Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club

“My daughter is 5 years old and this was her first time on the ice. She was extremely nervous, especially about falling, but I reassured her that the coaches would be supportive and encouraging. Unfortunately, this program completely failed her. She needed extra encouragement and support from her teachers to feel safe and build confidence, but instead she was ignored and left standing alone on the ice for long periods EVERY CLASS. It was painful to watch her so isolated and anxious while her coaches did absolutely nothing to help. Her coach was completely uninterested and unenthusiastic every single class. I felt uncomfortable even approaching her, so I took my concerns straight to the head coach because it was unbearable to keep watching my daughter suffer. Despite my complaints to the head coach, absolutely nothing changed. At the end of each class, the assistant coach would skate over and grab my daughter by the underarms to drag her across the ice to the exit. She wasn’t even teaching her how to skate. It felt like they saw her as a burden they just wanted to get rid of as quickly as possible. That was the only time they would “support” her. Before every class, my daughter would cry, telling me her coaches ignored her and didn’t help her, and begging not to go. I didn’t want to show her that it was okay to quit, so we kept going back, hoping things would get better after I voiced my concerns. Nothing changed. My original intention was to take videos and [...truncated]”