Black Monday

Black Monday

 Originally published Jan/Feb 2019 PS Magazine


As I sit down to write this editorial, the 2019 regional season has just finished. While most events went off with little hitch, once again I am baffled by the behavior of some PSA members. I still call the Monday after regionals “Black Monday.” But not because that’s traditionally the day that a skater’s poor performance results in a coach’s firing on the first Monday after. Now, it’s the reports of coaching issues I get. Some are minor and some not so much. Those who have been reading my column for a while know I have written about this before. I think that’s what bothers me the most… it keeps happening.



The one that has me really upset happened on the east coast. This is a portion of the email I received from U.S. Figure Skating’s SafeSport Committee reporting a statement from a camera operator who is, by the way, SafeSport compliant and understands his or her reporting duty.

During the [deleted] warm-up after the recording had begun a coach loudly stated that [their] athlete was "a smart kid, but a stupid athlete." I quietly let the coaches know that I had a hot mic. The coach responded by leaning closer to my camera and loudly stating 'Let me say it on record then.' [They] later during another skater’s kiss and cry leaned into my frame and kept saying "Can I say now my skater is..." and trailed off multiple times. After the final skater [they were] still down in the kiss and cry area and on camera audibly yelled "Can you put [them] in the trunk" pointing towards [their] skater "and drive [them] up to [the city]? I am going to get drunk."

Now if anyone was to be called stupid…



The production person from the event had several questions on how to minimize this issue.

How should I instruct my camera operators to capture athletes exiting the ice and waiting/receiving their scores when their coaches are harsh with them - especially when I can hear audio of what is being said?

What should we do when something is recorded on camera that is inappropriate (ie: Can you put [them] in the trunk and drive [them] up to [the city]? This skater is stupid.)

…So this is more a reminder that at these competitions - coaches and athletes need to be operating under the assumption that when they are by the ice, what they say might be picked up by a live mic, and their physical actions might be caught on camera, and to act and speak accordingly.

I appreciate the concerns of the production team (filming for NBC Gold and the official tech and judges’ video review) and their thoughts on how to minimize exposure to a public relations nightmare. However, regardless of whether they are on TV, in public, or in an area of privacy, this type of behavior is intolerable and unnecessary. Consistently belittling an athlete is not only a violation of the SafeSport code, it serves no purpose other to shame an athlete. To what end? Will that make the skater better? Will it help them perform better? It’s just unprofessional and it makes the coach (not the athlete) look bad when they make poor remarks about a child.

While this type of behavior needs to be eliminated, coaches must also be cognizant of their physical actions. Hugging a skater after a performance is common practice and in almost all instances is done for the right reasons. Unfortunately, this is an example of something that a coach believes is harmless but is perceived differently.  What is relevant is the perception of the behavior by viewers or bystanders. It is import that coaches show emotional restraint and minimize any physical contact that is not done in the act of coaching or teaching.

Coaches are being held to a much higher moral standard than ever before, and I advise us all to look at how we act and do business. Let’s do the right thing for the right reasons and not wait until someone catches us doing something unprofessional.