Bow down to the SkateMums!

My mum lives a couple hundred miles away. She's seen me skate once in a show. I think she's still impressed I can move on the ice at all. She asked me how skating was going, I said I was struggling with my loop, her response was to tell me not to worry about jumps. I love my mum, but she doesn't get skating.

And that's fine. I'm 25, an adult. I pay for my own skates, lessons, ice time, costumes, shows, zuca bag, competiton fees and everything else that goes with this sport. My mum is still tucked up in bed when I'm at the rink at 6am. My mum is lucky I took up skating at the grand old age of 23. I might be too late to be an Olympic champion (cause obviously age is the only reason I won't make it! ;-)) but she doesn't have to do the SkateMum bit.

I love SkateMums. And all figure skaters need them. Whether you talk to them or not. SkateMums are the comittee for club, for shows, for competitions. They fight for ice time for their kids which means ice time for the rest of us as well. At my rink on a Saturday morning, they run a cost-price breakfast cafe. They make costumes, decorate Zuca bags, fuel coachs' coffee addictions, work the props for the Christmas show and spend their lives at the rink. Not to mention the skate tying, cheerleading, bill paying, music playing, driving, waking up, providing drinks and snacks and fancy skate clothes.

I may be an adult, but I have a tendency to get myself adopted by people (usually) older than me and generally more sensible. The SkateMum's will tell me to go work on my camel spin (then give me a thumbs down for it because it's dire), chase me back onto the ice when I get off for the eighty third time in a session for a drink and a breather, remind me of the need for practice practice practice with those damn field moves, notice my progress, watch my program, and basically believe in me.

I've read on other blogs about different types of SkateMum's, but my experience is all positive. Maybe cause it's easy to avoid the ones I don't wanna talk to ("er, i need to go practice my salchow") since I have skates on. Maybe cause I don't do Skate UK anymore, and I only skate at early morning patch (only the dedicated skaters and therefore dedicated SkateMums). So I will leave the badSkateMums posts to the other bloggers.

So be nice to the SkateMums. And SkateDads (they exist!). They have ALL the gossip!