"CLEAN YOUR BEARINGS" said the coach -- "but how?" asked your Dad. Check here for advice from an expert

The sport of Roller Skating is conducted in three disciplines; additional information about each discipline is available through the USARS Home Page (and I will link to that when they get one that has the content we all want to see). Meanwhile, here is a bunch of stuff on --ARTISTIC Skating

And I have my own opinions - which is what you will see here from time to time - anything I say about skating is my opinion, not that of USARS - or anyone else for that matter. If you have something to say to me, there is a means of doing that too at the bottom of the page ---

So -- why do I have a site on this subject?? Why not -- I have been a competitor since 1984, entering the non-World Class track divisions of Novice (team dance a couple times), Esquire(figures and team dance),and Masters Men figures and I about to venture into the shark infested waters of the Veterans Division for the 1999-2000 season. I have been fortunate enough to compete at the Nationals several times - and still hold out hopes for a placement some day. I am also a Certified Coach, have an "A" Referees commission and a "C" competitive judges commission. My skating record over the years is here and I have added some pictures to view.

USA/Roller Skating (USARS) is the national governing body (as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee) for all roller skating sports (artistic, speed, and roller hockey). More information about USARS is available from their Website.

• Skating Clubs - want to become involved as a member, or do you need to form a club? Whatever - here is some background on the Artistic side of creating a club

• Coaching - USARS has its own Coaching Services Department and I hope that someday they will have a Web site for the information they send out so everyone can take advantage of the content.

• USARS Four Star Program - face it, this is not well described on the USARS home page under "Star Patch Program". Five Star is a viable means to build a skating program. The page shown here was in a recent copy of Roller Skate magazine and has good information. The program content is in a nice brochure that has been handed out at the Las Vegas Coaches Conferences as far back as 1996 - but the USARS page has not been updated to follos the brochure!! Go figure! Send to the address on the page here to get more details on how to use this program at your rinks.And if you need the brochure now - here is a scanned version to get you started.

Title this section

"I GIVE UP"

Not many of you know that I submitted a suggestion for 4 new figures in January 1997. They have "languished in the Artistic Committee" ever since even though I resend them every year.

-- no more-- I give up.

I guess the ONLY way to get ANYTHING NEW in this dying sport is to be one of the "elitist of the elite coaches" or one of the "chosen few" able to break the impenatrable barrier of the "good-old-boy network" of the National Office. I tried 3 times for an At Large seat on the Board - not surprisinly 'thay' always re-elect the same old faces year after year.

--no more - I give up here too.

This old appeal has outlived its usefulness -- look about you - see anything changing for the better - a new "logo" - yea!!

and "career JO competitors"

consider this a piece of historical perspective

Hey "Adult " Competitors

I posted the an opinion on "Adult Division competitive requirements" at the end of the 98-99 season to see what responses it would generate -- those that I got were all in support of giving the adult skater more of a challenge - not "World Class", but more than the first level Bronze achievement test requirements for competition -- but the Artistic Committee of USARS will NOT respond to one voice (see the column at left) - it will take a flood of letters from the adult skaters to ever get their attention!!! -- So my suggestion this season is to "send those cards and letters" directly to the source of our frustration -- the USARS Artistic Committee members -- their names are posted on the USARS Website -- find the representatives in your Regions -- get the word to them -- send your views to the other Committee members as well. Let them know how you feel about their selection of competitive requirements for the Standard Adult Divisions! Lets see what happens.

Skaters enter competitive artistic events in one or more categories - Figures, Singles, Pairs, and Dance, grouped by age and levels of experience.. Each year, the top three winners from each of nine regional championships advance to the annual United States National Championships. At Nationals, more than 1,500 skaters compete for USA titles in their respective divisions. The top three placements in each of the World Class Divisions earn the right to represent the United States at the annual World Artistic Championships.

If you have never been to Nationals have you ever wondered what it is like in the arena as an event gets ready to get underway? Well, here is a short photo essay that I put together to try to convey the feelings and happenings of Competing at the Nationals

Euclid Skate, the ATLAS plate distributor, has a news letter that has recently included tips for coaches. Since I can not find a Web Site for Euclid, I will post their Coaches Tips through this link for now.

PS: I only got one issue - anyone else get more than that?

Check out other skating sites on the RSWEB

This link will take you to a map showing all the Regions in the USA and links you further to the home pages for each Region