As Jo gets more serious about skating, I add new skills too. First it was the hair styling (actual email received a few weeks ago: “Please do not cut your skater’s hair until competition season is over. Bangs are especially hard to work with!”) and the fact that “if you’re not puking, you’re skating.” Then it was understanding how to buy ice time, via a contract with the figure skating club. For the record, my best bet was to buy 26 hours of time at once, calculated on a per-minute basis.
Most recently, I took a lesson how to be a music monitor during said ice time. Someone asked me “Is that like a DJ?” and I said yes, only without the turntables and those giant headphones. And also, cold. Basically, you sit in one of those boxes next to the ice and put CDs into the player. On the ice, 15 or so girls are either practicing individually or working one-on-one with a coach. They line up their CDs of program music and the monitor plays them, in order. Except sometimes, a coach comes in with a “pro call” and bumps to the front of the line. (There is a list of about 20 rules for music playing, so you can understand why I was totally nervous the first time). And then some other times, whichever skater whose turn it is doesn’t want their music after all. So between each CD, the monitor has to stick her head out of the box and bellow, “JULIA!” or “MADDIE!” or “KATIE!” once or ten times until the girl says Yes, please play my CD, or No, not now, thanks.
Related: Why is it kind of intimidating dealing with teenage girls? They are perfectly nice, but I did not like that bellowing part of the job.
Also related: Proper attire is essential for music monitors. This means fingerless gloves, and also apparently eyeglasses so you can realize that there are not one, but TWO space heaters in your little box, in case you would like to maybe turn them on?
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Thanks for the report! Geesh sounds very manual. You need those Olive Garden buzzers instead of shouting. I read an article once about a woman that started coaching high school track. She said it surprised her that their mannerisms ( rolled eyes, etc) could send her right back to her own insecure teen years.
This is a fascinating new world you’ve entered. Curious to know some of the tunes you were spinning…
Huh. I would never have known about the “do not cut your skater’s hair thing.” The things we learn! I am cracking up that you actually received those instructions via email. I’m going out on a limb to say this is one of the many ways parenting is different for our generation. See also, travel soccer. Right?
Maybe glove liners? Or those “texting” gloves that are supposed to allow you to use your smartphone.
I love hearing about the skating world from you!