2012 European Championships
Congratulations to all the GB skaters and their coaches who competed in Sheffield at the 2012 European Championships.
Official Website
Results

BITA Adult Camp
The dates for the next BITA Adult Skating Camp will be held on 22nd & 23rd March 2012.
Click here for more details
Click here for the application form

Plans for New NISA Coaching Conference
   The Dates for the NISA Coaches Convention have now been confirmed and will be held from 19-21 August 2012. The event will cover both on and off Ice activities and will be based between Ice Sheffield and the Conference Centre at Sheffield Hallam University. More details will be released again as and when they are available. NISA is set to introduce a new three-day Coaches Convention that will include a variety of both on and off-ice activities covering all disciplines, including seminars with internationally renowned coaches and motivational classes.
The proposed Coaches Convention, in Sheffield, will replace previous years’ compulsory two-day coaching seminar and is due to make its debut in Summer 2012.
Coaches will be required to attend the three-day event once every three years in order to validate their coaching licence, but will be able to attend every year if they wish and will gain credits towards their Continuing Professional Development if they chose to do so.
The changes come after feedback from a coaching survey earlier this year and a consultation with coaches about the format of the compulsory annual seminar.
The convention, which is expected to attract around 350 coaches and exhibitors, is based on the same principles as the International Conference and Trade Show held by the Professional Skaters Association (PSA), USA.
Simon Briggs, NISA coaching director, who came up with the Coaches Convention initiative, said: “Taking everything into consideration, we have developed the conference we’ve had in the past into this new proposed three-day convention-style event. It will cover all aspects of coaching and hopefully include sessions with world class coaches. “There will be a flexible timetable of events so that coaches are able to decide which seminars and workshops to attend, and shuttle buses running between the venues and hotels.
“Myself, coaching administrator Lisa Burnell and chief executive Keith Horton have been working towards this kind of event for some time now, and when the feedback came in from the coaches survey it backed up everything we were hoping to achieve.
“More details will be released about the event to our coaches as and when they are available.”
Keith Horton, chief executive of NISA, said: “We are all really looking forward to launching the new Coaches Convention in 2012. “We have been in the process of improving on our previous coaching seminars for a long time now and have listened to what our coaches want when making these plans for 2012. It is a positive and exciting change for current and future of NISA coaches.

Pamela Davis MBE
Pam was born Pamela Lubliner in London on 6th July 1921 to a concert pianist and a diamond merchant from Krakow Poland.
    She took up ice skating after a childhood illness and later formed pairs partnerships with Ernest Yates and Peter Scholes, competing in both World and European Championships.
    She had already started judging after the war and, in 1950, retired from competitive skating to concentrate on a judging career that spanned 50 years.  She judged the very first Olympic Ice Dance Championship, in 1976 and achieved an MBE and the ISU Hasler medal for her services to ice skating.    She will be remembered as one of the most influential judges of the 20th Century. She was feared respected and trusted by skaters and coaches alike.  If Pam was on your panel of judges at any level the marks she awarded genuinely reflected the ability and progress of your pupil, or of you as a competitor.
    Davis still had time for other pursuits, she loved animals and travelled widely.Pamela Davis MBE died at home on 7th December 2011 aged 90.        

Coaching Children and Young People
Sports Coach UK are offering a course 'Coaching Children and Young People'
"If you are currently working with young performers this workshop is for you. You’ll learn everything you need to know about children’s physical growth, social and emotional development and early skill learning."
Click here for more information

British Championship Medal Count
Please check out a very interesting link which details the medal count for British skaters in the European, Olympics and World championships since 1899

NISA EGM
Thank you to all of you and to your friends and colleagues who took the time to vote in the ballot to accept or reject the Constitution and rules proposed by the NISA Board.

The proposal was resoundingly rejected by a vote of 166 against and 66 for with 40 spoilt ballot papers.( note for the future. Many of the spoilt proxy forms could not be counted because Membership numbers were not in the correct box or membership numbers were incorrectly entered).

Inevitably this is not the end game and at some future point further proposals will undoubtedly be brought forward. However, we hope that these future proposals will produce a document that is in the interest of the membership and furthering the development of our sport.

As some of you will know Tony Barron was selected as an independent scrutineer for the count at the Solicitors office. It is his opinion that the counting of the votes was properly conducted by the appointed Agents and no forms went to NISA office. Only a record of the number of votes cast were presented to the Chairman of the EGM in an envelope sealed at the Agents office and this was only opened at the commencement of the meeting.

Providing this procedure is carried out in future, as directed in the current constitution, there is no need for concern over anonymity  AND THEREFORE NO REASON NOT TO VOTE .    

BITA recognises that, although of crucial importance, the defeating of the proposal does not in the short term do much to improve the dire state of figure skating in the UK.  Over the next few months we will continue our efforts to bring in substantial and beneficial changes to our failed coach education system which in turn will help benefit the skating talent that does exist in the UK.

Hopefully members, both BITA & NISA, will now realise that the future of Figure skating in the UK is in THEIR hands and not the Board or the administration.   If they vote they can effect change and give UK figure skating a future.

Thank you for your support.

BITA Coaching Awards 2011
Congratulations to Debi Briggs for being awarded the 'Joyce Taylor Award' for Services to Coaching and to Andrew Smykowski for winning the 'Young Coach of the Year Award' 2011

Impaired Skaters Project
click here for more information

Coach Education Survey
Both the NISA Board and Skate Scotland Board were sent the results of the survey earlier this week. Click below to view the results of the survey and the letter sent to the NISA Board.
click here for full details

NISA Board Agrees Settlement of Legal Dispute: Tomlin Order
NISA have agreed a settlement of Legal Dispute brought by Haig Oundjian, Bryan Morrice and Peter Morrissey,
click here for full details

BITA Membership Now Free
Following the recent change in constitution BITA membership is now free. All qualified Ice Coaches are invited to join the association which in turn will make the association stronger. Please download and return the application form either via email or by mail to the address given on the form.

Eligibility Rules
To download the NISA rules for eligible skaters click here.

Child Protection
NISA has published a NISA Child Protection document and have a dedicated email address dedicated for child protection issues. If you have any queries contact childprotection@iceskating.org.uk