“Children love to skate. It doesn’t matter whether they are strapping wheels to their shoes or using the latest recreational inline skates, kids simply love rolling”, says Asha Kirkby, Manager of Skatefresh Inline Skateschool. She has been teaching children and adults to skate for nearly 10 years and now runs the highest certified ICP skate school in the world (based in London and Brighton).

Asha’s mission is to enrich schools’ physical education curriculum by bringing the fun and excitement of students’ passion for inline skating, right into their PE classes and after-school clubs. Skating builds motor skills, self-esteem and cardiovascular fitness while providing a safe, educationally sound introduction to a versatile sport that will have a positive impact on students for the rest of their lives.

Incorporating inline skating into a physical education programme allows for a greater range of students to achieve sporting proficiency, as inline skating is enjoyed by children who may not think of themselves as ‘sporty’. This gives real opportunities for children who do not typically enjoy and participate in sport to start again, often with very positive results.

Phoenix School in London, which caters for children with a variety of special needs including autism and language and communication difficulties, has had skating as part of their PE curriculum for 2 years. Troy Gering, their PE Co-ordinator writes:

“We contacted Asha after realising we had a lot of interest from students and teachers to start a PE skating lesson and an after-school ‘skate club’. Since 2005 she has worked with pupils from eight to sixteen. In order to set this up, we obtained a grant for equipment and spent approximately £60 per head for a set of skates, protective gear and helmets for a group of 12 students and built a compact storage area for the equipment.

“All pupils who have taken part in skating sessions have reported that they have enjoyed themselves. We have seen developments from all students in regards their improved balance, fine and gross motor skills as well as coordination and cognitive skills. The students all learn at their own rate but skating helps them socialise and communicate in different ways.

“Skating is also a great form of aerobic exercise and we notice the students who often give up in other activities persevere with skating. The children remain active for the whole lesson as even standing still in skates takes balance and coordination and muscles! They are usually sad to leave the skating class and look forward to their next rotation. Some pupils continue to skate outside of school. We have put on small demonstrations of skating at recent parents/teacher evenings which have been very warmly received.

“We’ve seen that the benefits of skating lessons go beyond the obvious fitness benefits. For example, one autistic child who previously didn’t socialise or participate in any group situation in regular lessons, after just 12 skate classes spontaneously started to join in with the rest of the group. And now she is participating in group activities in regular lessons. Her love of skating motivated her to overcome her fear of being with other people.

“We have a small sports hall in school where the pupils skate, aided by cones, mats, balls and other props to promote fun and learning. During the summer we use our cycle path and playground inside the school grounds to introduce intermediate level students to outdoor skating, different surfaces and practical skills such as slopes.

“The emphasis put on safety creates a fun environment where children know how to put on and use their protective gear and respect and look after the equipment. I would recommend inline skating to any institution that would like to take part in an innovative and fun lifetime leisure activity.”

Inline skating in school can be successfully introduced in any school from the age of 6 or 7 and can adapt for different abilities. It can be easily accommodated in any school - either inside in the main school hall, sports hall or outside on playgrounds or tennis courts. Under normal circumstances, one teacher can safely supervise approximately 20 students. At any level, intermediate and advanced activities may require additional supervision.

Sub-categorisation within the sport allows students to progress to other skating disciplines. Before and after school clubs offer opportunities for skill enhancement, fitness and fun. Introducing skate specific clubs such as inline hockey, freestyle skating or slalom, gives more advanced students a focus in a more unusual sport. Schools can give organised demonstrations/performances during half time during other sports matches, community events and parents evenings. Schools can even organise family “fun night” on skates.

Teaching inline safety skills to students is the primary focus of school teaching programmes. Parents report that the safety consciousness developed at schools leads to safer inline skating after school. Students must never skates without wearing full protective gear and strict procedures of practice ensure fun is had by all.

Integration

Inline skating provides an excellent opportunity to reinforce other subject areas such as maths, science, social studies, visual arts. For example:

Maths and science – designing lessons which focus on:

- Distance = rate x time

- Revolutions per minute

- Acceleration and speed

- Graphic calorific expenditure

- Control of mass

Social studies

- Research inline skating, roller hockey, speed skating and extreme skating (rails, half pipes, jumps, ramps) in different places and communities.

- Develop lessons which focus on methods of transportation to and from work/school

- Communicate with a ‘pen pal’ from another country who participates in inline skating.

English

- Write letters to famous inline skaters asking a variety of interesting questions

- Create poems about inline skating

- Write an ‘emotional diary’ of how you are feeling when you skate.

Visual arts

- Create a “photo shoot” session of students and teachers in action.

www.skatefresh.com

asha@skatefresh.com

+44(0)771 204 5133

I had a distinct feeling of long awaited anticipation and a whiff of elegance and sophistication that is Paris, as I entered the St Pancreas International Eurostar terminal. The only dampener to the high spirits was learning that two members of the group could not come due to family and work commitments. It’s a good job we go twice a year!

The journey to Paris is even faster now. I put it to good use changing my bearings which were so generously provided by Andrew (after comparing my pathetic wheel spin to his) a few days earlier.

Friday evening street skate

The Paris Roller is one of the ‘must do’ skates for all skaters, at some point in their rolling lives. This mass street skate regularly attracts over 10,000 skaters (every week!) and is supported by the local council, police and ambulance service as well as having a committed team of marshals and organisers.

Unlike other locations around the world (including London and the UK) Parisian street skates are given official right of way through a designated city route where police ensure motorists ‘behave themselves’ and do not obstruct the skate. It is this ‘pro skater’ attitude which I respect and enjoy most about skating in Paris and France. It is forward looking and promotes healthy free activities such as street skates within the city for its residents and visitors (who come every week from all over Europe generating skate-tourism income for Paris).

The cross section of skaters is immense, from children to oldies. It always makes me smile when I see evidence in front (and around me) that skating really is a ‘lifestyle sport’ as the UK Government just announced, something you can learn at any age and benefit from health wise.

I had a fantastic skate as all my clients weren’t due till the next day’s skating. The route was a large clockwise circle around central Paris, with the longest constant downhill slope ever (about 2km) which leant itself very nicely to some fast back crossovers and back crossunders.

Our group on Friday night was Mark from Skateinstructor, my fellow organiser (or rear marshal), Alison, Jeremy, Ivor, Kate and Pete. We successfully met up in breaks (with the waving of the infallible pink knicker bag) which made my arm ache by the end of the night. We met up near the end of the skate and found ourselves in the liveliest street café/bar in Paris, complete with live band, operatic singing waiter and wonderful champagne (to balance out the adrenalin).

Some of us even skated back to our hotels near Gare du Norde at approx 2.30am when the streets were gloriously empty and the legs felt strangely light in their tiredness.

Saturday 10th May

The morning’s challenge began with calming Mark’s nerves as our breakfast coffees took 40 mins to ‘not’ appear. We learned that our favourite café from dinner last night was only any good when the lovely, helpful, smiling blonde waitress was working (and not when the three grumpy French guys were working instead). Luckily my Virgoan time keeping allows for French delays, such as Pete’s made dash to find us which took him several miles before he turned back and found us 1 block from where he’d started. He likes a good skate to warm up!

We met up with the rest of the group Barbara, Angela and Bernadette and began our day’s tour of Paris. Unless on organised street skates, skaters must stay on pavements in Paris. First stop was the lovely Jar dim du Luxemburg, house of the French senate and a gorgeous park but narrow pathways. The weather was glorious and Parisians were out in style, basking in the sun all over Paris. We saw the Pantheon (and learned about Foucault’s pendulum) and then the Sorbonne and St Germaine district. We skated slowly through a great food market, bellies already thinking about lunch, olives, bread, cheese, sausages, pastries, and cherries – the perfect market!

We usually watch the slalom skaters at Notre Dame but it was devoid of skaters as they were all competing in (or watching) a slalom competition all weekend at Trocadero. Leaving Notre Dame for another island (I love skating bridges) we headed towards the ‘cake break’ at Bastille and lunch in Places des Voges. Jeremy won the prize for his extravagant and very French fayre from the market and my raspberry tart was truly sublime.

Cruising the back streets of Places des Voges gave a window into real Parisian life, sophisticated urban living in gorgeous old buildings and vibrant neighbourhoods. A biased view of Paris perhaps (but very pleasant to experience). Past Pompidou and Hotel de Ville (where I showed off my best mates pad when I was 17 where I had stayed for an unforgettable mass and New Year). We continued to the river and a slow section where the biggest hazard was watching your eye balls on the book sellers stalls (helmets aren’t just to protect your head from the floor). Skating through the archways into the back entrance of the louver is a lovely way to see the magnitude of the place (it’s big to skate around, imagine walking it).
Finally to lesson/chill stop by Palais royal. By now the intense heat and developing dehydration started to have effects on our skating concentration. It’s incredible how much water one should drink under those circumstances (exercising in a lot of sunshine). Ali and Jeremy made use of the wonderful big space to perfect their crossovers and suddenly realised how restrictive Albert Memorial or Serpentine Road are for the learning and developing of crossovers.

We managed to avoid the mayhem of cobbles that is place de la Concorde and cross over the river (again) to then follow the river around until we reached our goal, the Eiffel tower and the ‘official’ end of our tour, but not the day. After relaxing and drinking more water we relocated to Place de la Replublique for dinner (and several well deserved drinks).

We were joined by the husbands of Angela and Bernadette from Cardiff who I met in January when I taught a weekend workshop there. As a birthday ‘treat’ Angela invited her husband to Paris and only once the tickets were bought did the girls admit they would be dumping their husbands and joining the Skatefresh trip for part of their weekend! (Good work Ladies).

At dinner I learned so much about everyone on the trip, that Lata and I both lived in Tanzania, that Barbara recently did an MA, that Angela has a 21 year old daughter (!), that Kate loves London and doesn’t plan to leave….etc. This is what I love about skate trips in general, getting to know other people better (and skating loads of course).

Sunday

Sunday morning was spent eating the best Breton crepes filled with mushrooms, onions and cream (yum, it was the best thing I ate all weekend), while Ali and Mark demolished several litres of freshly squeezed orange juice between them. We skated to meet Kate, Ivor, Pete and Jeremy at another café in Bastille before heading to meet Barbara at the start f the Sunday skate. The day was very hot again, shorts, vest, factor 30+, my kind of weather.

Barbara’s nerves quickly subsided as the skate progressed with a log steady (smooth) uphill at the start leading to a lovely downhill glide of what felt like several km uninterrupted – gorgeous Parisian tree-lined avenues and quiet Sunday streets and pavements. It was a glorious skate at a relaxed and enjoyable speed. Skating past the Eiffel tower in the day time is always a highlight for me. Half time at Trocadero coincided with the chance to see the slalom competition, alas hundreds of other people trying to do the same thing prevented us. Pete said he saw Naomi judging the men’s competition but that’s as close as we got.

The second half of the Paris Sunday ‘Stroll’ was a challenging array of cobbles, over 2km in total with some sections uphill, which might have been one of the organisers ideas of a motivational joke, but it did allow everyone to perfect their hot-footed cobbles technique. As I said to Barbara, “if you can do this, you can do anything”.

We parted the skate less than a mile form the end, in fear of missing our Eurostar back to London. It was a solid 3+hr skate, not bad for finishing off the weekend.

Walking (quickly) to Gare du Norde after a wet wipes ‘shower’, I felt as if the weekend had flown, and yet so much had happened in just 2 ½ days. Everyone was happy with the trip and already looking forward to the next trip. This will be in the autumn (I am just trying to juggle several weddings in the autumn, 2 of which haven’t set their dates), and a trip to Pakistan for ICP which is also awaiting scheduling…. I will keep you posted and hope this motivates you to join us next time.

Asha

London to Brighton on rollerblades! Wow! What an amazing experience. This is without a doubt the best thing I have ever done on skates. We stayed over at a friends Jules’ house in Tooting the night before and after a big breakfast, had planned to take the tube to Clapham Common but as we walked out we saw the bikes passing so we decided to join them. Me Faris and Jules stuck together for a long while and then met up with Dylan and Maria and Amy, fellow inline skaters. Faris set off on his own going a bit faster than the rest of us. We lost Maria and Amy early on and skated at a moderate pace for two hours before our first stop. I had prepared and had a bottle of orange juice/ water 50-50 which was excellent and this fruity malt bread that LS Mike reccomended. As I was wearing all black I felt a bit like a short haired Laura Croft and soon had my own fan-club! :0) The first stop I was desperate for coffee and a pee and I also had a scone with marmalade. We stopped there for about 20 minutes which was too long and as we set off again I noticed that I had lost my rhythm (but quickly got it back). The scone was like a stone in my belly so my advice on endurance events like this is don’t eat. The weather was glorious and the cyclists very very friendly! They were amazed at our efforts. To be honest I didn’t get tired I just really loved it. Didn’t listen to any music
at all, just the birds and talking to my friend Jules and the lovely cyclists - who were absolutely amazed to be overtaken by a tucking girl on skates down the hills, amazed and very impressed! Fun! And my god the hills man!

There were stops all along the way and we stopped again for a quick pee and coffee and refill the water where we caught up with Quentin and LS Mike. The mountain at the end was the most incredible challenge ever (Bitchy Beaken I think its called??) I just kept going, up and up and up and up and up and up, one step at a time, keep going, keep going, up and up and up and up, people were dropping off like flies and I just kept going, it was an incredible challenge and stopping was just not an option. On the top I felt sooo good about myself. I knew it was all mental, and I realised that I hadn’t had one single negative thought during the whole trip from London and that I was ON TOP OF THE WORLD AND THE REST WAS ALL DOWNHILL.

Read it a bit like a metaphor for life I guess.

Bumped into Mike and Quentin again on the top and chilled with them For a while. The down hill down into Brighton I guess really separated the men from the boys and the girls from the … At first it’s really sweet and nothing and then all of a sudden its this massive drop! Aaaaaaaaargh - thank god for heel breaks! :0)

What was really great about the whole day was that all the way I stayed within my limits and made progress at a comfortable and enjoyable pace. We kept pace by being able to have a conversation at the same time (except for up hill of course) and that really made sense and we still completed it in 5 hours 40 minutes!

Compared to what seems to have been an average of 7 hours for most skaters I feel great about my time. And I have the feeling now that if I can skate from London to Brighton I can do anything! My next challenge, if I get permission, is London to Paris for the British Lung Foundation.

Back in early June the Skatefresh team made good on their promise to bring free skate instruction to the customers of Decathlon Surrey Quays!!!

Rhone – Lake Bodensee Skating Holiday

Many people enjoy walking and cycling holiday vacations. Why not skating?

Guided by qualified skate instructors we will roll between 20-40 km per day along smooth paths. Pittstops will help to break up the routes giving you the opportunity stop a take your skates off and finish after the distance that suits you.

Opportunities will present themselves for bathing in lakes or lakeside swimming pools and to stop for refreshments by the waterside. You may need it. Average temperatures will likely rise to 30c at this time of year.

Switzerland’s lush climate makes it very green all year round. Some follow railways, canals or the perimeter of the lake passing through lush green meadows, woods and farmland to every now and then reappear near to bathing venues or lakeside cafes.

We will also travel along the banks of the Rhine in the Rhine valley where the magnificent Swiss Alps will be visible on either side.
We will stay in a beautiful and typical hotel in a natural surrounding environment in the lakeside town of Rorschach. Rorschach is on Lake Bodensee.

We will visit typically European towns and villages in the area for shopping or sightseeing trips – or just more skating if you prefer?

Interested? Find out more at Skate Escape

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

Adult Skate Purchases
Your Decathlon skate purchase entitles you to 1 hour of free beginner instruction. You can attend the first hour of either of our beginner classes for free. Choose from:
Half Day Beginner class or SkateSchool 3 week course
Adult classes now run in either Hyde Park or East London (Canada Water)

We would like to encourage you to continue in your class and pay for only the remaining hours so you get the maximum benefit. Often people are only starting to ‘get it’ after an hour of class time.

If you choose to attend the Half Day Beginner class, 12-1pm is your free hour. If you wish to stay on from 1-3pm the rest of the class will cost £30. You can pay this to your instructor on the day if you decide you would like to continue. Full details of the Half Day beginner classes to be found here: half day intensive in hyde park

If you choose the 3 week Skateschool course, the first hour of any week1 session is yours for the taking. If you wish to stay on to complete the first week’s 2 hour session this will cost £10. If you wish to continue for the rest of the course (and come back the following 2 weeks) this will be charged at a further £50. Full course dates and information here:
3 week skateschool in hyde park

Whichever option you choose, you need to book in advance so we know you are coming and we will send you your instructor’s contact details and exact Hyde Park location. Please include your phone number when booking.

Children’s Skate Purchases
If you have purchased a pair of childrens skates from Decathlon you are entitled to the
following discount.
- 50% off your first Kids Club class. These classes cost £10 so Decathlon customers will pay £5.

Kids Club runs every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month from 3.00pm - 4.15pm at Westway Sports Centre near Latimer Road (Hammersmith and City line). For full details plase see Kids Club page.

http://www.skatefresh.com/kids-club/
You will need your Decathlon receipt as proof of purchase. Please make sure you bring it with you. You will also need to have protective gear (minimum knees and wrist guards and a helmet). Skatefresh provide skate hire for Kids Club classes so do bring along any friends who dont have skates who can try it out for the class.
I look forward to your booking choice and getting you rolling soon.

Send an email to Asha@skatefresh.com with your booking.

You know that Spring has well and truly started when the legendary LondonSkate street skate kicks off every April, this year on Wednesday 18^th at 8pm, from the band stand on Serpentine Road in Hyde Park.

This Wednesday Night skate is in its 7^th year of operation (hence the legendary status) and Skatefresh has always had strong connections with this fantastic free event. In the early days Skatefresh used to provide free beginner inline skating lessons and then later we ran our ‘Introduction to Street skating’ course alongside the skate, helping countless wannabes get to grips with the basics of street skating before going on the adventure for real.

This year Skatefresh wishes the LondonSkate every success and we continue to promote and advertise this fun, energy filled, mass rolling movement.

We have moved our street skating class to the more beginner friendly ‘Sunday Stroll’, providing ‘Intro to Stroll’ workshops every 1^st and 3^rd Sunday of the month (2-4pm starting 1^st April and running indefinitely)

Wednesday night’s LondonSkate rolls on with zupped up music bike, great party tunes and beautiful London routes (different every week) to make you boogie and sing out loud as you skate through London.

Intro to Stroll would be great preparation for anyone wanting to participate in any mass street skate, in London or anywhere else in the world.

When asked “What do you do?” the most common reaction to my answer of “rollerblading instructor” is, “Wow, what a cool job”. I do feel very fortunate to have a job that involves spending time with people who are in their free time and enjoying themselves, being outdoors and getting exercise while being ‘at work’. There are some down sides of course like any job (such as a dip in weekend socialising activities and croaky voice) but the balance remains in my favour.

It is with this attitude that I enjoy initiating good skaters to the instructor process in my role as ICP (Inline Certification Programme) UK Director and Examiner. I also enjoy dispelling some of the assumptions about being a skate instructor (mainly that its ‘easy’, involves nothing more than heel braking a lot and is a doddle to pass).

The next ICP Level 1 course will be taking place in London from 20^th-22^nd April with candidates coming from Pakistan, Spain and Portugal to join a host of UK based inline skaters. The group dynamics on a course are always interesting as much work is done in small groups of 2-4 people and candidates learn by teaching each other. This leads to quickly forming friendships and a huge sense of fun within the stress of getting it right and learning properly.

Many different kinds of skaters decide they want to give rollerblading lessons. Have you been teaching your mates for years on an ad hoc basis? Do you want to earn money doing what you love? Do you think this might look god on your CV? Some want to get back to basics to help them progress with their own skating.

Regardless of their motives, all ICP Level 1 candidates share a love of inline skating and a desire to get more people involved. No one is sure what to expect which is why the preparation session a month before was devised, where candidates are shown the required skating skills and the specific level of execution needed to pass the course.

Becoming an ICP certified instructor involves a 2.5 day course plus a 2 hour skating skills session a month beforehand. Most skaters who have been through the process will admit to it being an intensive and demanding challenge, but ultimately a rewarding process.

The course focuses on giving candidates a thorough understanding of the teaching model which allows for lesson planning and a coverage of all essential learning aspects, such as accurate demonstration of skills, breaking up of skills into 3 easy parts, sequencing for easier progressions, monitoring and adjusting students mistakes and providing a summary at the end.

The examination process involves 3 parts, a written theory paper of short answer questions, a skating skills test and a 15 minute taught inline skate lesson.

Many good skaters are surprised at the difficulty they encounter in trying to skate the ‘easy’ beginner skills to ICP specification. This is because ICP believes that a good demo of a skill provides a new learner with a lot of useful information, while a sloppy demo doesn’t help someone learn. This can cause problems when skills are expected to be perfectly demoed on each side (or on each leg) where appropriate. Here, even advanced and experienced skaters come to see their ‘bad side’ as a real weakness and an area of focus. It is surprising how many candidates have trouble with their Stride 2 and Spin stops due to unequal proficiency on different legs. Even instructors have a weak side, but it shouldn’t be visible in a demo!

I look forward to reporting on the progress of this years candidates and welcoming more skaters into my world of being an inline skating instructor, and earning money doing what you love.

Asha Kirkby
ICP Level 3
Skatefresh Manager
ICP UK Director

When Mike and Alison met in a Skatefresh group class, they had no idea how inline skating was about to transform every aspect of their lives. They had not only learned to skate that day, but met their future spouse.

Their love of inline skating grew as they fell in love with each other and they became Serpentine Road regulars, setting up their own slalom cups (in the days when there was only one set this was quite radical and the start of a spreading trend).

When they finally got engaged, they planned a summer wedding with skates featuring heavily in the proceedings. This YouTube link shows you the fairytale scene of them skating from the church in their first ‘glides’ as husband and wife.

YouTube Video

”People need to know how wonderful inline skating is and how it can change your life - literally!” Mike Rivers

So, what are you waiting for? If you are single, are looking for a way to keep fit and enjoy life more, start inline skating today and join a Skatefresh beginner half day class or 3 week course, and wait to see who you get paired up with for your scooting exercise….