My Skating Christmas Present

by Bob Cardone

December 2003

My two oldest grandchildren, age 12 and 11, received their first air of " blades" from me for Christmas, when they were each about 3 years old. They were the Playskool brand, which were all plastic, could be configured to only roll forwards and were designed to get the beginner used to wheels. On their 4th Birthday, I got them each a pair of Rollerblade adjustable size skates, that lasted them a couple of seasons. I would go skating with them, and showed them how to use the heel brake, do crossovers, skate backwards, etc. and by the time they were 5, they were starting to really look confident on the skates.

Then Roller Hockey hit big in the Atlanta area, and the oldest started playing Goalie in one of the numerous leagues around town. (The facility that they play in now, looks like a professional rink with boards, lights, heat, scoreboard, skate shop, snack bar, dual rinks, and a waiting list to join one of the many teams in each age group). My Grandson got better and better in his position as Goalie, and two years ago his sister, at the age of 9, started also playing Roller Hockey. The season that just ended last week, they both shared Goalie responsibilities on their team, in a very competitive league, and their team lost only 2 games in the entire season. When my grandson or granddaughter aren't in the goal, they both play defence, and due to their skating abilities, they are quite good in that position also.

Yesterday, I took them both over to the Silver Comet Trail , in Atlanta, and we did an 16 mile skate. A cyclist following us for a bit, told us we were averaging over 13 MPH. This is with them skating on Tour Hockey Skates, Indoor wheels and ABEC 3 bearings that haven't been lubed since the skates were new. (they are not big on skate maintenance, sorry to say) One 5 minute break, at the half way point and we were on our way back. As I was skating behind them on the way back I thought about how cool it was to see how well they skated and that they loved skating as much as I do. I was thinking that my Christmas from them, this year, was to see what great skaters they have turned into and how much fun they were having on their Inlines.

Bob

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