Figure Skating Club Member Reference Checks

I recently received this e-mail from a long-time reader:

I would be interested in finding out if other skating clubs require personal references from club members and/or pros in order to be considered for membership.

It is not common in our area for clubs to require references, so I was surprised to receive an email from the membership chair of the club where our daughter had just applied for associate membership asking us to provide references. They had asked for references on the club membership application, but I left it blank because I objected because I felt it was old-fashioned, elitist and discriminatory. I hadn’t anticipated any problems by not supplying references because it seemed like such a silly requirement. Apparently, this club requires that people vouch for our good character and that we are the “right” kind of people before we can be voted in as members.

My response to the membership chair was to explain that I thought the requirement was old-fashioned, elitist and discriminatory and that our daughter had been a former home club member. If references were really necessary, she could look them up on her original membership application. I also told them that if this is going to be an issue, please refund our money and I will gladly go spend it elsewhere. I also provided a long list of local clubs that do not require references, in fact I didn’t find a single local club that did require references. I think this requirement has been on their application for years and they simply continue to ask for references, though they don’t really need them or use them (I question whether they are even allowed to ask for references any longer because it suggests discrimination.)

This club is in decline—they need members and skaters to buy their contract ice. Why would they enforce such an obstacle to membership? They should be trying to make it easy for members to join—they need them! Imagine if your child were very young and just starting out in skating. If you don’t know many people at the club you are joining; it seems ridiculous to expect them to go out and try to find someone to vouch for them. If they want verification that we pay our bills, they should go to our current home club.

Can you ask your followers if any of their clubs require references to be considered for membership?

Yep, I can do that!

I’m the membership chair for our club and I can tell you: we don’t ask for references. Pretty much anyone who registers and sends in a good check can be a home club member with us.

I know that Ice Girl’s second club votes in members, but we never filled out any kind of reference sheet.

I will say this: both of Ice Girl’s clubs have had troubles with an Ice Troll. Seriously. I think this kid has horns and a forked tail. I swear I smell brimstone when she walks past, but Ice Girl tells me to knock it off, Mom. You’re not funny.

Anyway, the Ice Troll has been on probation at both clubs. Having dealt with Ice Troll, I can see why a club might want references. If a former club has put the Ice Troll on probation, I’d like to know that in advance. We could save the board and grievance committee hours of debate and hand wringing.

Does your club ask for references from members? Does the board vote on new members or do you just let anyone with a pair of skates and a valid check join up? Do you think asking for references from potential club members is a good idea or should this kind of thing be tossed out? Would you join this club or would you ask for your check back? Please share in the comments!

Do you have a question for Ice Mom or the Advisory Board? Have you a suggestion for a post you’d like to read? Do you have an issue that you just can’t resolve? Send ‘em to me! I’d love to hear from you and I bet whatever you’re wondering about is something other ice parents are wondering about, too. E-mail me at IceMom.Diane@gmail.com.

Photo credits:
Monaco Yacht: T. Little Street on Flickr.com Creative Commons
100_2104: ttarasiuk on Flickr.com Creative Commons
Members Only: Son of Groucho on Flickr.com Creative Commons
Travis Thumbs His Nose at Private Property: sillygwailo / Richard Eriksson on Flickr.com Creative Commons

Anonymous

I have never heard of needing references to join a club. My club has a yearly contract that gets signed by all of the members, and people who don’t follow the rules get a talking-to (and, I suppose could get kicked out, though I haven’t really seen that happen yet…) but in terms of joining its all about handing over the check and agreeing to the rules. Asking for references seems so… elitist? I could maybe perhaps see it for some major club with famous skaters and coaches (although, presumably, if you are there you are good enough to let your skating speak for itself) although even that seems a little old fashioned. It definitely seems over the top for a local club who is dying. And, honestly, skating circles run small, so usually people already know each other and asking for references is rather redundant and seems a large waste of time.
Isabellem1998

I think that it is very impolite to ask for a reference.
Jessi

The clubs around here do not require a reference, but I have heard of some of the older, larger clubs requiring a “sponsoring” member for new members. I figured it was more someone to guide them through the ins and outs, than to vouch for them.

Our club does vote in members, but the board meetings I was at it was more like “X wants to join” all in favor “yes”. I suppose if a skater/coach with a history of doing something objectionable might get more talking about, but for 99.9% it’s an automatic in if you send the check.
ElizaA

If the club is a “private club” with no sanction from an outside organization they are legally able to choose their members in whatever way they please. it’s up to the membership committee. They can reject an applicant if they don’t like the color of their hair.

BUT

If this club is sanctioned by an organization such as USFS and is asking for “references” they need to be very careful about what those “references” are looking for – or the club is setting themselves up for a lawsuit.

You wouldn’t want to be on the board of a club like that unless you have a lot of money and don’t care if you have to pay your own legal bills. Turn away some otherwise qualified skater instead of accepting them for membership because of a bad reference due to a “personality issue” or (God forbid – if it looks like their race or religion was part of the decision to reject them) and that rejected applicant would have standing to sue. At the least your club would lose their sanction. Worst case – someone might have to pay some sort of punitive damages.

It’s one thing to require a criminal background check or maybe a credit report (especially if there are guidelines about what will be done if those things come back with a poor result). Maybe the club likes to require skaters to prove they are at some level like Freestyle 1 or above to be in the club.

It’s another to require someone to have “the right friends” in order to join.

Personally, I would stay away. This policy is a recipe for disaster.
niuiceprincess

Interesting, when I first read about “references” I took this to mean that it requires some sort of background check, becuase you will be mostly around kids and the club needs to be assured you don’t have any questionable arrests or some sort of record for safety issues. I know i had to fill out a consent form for a background check when I wanted to volunteer with the ballet company I help out with now, since they run their own dance school (kids) also.

At my last test session in June, my hubby was appalled to see a former co worker of his that was arrested for having an inappropriate relationship with a minor and also his computer was found to have child pornography in it. Turns out this guys’ daughters skate, and they were testing as well. But my hubby thought that this guy would have some sort of parole/restriction around being other children (let alone children/teens in figure skating outfits. His arrest made some news a few years ago since he was an news anchor at a local cable channel so he was “visible” figure at least for those who watch his newscasts in that channel. So yes when it comes to children’s safety I have no qualms about asking family members or parent members to fill out a reference form, in the event that it is too costly for a club to do actual background checks.
Lynne

I know of a few clubs around here that ask for 2 references to become members, including the club my son recently joined. I don’t think our references were ever checked. I thought it was a stupid requirement as the people I asked barely knew me or my son. My son had been skating there for 6 months as a walk-on non-member and I had become friendly with a few moms who gladly vouched for us. Of course I heard through the grape vine that one of these clubs (not my son’s) used to discriminate based on religion years ago when that was thought to be perfectly acceptable. I haven’t heard of anyone recently being denied membership as long as they pay their fees.
Guest

The purpose of the references from the club in question is not to do background checks–they simply want someone to “vouch” for us, whatever that means. If they are using this in place of background checks for the individuals who are working closely with the skaters, and something happens to a skater, I think they would be open to a huge lawsuit. I agree, people who work/volunteer with kids need to be screened with official background checks. Unfortunately, I don’t think it is possible to do background checks on all parents, family members (immediate and extended) and any other individual who might just show up at the rink. No matter how well you know someone, you can’t be assured that you really know everything about them. There are a lot of wolves in sheep’s clothing. That’s what makes offenders successful, you probably wouldn’t guess they are capable of doing anything wrong.
Anonymous

Our skating club just asks the name of your coach. No references required. I would agree that it’s a ridiculous and practically useless request. People with something to hide makeup references all the time knowing they are rarely checked. If safety around children is the issue then legal background checks should be required of adults who will be working directly with children in a chaperone or coaching role.
Silver Blades

Okay, I tried to do a bit of research into this. Here is what I found after poking around in the USFSA web site and rule book.
Sample club by laws: http://www.usfsa.org/Content/Form%20of%20Bylaws.pdf
Sample membership registration form:http://www.usfsa.org/content/ClubMbrRegForm.pdf
Sample parent code of conduct:http://www.usfsa.org/content/parent-conduct.pdf
Useful how to run a club info page: http://www.usfsa.org/Clubs.asp?id=239

Note on the membership form there is no request for sponsorship or references. I agree with a previous poster that the request for references is a relic from the past to try and avoid ice trolls. In this day and age the ‘if you vote them in you can vote them out method’ is prefered. There is even a provision for ice troll elimination in the sample by laws which is also the prefered method of Toastmasters clubs world wide. The thing is from the outside you can’t change it. The club has to recognize that it is a bad idea and change it. If you have other options go somewhere else particularly since the club is dying. There are lots more hidden reasons the club is dying than the membership process. The request for references is just the visible tip of the iceburg.
Angie

All that is required to be a member of dd’s club is a application and the fee to join the club. We’ve never encountered a skate troll… so I can’t comment on how they handle that situation. I am curious, if a “troll” is kicked out of a club, wouldn’t that club have to report the problem to USFS(or whatever the club’s affiliation is)? If the skater is reported, wouldn’t USFS have record of the situation and make note of it in the skater’s membership? I would think an issue like that would affect a skater’s “good standing” status.

I agree, references are outdated and limiting. Dd doesn’t know very many people in other clubs. I cannot imagine how hard it would be if we needed refrences to join any of the clubs in our area.
Angie

I would so disagree with a credit check. My credit has nothing to do with my daughter’s skating and in this day and age… a lot of people have things on their credit reports they wish were not there. I could understand a background check on those over 18 for safety reasons, but beyond that I disagree with requiring references.

I think as long as the skater and the parents follow club rules and pay all their bills, there should not be a requirement for references. JMO.
Anonymous

Some older private clubs do require references in the sense that you must be recommended by a current member in order to be considered. I know of one club on the East Coast that does this.

Our club doesn’t require references.

The only time the board votes on a membership issue is when there is a problem. It must be a significant problem. In a case like this, the club officer will contact USFS and talk to the correct person about the situation and get their input. The club also needs to have legal representation in place in case there are repercussions. It is not fun being on the Board when decisions like this need to be made, but fortunately they are few and far between! That said, it needs to be done for the safety of our members.

I wouldn’t be too upset about sending in references if our club requested them. But even this would not keep ice Trolls out. They are the little annoyances, that might seem big, until you really get a baddy in there. The ones that I’m worried about are the criminal type.