On Saturday 1 February 1879 a number of prominent men of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire met in the Guildhall, Cambridge, to set up the National Skating Association with the aim of regulating the sport of fen skating. A Cambridge journalist, James Drake Digby, had thought that the Fen speed skaters were worthy of national recognition and he was also concerned that betting was leading to malpractice. He thought that skating needed a national organisation to control it, like the Jockey Club. The founding committee included several landowners, a vicar, a fellow of Trinity College, a magistrate, two members of parliament, the mayor of Cambridge, the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, the president of Cambridge University Skating Club, and Neville Goodman, a graduate of Peterhouse, Cambridge. The newly formed National Skating Association held their first one-and-a-half-mile British professional championship at Thorney in December 1879. There was a field of 32, including former champions Turkey Smart and Tom Watkinson. Fish Smart beat Knocker Carter in the final. His reward was a badge, a sash and a cash prize, given as an annual salary in instalments to encourage the champion to "keep himself temperate". The NSA also established an amateur championship, which was held for the first time at Welsh Harp, London, in January 1880, and won by Frederick Norman, a farmer’s son from Willingham. The professionals were labourers who skated for cash prizes; the amateurs were gentlemen who skated for trophies. In 1892 the NSA aided in the foundation of the International Skating Union. The NSA hosted the first international ice skating competition in Britain in Birmingham in 1899 and has hosted all events in the UK since in various locations. In 1894 the National Skating Association decided to move their headquarters from Cambridge to London, from where they concentrated on figure skaters and rinkmen. Their new base, the National Skating Palace, is now better known as the London Palladium. Until 1990, when an independent society was formed, the NSA was also the UK's governing body of roller skating. As a consequence of the segmentation, the NSA became the NISA, the headquarters of which are now based in Nottingham. In November 2018, the National Ice Skating Association began rebranding as British Ice Skating.
Assessment
Complying to the purpose of the organisation, the NISA levels are used by instructors to grade learners of ice skating in the UK. There are various levels of student grades, as well as instructor grades.
Skate UK
These levels are generally taught in group classes, and are assessed by the instructors of these classes. In 2013, NISA trialled a revamped version of its Skate UK course at certain rinks, with a plan to roll out this new version of the course throughout the country in 2013 and 2014.
Skate UK Star Levels (formerly known as Passport)
These levels may be attempted once the SkateUK levels have been passed. Skate UK Star levels may be taken in any or all of singles skating, ice dancing, speed skating or synchronised skating, although you must complete a level in a given discipline before moving onto the next level in that discipline. These levels as also assessed by the instructor, but will be expected to be of a higher standard than the same moves in the SkateUK system. Like the SkateUK course, SkateUK Star was revamped by NISA in 2013. As of 2014, it is still possible to buy the old-style books on the NISA website.
Judged Levels
These levels go from 1 to 10 and are assessed by at least one BIS qualified judge. Skaters must show proof that they have completed the Skate UK programme before being allowed to apply for the judged levels.
Events
A calendar of events that British Ice Skating will host and organise can be found here.
