AEU Voices - Director Erin Cullen

Tips for navigating the Synchro Space, Things to Look for in Teams/Organizations, and General Reflections heading into our 10th Season

Erin Cullen is the Founder, Director, and Head Coach of Arctic Edge Unity (established in 2016). She has been in the synchronized skating space for 30 years and, during that time, has developed a unique point of view from the perspective of a competitor, volunteer, coach, and now, program director and head coach of almost a decade. For more on Cullen's background and our other coaches' bios, visit our Leadership & Coaching page.

For this edition of "AEU Voices", our Director lends her insights to both new and more experienced families with tips on navigating the synchro space for your skater as well as time-tested reflections on organizational culture and community.

Why Arctic Edge Unity (AEU)?

We are a fresher organization with a future-focused approach. Area organizations of the past have overseen a significant decline and disillusionment of synchro skaters in the metro-Detroit area (the pool of sectionally and nationally competitive youth synchronized skaters in our area has gone from 500+ to less than 150 over the past decade). It's time for new vision and, in the absence of more collaborative mindsets, AEU is dedicated to promoting those goals and celebrating the new area programs that showcase development and make consistent efforts to increase the participation and growth of synchronized skating in Michigan. Special shoutout to those programs in our area that have been established in the last 3-5 years - Your success is SYNCHRO'S success and the goal is to create a robust environment and pipeline of synchronized skating in Metro-Detroit where all skaters can plant roots, thrive, and succeed!

How does organizational mindset and culture affect a skater's and family's experience in synchro?

There is so much importance for young people and their families to shift their mindsets from the transactional to the transformational. Synchronized skating is a TEAM sport above all else. Teams built on transactional mindsets will always be just that; transactional. For those that want to do more than purchase a season, but rather invest in an experience, be mindful of the values you see on display with any given team. Results matter, but as someone who's personally achieved the highest results available in this sport, I know first-hand that they do not have to come at the expense of physical and mental well-being. Synchronized Skating is a niche sport and, as families, you are not just voting for your skater's current season, but you are investing in the type of space you want to see for their future and paying it forward to strengthen the environments new skaters will have access to, long after your skater's career has concluded.

What is the importance of community in synchronized skating?

I always recommend families to think hard about connections and community when making decisions regarding participation in synchro. This may not be on your mind as much at the beginner or early developmental levels where the general investment of time and resources is lower, but what efforts does your organization make to be a space of connection and growth, on and off the ice? Has your organization's sense of community expanded over the last several seasons or declined?

The most successful teams and organizations on and off the ice in the world are built on foundations of trust. If there is minimal to no effort made to develop broader trust and connectivity between skaters, families, and team levels on an organizational level, there becomes a ceiling to the support network available throughout the several ups and downs of your skater's career in a sport. Having a support network is one of the main reasons skaters choose to participate and compete in synchronized team skating to begin with. If social support, group accountability, and community are not a strong priority for your family or for your skater, you may likely be better served in one of figure skating's several other, more individually focused disciplines.

Any words of wisdom about navigating tryout season?

My words of wisdom are to always think with your values and priorities, not a specific "wish list". Teams/organizations that survive or rely on the recruitment of other program's skaters and talent, regardless of competitive results, will never feel rock solid as they are inherently invested in destabilizing the organizations around them for their own benefit. Some organizations or teams would have you believe that there's no other answer to fulfilling a specific goal or benchmark for your skater, but several other successful synchro markets in our country and the world demonstrate the exact opposite. These markets show that sustainable growth and elite success in an area comes from a deep and diverse competitive landscape, with lots of teams participating and succeeding, not less. Seek the teams/organizations that best reflect your values and CONTRIBUTE to grow that energy in your family and skater's image. Especially for post-high school collegiate/elite opportunities, having well-balanced skills, the long-term support of your coaches, and a track record of deep involvement in your team community is absolutely more valuable than burning out in an ill-fitting opportunity 1-2 years before you graduate.

What are some ways to discern or differentiate the types of teams/organizations in the space?

Look for organizations and teams that promote the growth of synchro overall through their language, actions, and initiatives and employ an adaptive strategy to support their skaters success and opportunities to the best of their abilities each season. Another thing to look for is their general pipeline. If a team or organization is not making active efforts to provide new opportunities for skaters and families to learn about and get involved in synchro, that's usually a sign that they feel entitled to be consumers, not builders, of our sport, and will likely demonstrate that same entitlement with your skater's and family's efforts and time if/when you're there. These types of organizations can sometimes generate periodic competitive success, but will always struggle to build a sustainable/constructive approach, which leads to skater burnout/disinterest.

What have been some of the biggest challenges to success for skaters in the past 5 years?

Lack of vision is a big one. So many teams/organizations run on a "business as usual" mindset and never innovate or develop new ways to strengthen relationships, education and skills with skaters/families and then seem surprised when their experience diminishes or feels "not worth it" anymore in the face of increasing competition and other external factors. Combined with COVID, so much of this exact approach has affected the overall decline in skater numbers, especially high-school age skaters, over the past five years. A static mentality can occur in any organization at times, but look for coaches/leadership that stay motivated/compassionate through ups and downs, promote age/socially appropriate accountability, demonstrate larger vision, promote new skaters/area programs, and use innovative approaches to try and give their skaters access to new opportunities and skills. The organizations that care will be invested in your skater's individual journey and offer opportunities to discuss and promote that; the programs that don't will either be indifferent to your skater's personal skill development or only care insofar as it benefits their team in the short-term.

What has it been like growing a program from the ground up? Do you have any reflections heading into year ten of Arctic Edge Unity?

We have had lots of ups and downs in our first decade, but the key thread that runs through it all (and our north star in navigating our next decade) is relationships. Especially when we were a newer program some years ago, families came and went as they figured out their engagement and investment level in synchro and their interest in being a part of something newer. As a program that started with zero members, balancing pipeline development/growth during our first 9 seasons came with its fair share of challenges, but ultimately, during that time, we have become a consistent, successful, and well-known organization for skaters in our area. For that, I give a lot of credit to everyone involved, but especially to the families/skaters that have given us the privilege to grow our success and trust together over the past several seasons.

What’s the vision for year ten and beyond? What are some of the priorities moving forward?

Our goal is to reach a new layer of success for our skaters and teams using a continued emphasis on relationships, accountability, and culture. That may seem like a straightforward list, but that doesn’t mean it's always easy to develop and maintain. We are in a better position than ever and are unafraid to do that complex, sometimes hard, work to increase the standard at all of our team levels, on and off the ice.

At our beginner and developmental levels, I’m thrilled to continue our program’s path of being a positive ambassador of synchronized skating in our area and to introduce many more skaters to the rewarding nature, skill/social development, and fun of our discipline. Synchro is truly for everyone and we want to continue our mission of generating and supporting initiatives to promote our sport more broadly.

At our higher and more advanced levels, I’m especially encouraged to see the additional trust and buy-in continue to grow. It’s been rewarding to see many of these skaters become more involved in their own personal and team development over the last few seasons and I’m very excited to see that aspect continue to develop. Self-driven and intrinsically motivated athletes are often successful in their own right, but when you can create space and have a culture where these types of athletes and young people can exist side-by-side and encourage each other in that mentality, they can become unstoppable, and almost magical. I’m very excited for more of that.

Any final thoughts or things to share?

Generally, I really like the sentiment of “Support Your Local Synchro Team”. We had some stickers go around our club this year with this phrase and I think it is a simple phrase that encapsulates a bigger idea. Synchro as a sport should be inclusive/bigger than it is currently in our area and every program should be finding ways to demonstrate support for new skaters entering the sport and/or lifting up those newer programs in our area. It’s not easy to make something out of nothing and I’m sincere when I say that I am happy to lend any help and support I can to anyone looking to build something new and expand the synchro space in our area. As always, if you need to find me, I'll be at the rink!