Matching Students With Instructors: The RASPYS Framework with Paul Geoghegan

How much can you learn about a young skier before the lesson even begins?

In this episode of First Chair, host George Thomas sits down with longtime instructor and trainer Paul Geoghegan to explore the ideas behind his 32 Degrees article, “Matching Students w/ Instructors Through the Rapid Assessment Protocol for Young Skiers.”

Paul introduces RAPYS, a framework designed to help supervisors and instructors make more thoughtful student-instructor matches by considering five key areas: emotional, equipment, cultural, physical, and experience. The framework grew out of observing experienced supervisors who could seemingly look at a young skier and instinctively determine which instructor might be the best fit.

George and Paul explore what those observations look like in practice—from noticing an apprehensive child holding onto a parent's leg to recognizing how experience in hockey, ice skating, dance, or gymnastics might translate to learning on snow. Paul also explains why online booking, while convenient, can't always capture the human factors that can determine whether a lesson succeeds.

Most importantly, Paul argues that RAPYS isn't necessarily about following a rigid scoring system. It's a framework for thinking more intentionally about the person standing in front of you—and creating an environment where they feel safe, supported, and ready to learn.