Rolling into a New Season

Hey, y’all! Coach Linda here, and I’m so excited about the new skating season, I’m doing my happy dance!  Join me! Go ahead… you know you want to! (Queue your own music… I’ll wait…may I suggest Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”!)

Whew! Did you get your heart rate up? I hope so! That increased stamina will serve you well on the skating floor. Now that you’re warmed up, you’re ready to start thinking about your skating goals for the next year. Yes, it’s that time!! 

September has been the beginning of the year for me since I was in grade school.  Not only does the new school year begin in September, but the new SKATING SEASON starts on September 1st with the release of the official competitive requirements for the new skating season. Even if you’re not involved in the competitive aspect of the sport, most skating rinks unveil a new schedule in the Fall and getting back to the rink and reconnecting with old friends helps get back into the groove of a regular skating schedule. 

As many of you know, the summer of ‘24 was one for the books for me personally. I skated my first Regionals in 50 years last June, and won 4 gold medals qualifying for the National Championships in July. My 70th birthday was in August, and my 50th wedding anniversary is in September. So I’ve been a little busy this summer, which is my excuse….err…explanation for why this year our season will begin in October. 

Behind the scenes (in between those summer adventures), we’ve been busy creating a redesigned and revamped Learn-to-skate program, including in-person classes, workshops and private lessons, in addition to online skating tutorials. Holli has applied her expertise in marketing and project management to build us a new website that offers a “one stop shop” for skating instruction, news and views from and for our skating community, resources and articles of interest to artistic skaters, and celebrations of past and present artistic roller skating heroes.  

We’ve also been in the rink making video tutorials which will debut later this fall, with class modules available on YouTube and our site as well as Instagram reels and Facebook stories. We will also be offering video lessons for our remote skaters that want to have one-on-one instruction via zoom. Our website will have more details as we get the program going later this Fall, but don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know how we can help you along your skating journey.

Whether your skating interest is social or competitive, or you just want to learn some skating basics to enjoy an occasional roll with the family; we have something for everyone. Join us for our mid-day Social Skates on Tuesday and Thursdays, our all-ages Skills Class on Thursday afternoons, or specialty classes for modern dancing or traditional dance. Please join our mailing list to keep up with our local and world-wide skating community. You can also stay in touch on Instagram @artisticskaterlife, Facebook at Facebook.com/artisticskatingcentral and our developing new site www.artisticskating.com. 

Can’t wait to see you at the rink or online!