Your missing the boat IFallsRon, it's minimum $12.25/hr., but the work only lasts for 5 months...why is the person getting paid $12.25 for the 7 other months when there is no ice to work on? The numbers don't add up! Sounds like Immigration should peep their heads in on this one.

I think it's safe to assume that the job is paid for only 6 1/2 months and not year round. According to visa rules, an international can only work and be paid during the date stipulated on his/her visa.

If a qualified American is interested and applies, then they will get this job. The Department of Labor requires that employers specifically document how/why each applicant does not meet the qualifications, and the employer is required to hire any American who does (and they would save a lot of money since it's not cheap to file with Immigration for foreign workers). Probably the arena has a tough time filling this position locally due to the temporary nature of the position, the early/late hours and travel involved and necessary credentials (and dealing with parents who find the routines monotonous). If so, then hiring an international is not stealing a job from an American, but providing American children opportunities to become better skaters/performers that they otherwise wouldn't have.

The arena may already have an international in mind, which takes away some of the gamble of offering a work visa.

If there is an International in mind, then why is there an ad? unless something is trying to be covered here (like need ad for visa requirements) and yes it IS a gamble since being approved for a US work visa is NOT a gaurentee. So this raises a question for me, if you hire a non US citizen that doesn't have a work visa, who is paying for this visa? If I had children in figure skating, this is a HUGE question I would be asking. Are they, who ever they are, using the funds of the skating club or what ever it is called to pay for this? OR are the parents who put these children in the club paying extra for this visa, if that happens to be the case in the long run, and they just don't know it? This all sounds pretty fishy to me as that is a whole heck of a lot of money for a non profit organization to be paying for ONE coach. My opinion, parents of skaters need to question and get involved in this one.

skatermom,

I suggest you check out the local club website and contact them with your concerns about why there is a need for this. After all you are a member this non-profit organiazation if your child is a participant and that makes you what sums up to be a co-owner. In my eyes they should have talked to all the members before making a large financial decision such as this.

http://www.iffsc.org/board.html

skatermom,

The financial decision all depends on how much paperwork the club has to file, if they hire a lawyer to represent them, and of course how long the process takes are all factors. According the MN Attorney General website this non-profit club spent $4,919 in Fiscal Year 07 for legal fees alone. http://www.ag.state.mn.us/charities/SearchResults2.asp?Fed=411434826&Yr=... I dont know if that includes the cost to file immigration paperwork or not. By co-owner I mean you invest into the club by paying dues to belong and that is how coaches are paid, bills are paid, and etc. So yes you are technically a co-owner of sorts as long as you pay your club dues. You would have to read the organizations bylaws to see how they are required to operate. Most organizations require about 15% to 20% of the total number members to vote on a decision such as this before they act on it.

Dear SS_Vet,

I'd like to say as a member of the IFFSC and a skater that this hurts me that you would say such things about this club. I would absolutely love to see you teach girls to do axels and flips and spins. And as you said yourself, you're not a skating expert.

And as for your that the fundraising issue your having, don't all kid's organizations fundraise? Last I checked almost every one did. Cross country and track sell cookie dough, hockey sells butterbraids and raffle tickets, baseball and track sells their time to do odd jobs for the town and you're calling out the figure skating club? If you have something against fundraising, don't answer your door when they come to it. Or find your manners and say no thank you. That always works.

What do you have against us? All we ever did was put on ice shows and exhibitions for the public and try to become better figure skaters. If you're going to put down this club, that's not gonna happen.

We worked so hard for that ice show. How dare you. How dare you put down that ice show. It was the hardest year for all of us and you dare put down the ice show we worked so hard for. That was our best ice show ever and my favorite. I can't even believe you're that kind of a person. That's kinda sad to tell you the truth. You should be ashamed of yourself. Get a life.

Actually, this wage information was posted on the internet BY the board of the IFFSC in their advertisment. SS_Vet merely expressed his opinions on it, which he is entitled to, as we all are. More importantly, this situation IS the "beeswax" of all members of the IFFSC - it is their money that is being spent. The IFFSC is a non-profit organization whose financial information, income AND expenditures, must be made available to it's membership and filed as a matter of public record with the MN State Attorney General's Office. It's membership as a whole is, in fact, the "employer" of any skating coach hired. If an individual chooses to work for a non-profit organization they should realize they do NOT have the same expectation of privacy for wage and benefit information that they would in the private sector.

I have researched the items mentioned in this blog - and I, too, question the need to spend this type of money on a coach given the current economic climate. The most highly paid coach in our own school district makes less that $7,000 per season. Football, for example, runs roughly 3 months. Skating runs 5 months. Even IF you doubled that wage, it would still be about $10,000 LESS that what this club is offering to pay a coach.

sk8ergirl_2013, your passion is admirable, however you are wrong. People who take the time to question these things don't need to "get a life" - they have one. They are caring, interested adults who want their children, grandchildren, friends and neighbors children, to experience everything that you have already been experiencing in skating. They want IFFSC to be finacially sound and sustained for years to come. They want the club to be here if the day comes that you have child that wants to be a figure skater. It won't happen just because - it will only happen BECAUSE of folks like SS_Vet, skatermom, and Wing_man22.

sk8ergirl_2013,
Please share with the rest of us the "whole picture" as you put it - apparently you believe yourself to be in possession of information that has not been brought to light in this issue. You seem to feel strongly that others opinions are stupid, that we don't have all the facts. This must mean that you know things we do not. I, for one, welcome all new information on this issue. No one is putting down you or the IFFSC- they are merely questioning decisions and procedures as is their right to. After all we are citizens of a very wonderful country, the United States of America, where we enjoy the freedom of speech, written and spoken. Name calling, and being disrespectful of others opinions and beliefs, is inappropriate and immature - no matter your chronological age. I disagree with your presentation but look forward to any further real information regarding this issue you'd like to provide. If you don't understand pertinent "financial and all that fun jazz" facts, I would be most happy to discuss them with you.