had a 5th grade teacher that was great and she would ask her students to bring in any type of awards they had won; skating, dance, art, speech meet, math olympics, spelling bee, sports team trophies, etc. and this teacher would proudly display in her classroom for all to see for at least a week. She also made sure that EVERY child in the class received some sort of recognition during the year so that no one was left out. It is the teacher's job to accomodate ALL students in their class whatever their individual needs may be – at least that's what I've been told and I'm a teacher.

This post leaves me with mixed feelings. For one, I LOVE old time quad skates, and I am thrilled that a school would even consider using them as part of a PE program. However, I am appalled that the school would not allow students to bring their own skates. Using your own skates limits chance of injury (you are used to the capabilities of your equipment, and it should fit properly so as not to cause blisters), would prevent possible spread of foot infections, and would make the section more fun for those students who are already decent skaters. If everyone is using rental skates they can't have been doing anything too difficult, and there is no reason quads or inlines shouldn't have been an option, if the student could provide them. If the skating was held indoors (ie on the precious basketball gym floor) I could see an argument about not using wheels that had been skated on outside as that could scratch up the coating. Also, I could see an argument about stuff getting stolen. So make the parents sign a waver saying the students equipment is the students responsibility and the school cannot be held accountable. However, other arguments against students using their own skates are ridiculous.

As to the getting out of PE argument, well, I know in many school districts it is only an option if you can verify that you are an athlete at an Elite/World Class/Olympic level of competition. So evil gym teachers will probably remain the nemesis of figure skaters for generations to come.

As to synchmomto2's comment, Middle School PE teachers are the worst. I think because they don't have any high school teams to coach, so they aren't the heroes of the town when any teams they do have win, and they feel under appreciated. They deal with this by being as close to the stereotypical evil gym teacher ideal as they can get. If you are good at running they will be mad if you don't do track, and if you aren't they will be mad that they had to stand around that extra minute while you finished the mile. My high school had dance PE, so that was a nice welcome change to putting shots, and it let me get all stretched out and warmed up before afternoon skating practice.

Now, as to the report on roller derby… while I think that writing a report on roller derby could be very interesting depending on the circumstances (like for a history or economics report), I agree this doesn't really give much of a physical education. It would probably have been more beneficial to have her helping with the instruction (even off skates) than have her in the library. And if they did need icegirl to write something, it would have probably been more interesting for her if she could could have looked at the artistic aspect of the sport. Maybe done a comparison of roller figure to ice figure skating. Or written a report about some of the athletes who have changed from roller to ice (Tara Lipinski, Caydee Denney, Jennifer Rodriguez (who was a world class level roller figure skater before she went to speed ice)). In any case, I am sure there is something she could have done that would have been more interesting or at least inspirational for her than write about roller derby.

I dunno, I guess my main argument is that quad skates aren't the enemy? It is frustrating that schools are starting to consider skating as a type of physical fitness, but are making enemies of the skaters. This is not a good way to promote skating as a sport and it is frustrating to see something almost good happening but falling short.

Yeah, so, that was my Rant, Rant, Rant.

pairsmom, you are a model of grace and ingenuity. I love the way you co-opted the teachers with tickets to the ice show for them and their kids. V. wise.

I bet you didn't call the gym teacher Cookie, either.

Glad to hear you're a teacher. I was one. You and I both know what best practice is. I was itching to try to make Cookie defend her stance to her principal, but Ice Girl made me stop. Not sure if stopping was the right decision, but I honored her wishes.

Oh, I agree with you, invisiblesk8r129A.

I don't think quad skates are the enemy at all. I'm a child of the 70s and 80s. I lived in roller rinks, took lessons, and was pretty hot stuff with the limbo and dice games. I can't skate on inline skates at all and figure skates baffle me.

I think it's pretty pointless for the gym teachers to insist on the four-wheeled skates, though. What did Ice Girl learn from that?

I think you're right about the middle school gym teacher syndrome. Not all gym teachers are like this, of course. In fact, I think my daughter's gym teachers are pretty good overall. They stress participation and improvement and promote life-long fitness and health. That's an approach I support.

It's their blind eye towards off-campus sports that irritates me. As you said, they passed up an opportunity to encourage my daughter in her sport and recognize her achievements.

Thanks for the comment!

LOL, Synchmomto2!!!!

If my skater/daughter continues skating beyond elementary school and becomes serious about competing (we are not there yet), gym class will be the least of our worries. Our school is a small K-12 private school that requires at least two seasons of inter-scholastic athletics after school from all students…no waivers for athletes who participate/compete in non-scholastic sports. So we'll be facing the issue of either (a) changing schools or (b) fitting ice time in only before school, or after sports (which run until 5 or 6 pm). It is a very small school, and they need all the bodies they can get so the school can field teams, so I understand the community benefit of the policy (and the community focus of the school is part of why we chose this school), but still, it will be tough. I am not sure if this is typical in other regions, but the after school sports policy is common among private schools in my area.

Really? I've never heard of a policy like that, even in private schools. Ice Girl went to a small, private school for the primary grades and even they didn't have a policy that kids had to participate in sports.

Yeah, I think you'll have to make a choice or cut back on ice time. I know kids who skate and participate in athletics, but I think that it's tough on a kid to maintain both co-curricular and non-curricular sports at the same competitive level.

I know, it is so crazy- somehow I imagine a school sanctioned sport would get more flexibility- I am not looking forward to middle and high school with my skater.

I guess because she still trains even with an injury. Only other athletes really get it I guess.

When I was skating, my gym teachers all had pretty much the same attitude. Nice thing was, my mom went over their heads and at least 2 years I didn't have to take gym at school because the school allowed my figure skating for phys. ed. credits. Best 2 years of school in my life!

Hey, Elisabeth.

So. How did your mom pull that off?

Ah yes. My daughter came home with a negative notation on her report card that she did not “show athletic ability appropriate for her age”. I asked her what she was learning in gym class. “Basketball”. Okay. So maybe a note that “she stinks at hoops”, but you can bet that I emailed the gym teacher the latest YouTube of my daughter doing a double jump and skating for a minute and a half at full tilt, plus a copy of her skating and conditioning schedule.

Meanwhile, my kid is telling me that she's only one of two people in gym class who can touch their own toes from a standing position.

Argh.

This year, my daughter's last class on Friday is recess. After that, it's pack up books and head home. I asked if she could use the time to get on the ice, etc. It was a long shot, but I didn't expect the request to be met with the shock and horror and threats of truancy. Recess. Where 90% of the girls huddle together and talk about boys.

I have middle school orientation this Thursday. I think I'll ask the “can she skip gym class because she trains and cross-trains more hours in one week than most kids are even awake” question. Just for kicks. Because I'm a pill.

I think this is a very classic case of physical fitness being measured by a different yardstick. There should be no standardized way of proving Jane is not fit because she cannot complete the shuttle run within 15 seconds (run, pick up the bean bag, run back and put down the bean bag, run, pick up the last bean bag, and run back). That is one of the stations to be completed in my country's NAPFA (National Physical Fitness Achievement) test. Unfortunately, that also is the one that I suck at. And get a silver despite rocking at sit-ups, sit-and-reach (measures how flexible your hamstrings are), inclined pull-ups, 2.4km run. Of course, somehow I can't jump far in standing broad jump.

Those are the way the nation views physical fitness. I would say that the average skater might fare pretty well, but in no way can the skater be exempted from PE classes. Co-curricular? Maybe. If you're national level, I think.

Jozet, I read your comment with plenty of eyeball-rollings. Yes, any of the skaters might not be representing the country at Worlds or even Olympics. In fact, the average skater might not even keep to skating past teenhood. It doesn't mean that they should not be able to fairly participate in the sport, especially when they have the opportunity to! What gives better enrichment to the skater's development – learning to manage time and utilize recess or “socializing” for a better “social development?”

Sorry, mini rant from a young adult skater…
–
Icemom – bring up all the information about the rocker differences, muscle memory etc. And also bring up your examples of equality and fairness. Bring it to the boss of the gym teacher! But don't tell Icegirl. I would be embarrassed by the hell raised by my mom.

I wish I knew. Part of it was our district- they were so afraid to alienate someone that when she went and told them how much I was skating and whatnot and could they give me gym credit, they pretty much said yes without contest. But schools are a bit different now, so I hear. This was all about 10 years ago when this happened. Schools seem to be far less lenient and willing to work with parents of non-school-sport-sponsored athletes. The rigidity would drive me batty.

You could check your school district's codes and stuff, maybe file an appeal to the school board if you want IG to skip the gym and get credit for skating instead (use that period for a study hall so she has less homework to do at home??)

I think the other thing that didn't stop my mom was that I didn't know what she was doing until after, so I wasn't aware to be mortified and ask her to stop embarrassing me puh-lease.

Yes, I don't expect her to be able to skip PE. However, can I say that it also peeves me a bit when football players, baseball players, school band and cheerleaders get to leave classes early to get onto a bus to travel to the next game? I don't know which sport offers the most well rounded physically fit athlete – probably none, because most sports encourage some sort of cross-training.

-and, seriously, any sport in which John Kruk is considered an athlete is suspect (that's my “I'm already sick of the baseball obsession in my house” dig ) –

but beyond the recreational level, skating really does require strength, fine and gross motor precision, flexibility, coordination, balance…I know, I'm singing to the choir here…AND it all has to be done in time to the music. Dance class to help out. Conditioning training. Stamina training. And the sheer guts to do it all on ice. This is complex stuff.

And yes, of course, I'd like my daughter to know how to bowl and square dance and play tennis (and not just because it will all help her with her skating, erem) but seriously? Is it so hard to ask for a little recognition that she's an athlete? We've already had comments from kids at school that “skating isn't a REAL sport.” Fine. Whatever. But next time everyone is bummed out that the school football team came in last place again, might I suggest that if perhaps the players wore sequins and played the games to Broadway show tunes, the audience might at least enjoy the game a bit?

Okay, I would never say that. But I have Tweeted it. Anonymously. /rant off

I definitely agree with your assessment athletes using their own equipment! I'm always disappointed when I work with skating field trips and the teachers don't let kids bring their own skates (and it happens a lot). They're going to do a lot better if they're used to the equipment they're using, and they're going to notice any problems with rental skates far more than the others!

I don't have quite the horror stories some people have mentioned, but there was always a general distaste for figure skating from my gym teachers, particularly in middle school. They were always visibly shocked when I would be able to exceed the standards for situps or be one of the fastest runners. Because, you know, figure skating is just all about looking pretty (goodness knows we all look so gorgeous at six in the morning when we step on the ice).
In high school, there were enough people involved in non-school physical activities (like dance, karate, and gymnastics as well as skating) that our gym teachers were pretty understanding of it all. It also helped that we never once played basketball in gym while I was in high school–we did badminton and square dancing and floor hockey and ping pong and gymnastics and running, and generally no one was very good when we started out.

Ooooh, boy! I've been reading your blog for a couple months now (long-time listener, first-time caller!) and this finally brought me out of lurking. I'm not a mom, and I'm not a skater, but I am a former non-school sport participant (horseback riding!) and I recall 1) my mom's outrage at the special treatment given to school-sponsored sport participants and 2) my gym teachers giving me grief for various horse-related injuries.

I grew up in IL, where public school kids are *required* to have 4 years of high school gym class. But, if you participated in a school sport, you would get a study hall instead of class for the duration of your sport's season. Riddle me this, though– the ladies' bowling team got a study hall, but the pom-pom squad (all of whom were dancers outside of school and who won the state-level competitions) didn't because they were a “spirit” squad, not a sport.

Really, I think most school sponsored stuff is biased towards team, rather than individual, sports.

My dd's teacher may be a PITA, but she supports her skating, even drives her to the rink!

(BTW, I homeschool. LOL!)

My daughter and one of her gym classmates are synchro skaters. . . on different teams. . . that compete against each other. Just before the last regional competition, the gym teacher wrote on my daughter's excused absence pass “Beat_____(girl's name)!” On the other girl's pass, he wrote “Good Luck.” I guess we are fortunate that we have a supportive teacher.

You bet school sanctioned sports get more flexibility. I taught. I know that the track team left my last period class half way through. Heck, I had a student editor for our student newspaper join track just to get out of a teacher's math class. She was terrible at it, quit, and kept getting dismissed early with the track team. No, she did not hide out in the newspaper office. She tried, but I told her to go somewhere else to fake being on track! Anyway, teachers are pretty supportive of co-curriculars. Well, most of them are. Some of the crotchety ones aren't, but they generally support nothing, so it's no big deal.

Our district has an alternative PE plan with two options: train elsewhere 5 hours a week for PE credit only, or train 15 hours a week for credit AND you can miss one hour of school each day. There are a few kickers: the training facility has to pay a fee and register with the district, the coach has to submit grades every 6 weeks, and the concentration-camp-guard-type administrator can audit you at any time – she occasionally shows up at 6 am practice ice. Oh, and you have to apply before May 1st for the following year. They don't publicize it, but the policy is there.

Question: are they roller-skating on the gym floor? I'd think they'd be concerned with wear on the floor.

Teresa, that's the kind of stuff that really irritates me. Honestly. Bowling but not pom poms?

I went past the high school where I used to teach last night and looked at their baseball and softball diamonds. One field has lights, the other doesn't. Guess which one?

I told my journalism students that was a story just waiting to be written, but they wouldn't bite. They said no one would care because girls' softball wasn't played at night. That's true. And games canceled for snow (not making that up) couldn't be rescheduled because the field had no lights.

I'm telling you: that's a story. Title IX doesn't allow for sports discrimination and that means equal facilities for both boys and girls athletics.

How'd I get on this rant? Oh, yeah. Poms. Completely unfair. I'd be squawking about that.

I have nothing useful to add to the discussion but I love this post. It reminds me of one of my college professors (class on exception students) who starts the first lecture by having having a TA “pass out” (everyone is aware the situation is fake, she's not trying to scare us). She then explains that it's lucky she knows CPR and can save this person's life. Unfortunately, there are 150 of us in the class. She just doesn't have the time or energy for us ALL to get CPR, so it wouldn't be FAIR to give it to them.

Fair isn't equal. Fair is that everyone gets what they need.

While I love quad skates and would want Ice Girl to get a chance to have them, you've demonstrated a reason why she needs other skates- not ruining thousands of dollars of muscle memory.

Hey Skittl.

What a great demonstration from your professor. Very smart. I'll have to remember it.

I love quad skates, too. But I'm not going to give up all that training just so she can give 'em a try.

Thanks for the comment!

OK Ice Mom I understand with the muscle memory but for everyone talking about getting their kids out of PE, Cross training is so important for every athlete (and tht includes the elite!0 cardio & stretching different muscles groups is incredibly important for all children especially skaters and the fitter you are the better you use your ice time! also when we watch off ice – with the exception of the skater specific stretching – it is all about jumping higher and longer so go for the athletics class if the school wants it! my kids do everything (yes far too much, they eat healthy stuff out of flasks in the car between activities and yes I know before you lecture me about down time!) but they get to socialise with their friends in the after school activities, they work on their fitness without thinking about it being linked to their skating, and my son who is new ish to skating has progressed at a speed that few could manage mainly because he has core stabilty (from martial arts) cardio fitness (running and athletics) flexibilty (ski training & martial arts) and he can practice intesively without needing to pause for longer than I can stand to sit and shiver!
ALSO how many of our kids will still be skating in 8 years time? perhaps having made friends because they did nothing but skate? maybe not able to carry on skating because their fitness levels were not high enough now and so they picked up an injury which would prevent them from performing at a much higher level in 10 years time! Yes the roller skating is specific – but the other sports tell them to get out there and have fun with it ! Or you coud just continue paying for lessons where your kids can rotate into a sit spin but their legs not strong enough to lift them back up?

You know, fffrozensolidom, I think you have a good point about cross training, camaraderie, and a life outside of the rink. Those are all great benefits of middle school gym class.

In general, I support gym class. For some kids, like elite skaters or kids who train hard (Ice Girl does lots of off-ice cross training), it would be nice to give them a break and let it count. I'm not pushing for that in Ice Girl's case. I think it's fine for her to be exposed to swimming, fishing, and ballroom dance.

However, I would just like to be able to talk to the gym teachers and have them respect what Ice Girl does the way they respect volleyball and softball.

Thanks for the comment!

My dd's middle school gym teachers are fab-u-lous! So much so that my dd is excused from gym two days a week to accommodate her need to be on earlier ice. Her PE teacher always seems interested in what dd is doing on the ice and competitively. Next year we are shooting for a three day a week early dismissal…this year has worked fantastic, so I don't see it being a problem!

Yeah. They use the gym floor. Not sure how that works with the beautiful stain on the wood, but I'm sure it can't be good.

Alright, Sk8buggie. Clean out the spare room: I'm moving in!

One thing I'm surprised not to see here (or not surprised about, seeing as skaters are generally part of a pretty affluent population) is another reason not to let kids bring in skates- equality for all kids. I'm not talking about things not being fair, bringing them all to the same level, etc. And I can see how having your own skates could prevent injury, but bringing them to school could lead to losses in property. But, consider many of the rationals for school uniforms- if all of the kids who have the money for cool roller skates bring them to school, how do the kids who get stuck with the lame school pairs of skates feel?

This issue of bringing skates is a rare exception to the PE rule, we really shouldn't be getting too upset about the gym teacher's policy.

However, the discrimination against the sport of figure skating is important to change- many teachers just don't understand the commitment and physical training that go into a competitive skater's sport. Try inviting them to watch a show or nearby competition, or sending them a copy of the training schedule, etc. I was lucky to have several supportive teachers, and my band teacher came to see several shows! Normally marching band was required for all band students, but by explaining my dilemma about the conflict with training time and Friday night football games with competition, from the beginning, he was supportive of my skating from then on!

Great point about haves and have-nots, ghsskater. I still maintain that Ice Girl has a good reason for bringing her own skates, but I can see your point.

You're lucky that your band teacher was so understanding of your training needs. Did your band teacher ask you to meet the marching objectives in another way?

In my opinion, gym teachers are crazy. I was required to take gym all through high school and it was a complete waste of my time. I now to anything I can to avoid the activities I hated doing in that class. I figured skated competitively until my freshman year of high school, and continued to test and still skate quite intensely after that. I've always absolutely hated gym class and sometimes found clever excuses to avoid participating for a day or two. I am now in college and no longer skating (not because I don't want to, but because there is no ice rink near by). I do about the same amount of physical activity I used to do in gym class and I realize that skating is what kept me in such good shape. Without it I feel horrible and unmotivated to work out. I did off ice training as well (weights, treadmill, etc.) when I was figure skating, but it was fun then because I knew it was helping my skating. Also, while some people may make it seem like it is, making friends outside of skating is not as hard as it seems. I knew one girl who attended my high school and skating competitively and internationally. She left school several periods early and skated everyday, but she still went to prom and had plenty of great friends from school as well as skating.

Hey, KK.

Thanks for the comment. I think that the gym teacher question: crazy or not is really a shoved/pushed problem. They have huge class sizes and kids and parents often don't respect their curriculum. With budget cuts, they're looking at bigger class sizes, less equipment, and a constant threat to their jobs (send the kids to the health club on their own time).

That said, I wish they were more supportive of Ice Girl's sport. You'd think that supporting any sport would encourage life-long fitness and bolster their program. I don't know. I have no answers.

However, I did learn that a gal I know who sends her kids to private school pulls her daughter out of classes three times a week to meet with her coach at the rink. She's not a national or world level skater; she's a kid who has had some injuries and is trying to go to regionals this fall.

Anyway, thanks for the comment, KK. It's good to know that I'm not the only one for whom gym teachers' attitudes are mystifying. (Geez, that's a clunky sentence construction.)

I just want to know one thing; where have you been all of my (skater mom) life???? So glad to have finally found you!

It's so nice to hear that I am not alone in the questioning of PE teachers' motives when it comes to figure skaters. We had our first run-in at the beginning of this school year.

Here's our story: Due to our rink being down four months a year (soon to be five due to economics) we have never been able to maintain a figure skating pro in this area. We travel to Utah three or four weekends and some weekdays a month for on and off-ice training with my daughter's coaches.

In addition to her minimum of two hours a day, six days a week, on ice, my daughter had taken to a four-days-a-week one mile run plus various other cardio workouts, sit-ups, etc., to help with endurance, strengthen her core and keep her in shape, something not many of her other ten-year-old friends do — heck, not just her friends, but ten-year-olds in general.

Over 50 percent of my child's gym class grade is based on “participation” points. Participation points are awarded for simply showing up to class. When we saw that our mostly A student was teetering on the verge of a C in PE due to skating absences, my husband decided to take the matter up with the teacher and explain the situation to her thinking that OF COURSE she would be able to understand and appreciate our situation as it involves a physical activity/sport.

He proceeds to request that when our child misses her 30-minute gym class for three hours of on and off-ice training with the coaches, that she receive “participation” points seeing as how it is much more intense than the class itself. Sounds like a logical request, right?

Nope. We were given the exact same argument; if she allowed us to do that, then everyone in a sport would want to do it. We even explained that if everyone “in a sport” is missing 30 minutes of physical education class to participate in three-hours of intense physical training, then perhaps they should be allowed the credit, also. Her response to this? Well, she can always make up the participation points……by coming in early in the morning or after school and walking for 20 minutes.

At this point, for my husband, anyway, it became more about the principle of the matter. He argued that the 20 minutes she has before school starts or after school is one of the few times (due to her somewhat insane schedule) she has to socialize with her friends and that he wasn't willing to take that away from her. Ah, but the teacher had a solution to that, too. Just have her friends come in and walk (and talk) the 20 minutes with her! Really????

So let's review this scenario here: My daughter's finding a sport that she's serious about (and to this point successful in earning awards at regionals two years in a row), consistently sets and meets goals in, goes the extra mile (literally) to work off ice for, is not enough. She must be punished for rising above the average physical accomplishments of a ten-year-old and be shown that walking 20 minutes while socializing with her friends is a much more fulfilling/rewarding physical/educational experience than that which she gains from training. Am I the only one that sees the disparity here? I don't know. Perhaps.

Anyway, the end of the story is that after going to the top in our school district, we still lost. While the principal of her school saw our angle, the school superintendant did not. We've just been forced to mark this one up to one of life's lessons. But at least now I've found a place where I can vent on occasion!!! ;0) (Boy, I feel sorry for you!)

i geuss that was good that he wants you to do goood but that was waaaaay mean, it would have neen okay if he said on the other girls “beat ‘your daughters name’” but to do that was cold

i geuss that was good that he wants you to do goood but that was waaaaay mean, it would have neen okay if he said on the other girls “beat 'your daughters name'” but to do that was cold

Gimme that petition and I’ll sign it straightaway!!! Sometimes, gym teachers aren’t understanding.

  You need to undertake a number of changes to your whole lifestyle if you want to quickly and effectively lower your cholesterol levels. You don’t have to do it all at once, and it doesn’t have to be hard work.. If you haven’t done any physical training or exercise, then you should ease yourself into an exercise program gently, don’t just jump into a hard training program or you could injure yourself

At the beginning of this season, my daughter bruised a muscle in my hip. Her Gym teacher just said: “Well if you can skate on it, you can do Gym.” She did have a doctors’ note.  My daughter is in Grade 7, she has landed a double axle and is working on triples, so she also has bad knees, apparently, one time she told her gym teacher about her knees and asked if she could take a break, but her teacher said “no.” I am always so outraged with the disrespect my daughter receives from her Gym teacher because she figure skates. She says kids in other sports are allowed to sit out because of their injuries. Worst of all, on my daughters report card her next step was to: “Participate in extra-curricular activities to increase her athleticism.” I emailed her teacher, explaining how she figure skates every day of the week for 4+ hours each day and does 4+ hours of off-ice training each week. I did not receive a response! It is crazy!

Hi i am a basic skills figure skater (basic … About to be in free skate!!!! Well as im getting more advanced more practice times are opening, but they are lik right after school (our rink is mainly hockey):(. I haven’t told my gym teacher this, but next year Im gonna ask just to see if it will work:) however I’m hopeful because whenever I mention skating, she says “oh cool!! Do y know (name of great coach at the rink)???? So she already supports me and the sport a little bit… Wish me luck!! Ps we don’t really do much physical activity that is strenuous: roller skating lacrosse soccer (kicking a ball back and forth for 20min) etc