A Saturday off from normal teaching doesn’t often happen so I was looking forward to Eastbourne Extreme, a day by the sea skating and relaxing. I started the day by watching the first episode of Skate Nation on BBC2. It was strange to see myself on TV and I think too much make up was used on me, but other than that it seems to be a great show with the potential to get more kids skating all over the UK.

I met Annette (Net) at Brighton station and we took the train to Eastbourne station from where we skated towards the seafront, taking a left at the pier and enjoying the smooth promenade surfaces (if only Brighton seafront could be as smooth). The Eastbourne Skate Association (ESA) has been working hard – organising and running the event and it was good to catch up with Nick Esteve the event organiser who was on the microphone all day, making announcements, jokes and encouraging everyone to take part in all the different activities.

When we arrived there was a dance off between London’s dancers and the ESA crew (who quickly adopted Net and I for themselves). We lost (but there were more of them, so not a very fair contest). However the spirit of fun was ever present. This was quickly followed by an impromptu dance lesson by Tim Wheals of Sk8school in Eastbourne, with variety of skaters, some experienced and others not. I was impressed at how the simple repetition of dance moves eventually goes into the brain and feet, and also how good something very basic can look when everyone is doing it together. Coordinated simplicity is always better and more impressive than uncoordinated difficulty (maybe I’ve been judging on Skate Nation too long!).

I was also quickly roped into playing some roller basketball for one of the London teams including Pope, Miles and Quaddie. This was great fun, quite difficult and a real test of many skills. Having not played a team ball sport since school netball I was a bit surprised to learn that once the ball is in your hands, someone can legitimately come and take it out of your hands (in netball when you have the ball, it’s yours). So I had a few moments of having the ball and planning my next move but then all of a sudden realised I was looking at my empty hands. Ooops! We won our first match against an ESA team but lost our second. There was a beautiful moment when Pope passed me the ball and I scored. Had a real déjà vu netball feeling.

I enjoyed watching the slalom demonstrations and talking with lots of people; skaters from Eastbourne who had been with us to Paris last autumn but whom I haven’t seen since, one of the teams from Skate Nation who are based in Eastbourne, the lovely Lee and Dad from SkateMag who kindly asked me to write a profile for the next (autumn) edition. Net and I handed out fliers and talked to people about Skatefresh Brighton.

The skaters’ tug of war looked difficult and potentially very hazardous. I had unfortunately missed the high jump and the limbo. It was lovely to hang out with London skater friends in the sunshine and do some skating.

I gave some lessons to some skaters needing some help but we focused on backwards skating and everyone did very well Chloe and Amber asked me for a photo after the class which I thought was as a memento of their lesson, but then I realised they had seen Skate Nation in the morning and knew it was me. Pope overheard the proceedings and laughed saying, “was that the first time you’ve been recognised?” The thought had not crossed my mind.

I was then asked to help a little boy who was having trouble starting to skate and was not able to let go of the railings. We patiently worked together for about 25 minutes of constant effort and practice and he got it, he was rolling alone, producing his own propulsion and is now well on the way to making it to Skate Nation Series 2! Several friends were watching the lesson as it was happening right in front of them and they told me afterwards that they had been fascinated by the process of watching him learn (and that they hadn’t expected him to get it at all. But get it he did. So proud of him. I do hope he continues to skate.)

The street skate was cancelled due to an untimely shower, but the roller disco, despite a damp start was a great success. The venue, inside a circular, seaside fortress was perfect for a roller disco and when it dried up the space was perfect. I enjoyed dancing a bit and while teaching one person something informally I suddenly had 10 people who wanted to learn as well. So another impromptu class on grapevine and sideways twists ensued.

It was a wonderful day of variety, socialising and lots of skating. Well-done ESA for your fine efforts. We need more things like this happening in more places. An inspiration! Can’t wait till next year. Will definitely come down Friday night to enjoy the whole day.