I took the ICP level 1 course with Asha (also of Skatefresh) in September 2006 along with a varied group of half-a-dozen friendly skaters ranging in age between 20-something and 50-something. Starting on a Friday evening and ending on Sunday afternoon this was both a fun and a challenging weekend, in which the participants experienced for themselves the excitement of learning many new skills thanks to Asha’s well-honed and inspiring teaching. Her enthusiasm for both skating and for teaching were quickly transmitted to the class of would-be instructors, as on Saturday morning in front of the Albert Memorial we were taken through the ‘teachable skills’ and ’additional skills’ which we would later need to demonstrate. The rest of the day was devoted to learning in detail how to teach the basic skills for beginners and advanced beginners.

I confess we were all quite tired by Saturday evening when we retired to the library of the ‘Vic’ (our  famous skater-friendly pub) to do the theory test – despite the familiar and convivial surroundings this for me was the least happy period of the course! However the real moment of truth arrived on Sunday morning when we were each examined in turn whilst giving a group lesson to our fellow students. Our skating skills were tested in the afternoon. The atmosphere remained fun, friendly and mutually supportive throughout, which helped us all to perform at our best. Retiring once more to the Vic, we eventually received our results – all had passed, but it was certainly not a ‘walk-over’ or even a ’skate-over’! Now I am looking forward to passing on basic skating skills to beginners to foster the recreational and sporting activity which we all love…

Alastair Johnston

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