Skating
Uploaded by crazzami on May 22, 2000
Imagine that you've just turned 16 and your parents bought you a brand new Mustang. You're cruising on the street at approximately 25 miles per hour. So maybe you're not breaking the speed limit, but everyone's staring. You feel the light breeze through your hair. Then you're in the air, 12 feet high. Finally, you land on your back and come this (gesture 6 in.) close to cracking your skull. What happened? You were skating.
As Aaron Spohn, a well respected ramp builder for the National Inline Skate Series, Extreme Games, and many pro inline skaters, said, When you tell someone you are an in-line skater, you automatically assume they envision you sporting a tangerine body suit, waist pack and a pair of wraparound neon sunglasses.S1 Or maybe you see me as one of those with $35.00 generic skates, moving my arms more than my legs and rolling down the street at a rate of 1 mile per day. This is not the type of skating I am talking about. I'm talking about aggressive inline skating.
Maybe this aforementioned misconception is due to the many aspects of inline skating, and the amount of people involved. About 12.3 million kids are currently inline skaters.2 There is a 57.2% rise in participation in inline skating from last year, compared to basketball, which dropped 4.9%, and football, which rose only 5.8%.3 This is obviously a growing sport, and it's one that you're probably already doing.
Whether or not you want to do inline aggressive skating, it is one of the best all around sports because it provides benefits to three core areas: physical, social, and mental.
I believe I started inline skating in about seventh grade, and I would have to say I had no life before then. But I guess now, I still don't have a life because all I do has to do with inline skating and its representation as a sport, which is why I am giving this speech. In the summer I skate every day for 4 or more hours. I have been acquainted with the manager of Team Paradise, a nationally recognized mail order store. I have also helped in the production of CDS Detroit products, made locally in Grosse Pointe.
Today I would like to talk to you, using my personal experience along with knowledge gained from magazines and other sources, about the physical, social and mental...