Skating in Scotland
June 2006 - six skaters achieved their ICP 1 inline skate instructor qualification under the guidance of Asha – Nina Madden, Andy Morgan, Faris Al-Sawaf, Pam Glinski, Roger Howorth and Pete Cowan. Six months on, Skatefresh caught up with Pete to find out what skate stuff he’s been up to since then.
Pete – I live in the small town of Montrose about 100 miles north of Edinburgh on the north east coast of Scotland. Although there has always been a healthy community of young skaters in the town, skating isn’t (or wasn’t) really viewed as something that adults should be seen doing round here (that sounded like a bit of a challenge to me!!).
I went on the ICP Instructors course mainly to improve my own skating ability. Very naively, I hadn’t thought much about giving instructions or lessons afterwards.
When I got back from the course I was raving about it with friends and family. I discovered that a number of adults in the town owned blades and had tried skating once, but hadn’t usually got on too well and they were simply too shy to persevere on their own. Their blades were just gathering dust. With a little encouragement and an article in ‘The Montrose Review’ I started to have regular customers for lessons. Key to the success of these was finding a secluded and traffic free stretch of tarmac which had been laid for a new industrial estate [but the factories had never arrived]. This secluded location (and of course some excellent instruction!) helped the nervous adult skaters overcome their lack of confidence in the knowledge that there were never any spectators. After sweeping it clear of chuckies this area became the perfect summer school location. It’s where-abouts are still a closely guarded secret!
Individual and group lessons continued from summer until late autumn when the dark nights and poor weather closed in (one disadvantage of living this far north). By that stage around 15-20 adults had participated with most returning regularly. Group lessons proved a great way for adult skaters to have a right laugh with others of similar ability. By late summer a good number had developed their ability and (more importantly) their confidence and so we organised a Sunday Rollerstroll. We used the smooth tarmac cyclepath which runs almost the entire length of the town with a detour on the return leg along the promenade by the beach for an ice cream stop. The sun shone, the tarmac was dry and we had such a laugh together that day. Although only a few skaters were able to be on the stroll, it was a turning point for adult skating in the town and was positively reported in ‘The Montrose Review’.
I’ve also been liaising with Don Morton the only other ICP instructor working in Scotland. Don instructs mainly in the Glasgow area. We are in regular contact and are collaborating on various initiatives to ‘GET SCOTLAND ROLLING!’ which we hope to develop in 2007.
Being so far North, the roads are seldom skate-able during the late autumn and winter and the days are very short. I approached Angus Council Leisure Services Department about finding an indoor venue and they were really helpful. An adult skate club has now been formed and meets twice a month from October to March in the Town Hall. It has a large hardwood floor which is perfect. I organise and run the sessions with a mixture of free skating, coaching and other activities. So far the club has around 15 members and is growing steadily. The last session before Christmas was a Christmas party skate with all skaters in fancy dress, seasonal skating games and a surprise visit by Santa with gifts for everyone! The skater-conga was just such a hoot!
So with so much having happened this past year, 2007 looks really exciting. I hope to see the group of adult skaters in the area expand and more frequent lessons and rollerstrolls – occasionally joining up with the Glasgow skaters too. And I’d love to bring a small group to London to skate with Skatefresh chums and to join in with a London streetskate too. Look out for us and say hi!!
Pete can be contacted on www.SkateWithPete.com
January 2007.
