 Poster: A snowHead
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I was wondering if anyone had yet done any of the BSPA courses, and if so what did you think? Would you recommend?
It seems slightly strange to me that admission to some of the courses requires a certain amount of years experience, I would say that volume of boot fits gives you more experience. e.g. 200+ fits per season or 50 fits per season and only done 3 seasons!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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DangerMouse13, there aren't too many trade people on this forum and the BSBA courses are only just starting to come on line, yes number of fits is important but so is time dealing with customers, i would always rather deal with someone who had done 50 really good fits than someone who busted out 200 pairs of boots with no effort or integrity.
if you contact Euan at BSBA he will be able to discuss your experience and point you towards the best level of course for you if you are looking to get involved. there are no hard and fast rules just recommendations as the last thing they want to do is put you onto a course where the material is either stuff you have heard before or goes over your head, i can speak with some experience as i paid a lot of money a few years back to do a course in the USA as i needed CPD points for my C.Ped the course i signed onto was meant to be very high level yet 2 people on the course did not understand the basics of ankle joint flexion, all this did was water the course content down for the rest of us....expensive 2 days of learning not a lot except that not all boot fitters who have done 10 seasons understand the human foot.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Would it be benificial for me to do a course even tho its probably not that widley recognised at the moment? im thinking in terms of cost vs benifit?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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DangerMouse13, really depends what you are wanting to do it for, if just to say you have done a boot fitting course then the courses are as good as any other other there if not better, if to progress your career as a boot fitter then beneficial as they will become much more known pretty quickly...are you working as a boot fitter at present, how much have you done etc etc there are a few options out there
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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DangerMouse13, you said there are few options out there, what are they?
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Fri 22-07-11 1:13; edited 1 time in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've done one season fitting, probably 250 fits that i would say are pretty indepth 2-3hrs per fit with custom footbeds, and done plenty of stretching ect. I want to continue fitting and the more knowledge i have the easier it will be to splve problem foot issues. I want to do biomech course but maybe a step to far i dont know?
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DangerMouse13, Where did you do a season?
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Re: BSBA experience levels
I thought I would address a few things brought up in this post.
The reason that there is a rough amount of years experience stated for some courses is to give people an idea of the experience required. The course booking form is far more in depth and we can tell from that which course is suitable for a student. We need to know about all aspects of your boot fitting eg if you have done foam fits and custom insoles. I have seen people fitting boots that have fitted over 1000 boots, yet their skill level is rather suspect as they have self taught themselves solely from experience which does not necessarily mean it it the correct way. Our trainers are hugely qualified with Biomechanic and Podiatry degrees as well as a reputation for being the best boot fitters in the UK because of years of specialism in the trade including success with top UK skiers and ski racers.
Until we existed no accreditation existed in boot fitting, so skill levels vary greatly, we want to improve this situation. We are there to help the public get professional service and help them find where to go. The trade completely supports us, though not financially at all! BSBA itself is a non profit making association set up to promote boot fitting as a trade. The training aspect is run separately and is there to provide a structured training programme not previously available to boot fitters in the UK.
We are here to help raise boot fitting levels and promote boot fitting as a skilled trade. If we did not do this then it would continue to be a "pot luck" situation with no consistency of skill experience guaranteed. This will probably continue but at least people know that BSBA retailers have a benchmark standard of service and professionalism.
Unfortunately to promote boot fitting and run BSBA, this costs money, so we have membership costs,for example we are going to have a stand at the London Ski show promoting ski boot fitting and promoting BSBA. So come and see us and discuss boot fitting further. We will be providing advice on all aspects of boot fitting. Stand BB80 I believe.
Cheers,
Euan 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The issue I see with the BSBA training is what happens to the diploma awarded bootfitter after. Your highly qualified but ski shops dont pay a professional wage (more minimum wage) and they seem quite happy training new people up ever year. Your only option would be to open up your own shop. Awesome if you can do it  but otherwise your over qualified, under paid and in more debt If you want to get to that kind of level, a 3 year podiatry degree will give you better job opportunities. I like the idea of the BSBA but I think there needs more radical change amongst the shops in the industry for a diploma to make sense.
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jammiefreerider, Good point well made, we have received lots of applicants this winter already with both experience and such qualifications. We do prefer to take on willing applicants with the right attitude to learning and train them ourselves. It's an odd profession, requiring an odd blend of skills. I think the BSBA are trying to accredit shops and help the public with who to trust and where, which is important in an industry that seems to be growing. I hope it all comes together to improve standards and at least help the public decide where to spend their money (a simple advert sending everyone to SOLEbootlab in Chamonix would be equally effective!) 
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