Very interesting presentation on the new Icemen program. Males make up a quarter of figure skating, and females 75%. Boys start out strong, but by Basic 3, the retention rate is around 10% while for girls, the retention rate is around 80%. A lot of guys go to hockey, and want team sports, and figure skating is looked at more of a girl sport or a single person sport. That, and coupled with not a lot of male coaches for boys in figure skating, perpetuates the lack of participation.
Icemen is a program to help overcome these issues. The person who enrolls into Icemen gets a series of four conference calls each month beginning in May. They can submit questions about anything related to skating. The host is an elite skater (Mark Ladwig) and perhaps another one or two who will read the questions and ask the other skaters for their opinions as well - building an "on-line" skating relationships not limited by geographical area where there might only be a handful of skaters. This is a listen only mode for the callers.
In addition, there are special Icemen competitions that can be incorporated into skating competitions so that boys can compete with their peers. The panel noted the problem with boys competing with girls, or getting trophies with a female skater on the trophy.
In 2014, there are 3 Icemen competitions in CA - Los Angeles, San Jose (August) and Pasadena, and three others in WA, OR and AZ
I think this program shows some innovative and outside the box thinking on the part of USFS. It is a proactive step, to keep boys and men in skating.
I have contact information from the co-directors should we want more infomation.
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