Learn to Skate (Session 1)

LEARN TO SKATE/PLAY

FIRST DAY TIME CHANGE! 8:30AM ON 12/14

To our new families, WELCOME! To returning families, WELCOME BACK! My name is Kassandra Nielsen, and I will be heading up our Learn To Skate and Learn To Play Hockey programs again this session. So much fun ahead!

I want to go over a few points that will make your child’s (and your) first few sessions go a little more smoothly.

First, skates are not sharp when you first buy them new. They must be sharpened before use, then probably once again during the 8 week session. Skating on dull skates is like skating on spoons…pretty much impossible. There is sometimes (but not always) skate sharpening available at the rink but you need to arrive plenty early in order to line this up.

Our classes are scheduled in one hour blocks. In the hockey world, one hour of ice means 50 minutes of ice time and 10 minutes of Zamboni time. For young skaters developing new muscles, even this is a lot. Please be prepared that your young skater might need to finish early, especially during the first few weeks. This is completely normal, and completely fine! We would much rather they stop while they are still having fun, than stay out there wishing it were over!

The first week or two may be your child’s first steps on the ice, but they are also when the coaches are working on assessments with your little skaters. It may look a bit chaotic at first, but this will settle out as the kids learn how things work.

Skaters will be separated into groups, and may be moved among the groups depending on each skater’s needs and progress.

Some golden advice from veteran hockey parents:

• Don’t be discouraged if your child has some tears the first few times he/she is on the ice. Learning to skate is like learning to walk all over again, only we try to make it more fun!

• Skating is HARD WORK. It takes awhile to build skating muscles and stamina. Your child may need to take breaks.

• Fall down…get up…fall down…get up….fall down…get up… You won’t believe how much little skaters fall. They’re okay.

• A cold, wet skater is not a happy skater. Snow pants and mittens, or hockey pants and hockey socks are a must.

• Protective equipment/padding may not be required, but is a big help. Padding minimizes the pain of falls. You don’t want your child to think that hockey hurts.

• DRESSING ORDER: Allow twice as much time as you think you will need.

1. Keep your little skater in his/her PJ’s.

2. Long socks (to come up over the top of the skate)

3. Knee pads and elbow pads

4. Light weight sweat pants or hockey socks OVER the knee pads

5. +/- hockey pants (really help soften those sit-down falls)

6. Big sweatshirt or jersey, something that will not ride up allowing snow or ice to touch the skin

7. Skates, Helmet with face mask, then water resistant gloves or mittens. (Why the face mask? Because kids fall on their faces, and bloody noses are a bummer.)

Stay tuned for some possible slight time changes. Although we usually skate at 12:00 noon this year, our schedule can change slightly depending on schedules of other schools and teams that also use the Pomfret rink.

*IMPORTANT! FIRST DAY TIME CHANGE!!! SUNDAY 12/14 8:30 AM

To prepare for their first day on the ice, please have your child watch the following video:

https://youtu.be/tbWjXktXq60

(If this website won't allow the hyperlink, just copy/paste)

Please feel free to flag down any of the LTS coaches or me if you have any questions. Here we go!