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Changing Skating Culture One Cheer at a Time · The Nadia Chapman Show

• 0:05
  Hey there, welcome to a brand new episode of the Nadia Chapman Show.
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  I'm your host, Nadia Chapman. And this episode, this version of the Nadia Chapman
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  Show is for figure skaters, coaches,
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  parents, or anyone involved or willing to learn about our big,
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  beautiful world of figure skating.
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  If you've been in the skating world long enough, you know, as a coach,
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  a parent, or, you know, both sides, I'm sure you've noticed,
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  obviously, the magic in this sport, the friendships,
• 0:36
  the discipline, the growth, the moments that shape young athletes into strong, resilient humans.
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  But I'm sure you've also seen the other side, the hardest side of it, the comparison,
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  the pressure that kind of spills over, the environment that feels tense,
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  where people are watching each other a little too closely, maybe,
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  and where support sometimes get replaced with judgment.
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  For a long time, I think many of us just sort of accept it.
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  You know, we say, oh, you know, well, that's figure skating for you,
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  or that's just how skating is.
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  Recently, I experienced traveling a bit and going to different ice rinks for
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  different competitions, and I really, really enjoyed the energy.
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  The energy felt different.
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  There was kindness between the skaters, even those competing against each other.
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  Parents, very supportive parents, parents connecting and chatting and not comparing.
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  There was encouragement and, you know, cheering for a skater when they get on
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  the ice or if they fall or make a mistake and then running to them at the end
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  to congratulate them. It was a beautiful space.
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  There was a lot of respect and it felt lighter. It felt very positive.
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  And it made me realize something really important. It doesn't have to be the
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  way we sometimes experience it.
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  Which is why I wanted to talk about this today, not as a coach,
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  but as a human, as someone who deeply cares about the experience we are creating
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  for kids and teens out there, for these athletes and for each other.
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  As you know, the skating world can be intense and that intensity can be a beautiful
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  thing when it's channeled the right way.
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  But when it's not, it starts to leak into everything. It shows up in conversations,
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  in the stands, in the way people interact, and most importantly,
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  in the way young skaters begin to see themselves.
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  Because when a skater feels like they're constantly being watched or compared
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  or judged by other skaters, coaches, and parents, it doesn't just affect how
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  they perform. It affects how they feel stepping on the ice, but also off the ice.
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  It affects their confidence, their willingness to take risk.
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  But also their ability to enjoy the sport.
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  And as parents and coaches, whether you realize it or not, we play a huge role
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  in shaping that environment because the skating culture isn't something that just exists.
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  It's something that we created. It's something we create every day.
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  How do you decide to show up as a competitor, as a teammate, as a coach, as a parent?
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  Every comment we make, every reaction we have, every conversation in the car
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  ride home, or conversation with other parents, every look in the stands, it all contributes.
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  And this is where I want to invite a huge shift into the skating world because
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  it's easy to say, oh, the skating world is toxic.
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  But the truth is the skating world is made up of people, people like you and I, people like us.
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  And we have more influence than we think.
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  And as I'm saying this, there's this image in my mind that keeps coming back.
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  It might be a silly metaphor, but the sun makes everything grow.
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  So when a skater feels supported and encouraged and safe, you know,
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  to be themselves out there, to open up, to fall and get up, they take risks.
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  They trust their training. They enjoy the process.
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  They grow, not just as an athlete, but as a person.
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  But when the environment feels cold and tense and judgmental,
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  they don't bloom in the same way. They hold back. They become cautious.
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  They start performing not to express, but to avoid making mistakes and to avoid criticism.
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  It's kind of a sad thing. And that shift is everything because we're not just
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  developing athletes, we're shaping how they see themselves. And that's a huge thing.
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  So what I mean, the sun makes everything grow.
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  There's enough sunshine for every single trees and every single flowers out there.
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  So you cheering on or commenting or complimenting on another kid,
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  a kid that's not yours to work with, or, you know, another parent's kid,
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  it doesn't take away from your child.
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  It just creates a very nice, friendly, supportive environment.
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  I think that's where it starts. So the question becomes, what kind of environment
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  are we creating for the kids? what kind of environment do you want for your child?
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  And what kind of environment do you want for everybody in the club?
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  You know, are we adding warmth? Are we adding pressure that doesn't belong to them?
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  And this is where small intentional choices start to matter more than anything.
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  As a parent choosing to support your child without tying your emotions to their
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  results, it's not easy, but we've got to learn to do that.
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  And now, and as a coach, creating a space where effort, growth,
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  and trust are valued as much as performance, that's also very important.
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  And as part of a community, choosing kindness, support, and friendliness,
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  even in a competitive moments, can change everything.
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  So acknowledging another skater's hard work, speaking respectfully about others,
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  even when they're not around, even maybe if we're not the biggest fan, it doesn't matter.
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  You know, letting your child know that someone else's success does not take
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  anything away from them.
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  All right. These are not small things. These are the things that shape the skating culture.
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  And at the same time, we've got to be realistic that we also have to prepare
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  our skaters for the reality that not every rink or every environment will feel supportive.
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  So part of our role is also giving skaters tools to stay grounded with that.
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  So helping them create their own mental space, their own bubble,
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  if I can say, where they don't absorb everything that's external,
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  all the external opinion.
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  Helping them stay connected to their why, so they're not constantly pulled,
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  you know, by outside noise, and helping them understand that their worth is
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  not defined by a score, by a placement, or someone else's opinion, all right?
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  Because when they have that foundation, they can walk into any rinks,
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  any environment, and stay rooted into who they are.
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  I'm going to tell you, at the end of the day, the skating world doesn't shift
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  just because we talk about it.
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  It shifts because we take responsibility as adults for the role that we play
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  in this sport. So as coaches, as parents, as people in this community,
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  because we cannot control everything around us.
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  That's impossible. But we can absolutely control the energy we bring into the
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  space. So we can control to be calm instead of being tense. We can choose the
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  encouragement instead of the comparison.
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  We can choose to be the sun and cheer for, you know, more people than just our kids.
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  And when we do that constantly, even in small ways, we don't just change our
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  own experience in the sport. We start to change it for everyone around us.
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  And that's the kind of skating world worth creating. If there's one thing I'm
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  taking with me from this, the environment doesn't just happen,
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  it's created one interaction at a time.
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  So whether you're a parent, a coach, or a skater listening to this right now,
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  you have way more influence than you think in the way you speak to each other,
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  in the way you show up, in the way that you choose to support not just your
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  own, but the people around you.
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  Because the truth is, the sun makes everything grow, and we have the ability
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  to be that for someone else.
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  So as you walk into your next practice, your next competition,
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  or the next moment in this sport, just ask yourself, what kind of energy am
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  I bringing into this space? Because that's where it starts.
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  And that's how we begin to change the culture, not all at once,
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  but moment by moment, choice by choice.
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  And that's truly something worth being intentional about.
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  Thanks for listening. I'll see you in the next podcast.