Skating Gives Life

Skating is a universal language which is understood by everyone, especially kids. Whether touring on skates in Africa, Eurasia, the Australias, the Americas, or in the middle of the South Pacific, kids will jump up and down with you, gleefully duplicating your motions, whether they're on skates, shoes, or bare feet.

In all my travels near and far, I've never met a kid who didn't take to skating. Open up some boxes of skates anywhere in the world and you'll have an instant party. Kids act and skate in ways that can teach anybody a bundle about meeting challenges and conquering fears.

Unencumbered by baggage, vibrating with energy, kids skate with an open sense of wondrement that allows them to feel at once free and more in control. Their approach presents a perfect example to follow for anybody interested in continued progress.

Skating is deceptively difficult, but kids are as natural as monkeys when it comes to skillful imitation of even the most complex techniques . Unhewn youngsters have an innate learning curve steeper than a record one-day surge on the NASDAQ. Within minutes of taking to inlines, kids can be performing tricks that normally take you and me years to learn.

Kids go bananas when they see someone skate and hear about their experiences. For example, after giving a show and tell presentation recently at the Claire Lillienthal School in San Francisco, I was literally mobbed and tackled by 350 kids, grades K-3, who just couldn't sit still any longer.

Like the sun, kids have something really powerful going on inside and inlines only accelerate that energy. Skates areincredible tools that stimulate learning and interaction. They are capable of turning timid types into more social animals, ready to devour life's challenges.

Deep down skating is all about feeling more alive. Seeing a child's boundless joy when skating is enough to energize any adult. No matter at what age you start skating, you can always tap into the kid in yourself and continue to grow in ways you never thought possible. It's happening to me. It can happen to you!




For You Heremoana

Memorial Skate
On April 9, 2000, TheTa'Ui Moe Na (I have a dream) Roller Association realized a commemerative day of fun, sun, and paradisaical skating on Tahiti's Presqu'Ile to celebrate the life of Heremoana, a young inline skater who died in a fire that reduced him to ashes while he slept. Because Heremoana's life had been so enriched by his passion for skating, the twisted frames of his melted skates were buried along with his remains.

Great Escape
In spite the somber reason for the occasion, 140 skaters and other fitness enthusiasts were tremendously upbeat for the 20 kilometer fun skate on Tahiti's Presqu'Ile. Especially for those who live and go to school in crowded Papetée, skating on the smooth roads of Tahiti's unspoiled island peninsula was a wonderful mini-vacation.

Pre-roll Buzz!
At the staging area people geared up for the 20 kilometer roll, putting on skates, protective gear, and suncreen. On a side street, skaters took 30-foot runs at a car tire set on end. A crowd gathered to watch the air show, roaring every time someone launched a back scratcher or the splits Soon attention shifted to Claude, president of the skating organization, who was passing out a dozen Salomon Access to Speed bicycle jerseys. Kids clamored for the opportunity to wear the coveted jerseys.

Ready to Roll!
With a pickup, police and an ambulance as escorts, the group set off, slowly at first, to honor Heremoana's memory. A long line of skaters did Heremona proud by rolling respectfully on the right side of the road. Before long, the floodgates were opened and the eager tide of skaters spilled up the empty road on all sides. Some raced, others just cruised. There was even a group of kids skating with a boom-box and boogying to the beat.

Getting Away From It All
Soon the telephone and electricity poles of civilization gave way to the fuzzy-topped poles of paradise called coconut trees. They line the road and hang over the beaches in such numbers as to throw blessed shade on the road. At a cove teeming with surfers, the group gathered and rehydrated before pushing off for the final 10K.

Let the Games Begin
The roll finished by the sea at the mouth of a river emanating from majestic mountains. As soon as the skates were off, the frolicking began. Kids played chicken out in the water atop eachother's shoulders, hands flying as each team tried to topple the other. Courageous ones climbed trees and swung out over the water before splashing down. Teenagers set out onto the black sand with a volleyball and played a massive game of pepper. Athletic youngsters flipped and jived with gravity-defying Capoiera moves that had spectaters oohing and ahhing.

Tahiti Cup
Three hundred yards down the road, a basketball court served as a makeshift hockey arena where a pickup game of roller hockey broke out. The Tahitians proved themselves to be quick with the stick, solid on defense, and good passers of the puck!

Energized Ending
After copious amounts of fun, food, and spiced mango salad, it was time to load up and return. The ride back was a rolling party, and the high energy continued all the way back into Papeete! A group photo turned into a group hug as no one wanted the day to end.

Street Cinema
A few days later, a crowd of kids and parents gathered in the street near the port to watch the video of the group skate and the February 2000 Tahiti Inline Marathon. Except for a brief moment of silence after everybody saw Heremoana finish the February event, it turned into a raucous "soirée de cinéma." Kids and adults cracked up nonstop as everybody got their turn at appearing in the box.

To see pictures from Heremoana's fun roll, go to www.skatecentral.com and click on the randonnée thumbnail or on the "action shots" tab.


SIDEBAR:
Help A Dream Come True!

Ta'Ui Moe Na is a new skating association in Tahiti that started small and now has over a
hundred members. A core group of eight adult volunteers has been working closely with low-income kids, teaching them the value of discipline and hard work through skating and other activities like weekly English lessons. Salomon is their chief sponsor so far, having donated over 40 pair of skates.

There aren't enough skates to go around for everybody, so the organization has a lending program. Kids "check out" skates for a two day period, then hand them back in for servicing and eventual redistribution to the next person on the waiting list.

This budding organization needs your new or used skating equipment for its skate library. Please help a great cause by sending your skates, wheels, bearings, hockey pads, old jerseys, and hardware.

Packages can be mailed to Way Beyond, 9841 Airport Blvd. Suite 832, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Equipment will be transported to Tahiti in personal luggage and given directly to the Ta'Ui Moe Na organization. For more information call Way Beyond at # 877 230 2495.


Eddy Matzger is working on growing skating around the world with the help of sponsors TWINCAM bearings, Salomon skates, Explore wheels, Transpack bags, Wigwam socks, and Powerbar.