I have been consistently inline skating since 1992 (August 1st to be precise!) When I was living in the US and went to New York, I saw a Hard Rock Cafe employee roll up to work on a pair of skates and thought "that's soooooo cool". After moving to California, I made the fatal mistake of buying a cheap pair of skates and just found them uncomfortable and hard work - they were a waste of money - a false economy thinking that I would try skating to see if I like it. When I left the US to return to Australia to live, my very last purchase was a pair of Rollerblade Lightning TRS's, the best you could get at the time and what a difference they were - comfortable and quick on the feet but they spent the first year of their life gathering dust. I was too scared to use them! Then, while living on the Gold Coast, I met 2 guys who played inline hockey and when I told them I had pair of skates, they suggested I come out to training. "But I can't skate" I stammered. They said it didn't matter - the more the merrier. My first hockey training and all I did was stand gingerly on the skates and support myself with the stick. After gaining some confidence, I then became a 'skate home from work' commuter (it was too hot to skate to work!). If only that girl in NY realized how much of an influence she had on me!
I had moved to the Gold Coast to continue my new found sport in California of outrigger canoe racing however, found the politics and cattiness too much - not my cup of tea. I found the hockey/skating thing way more supportive, and fun. Skating is such a leveler, you can be a doctor, a student or a council worker, but on skates, those 'hats' seem to disappear and it just becomes fun.
A year after my wobbly first times, I ended up playing hockey for the Queensland girls team which was an awesome thrill. To be actually selected to play in a team that consisted of girls half my age (since I had entered my 30's) who were figure skaters or played ice hockey. OK, I'm the first to admit that I wasn't the best, but it was good to be involved! My success was due to consistency in being on the skates and diligently turning up to training on (groan) Sunday mornings, sometimes as early as 6 a.m.
Having a Sports Science degree and plenty of spare time, I was asked to formulate a fitness-training plan for the first Australian mens team to compete at the inaugural world inline hockey championships in Chicago. This was in '95 and I had 8 weeks to get them fit. They were highly skilled players, many playing ice hockey since they could first
stand up, but they were not as fit as they could have been. After 8 weeks, they were a machine and out of the 16 teams that competed, they came in 8th. Again, another skating highlight for me.
I moved to Brisbane in '99 and at the end of the year and my gym membership expired never to be renewed again! Blade Sensations was a proactive shop in Brizzy that had organized tours, fitness programs, etc, so, in 2000 I became more skate focused and realized that being outdoors with
other like minded people was more fun than 20 minutes on the step machine. If I train in a gym again, it will be a supplement to skating or something to do when it rains!
After the move to Melbourne, I realized that I wanted to do more with skating down here and contacted the International Inline Skating Association about becoming an instructor. This would have involved going overseas to do the course, however, in March 2002, a course was held in Brisbane which I participated in and achieved my Level 1 qualification.
Along with some teaching and involved with a junior hockey squad in 2002, I decided that I need to learn some technical skating skills and took up speed skating! Speed skating is a real humbler when coming from a recreational/hockey background. I do not have the desire, nor capability, to become good at speed skating, but find the training and the
drills involved really interesting and enjoy the fitness aspect. I am in awe of the guys and girls who can do it real well as they look like a moving piece of art.
Sometimes for fun, we skate in some of the skate parks. Neil and I participated in a couple of the street active clinics held at the 2002 Royal Show (you are never too old!) and learned some basics that saw us getting the confidence to drop into a bowl or two.
Skating is such a Zen activity, there is always something new to learn and just when you think you've mastered something, along comes someone who can do some fancy whizzy thingy and that's it, something else you just have to try!!
For somebody who never played sport at school as I detested traditional girls sports, who cannot run a 100m, swims like a brick and has degeneration in my spine affecting my leg strength, skating has been the best activity and a lot less stressful on the body than other sports.
Bayside Blades is now an extension of my enjoyment for skating and I look forward to sharing that enjoyment with you! |
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