Archive for January, 2009
With the arrival of alternative sports, more and more kids and young adults seem to clamor for edgier competition venues. Somehow, a regular sports arena just doesn’t cut it anymore. Known for being more adventurous and therefore dangerous, alternative sports promoters are finding themselves holding competitions at the most unlikely of places. For example, street roller skate races are held just about anywhere there’s a stretch of road available. Whether it be uphill or downhill doesn’t seem to matter.
Roller skaters in particular are not picky X-gamers. Give them a street, an abandoned pool and they’re good to go. The edgier the location, the better. Armed with their elbow pads, their helmets and their roller skates, they’re raring to go at the mark. They’re not called X-gamers for nothing of course.
These days, kids are known to be more active in what is known as X games or alternative sports. Back in the days, roller skating was known as a hobby or socializing activity. Nowadays, kids roller skate for sport. As a matter of fact, roller skate designers have revolutionized the general look and feel of the skates. Some designs are more streamlined for use in competitions and races.
The otherwise laid back reputation of the roller skate has now turned edgy and cool. Tricks and stunts have been tried and perfected. Roller derbies have given way to roller parks complete with platforms and tunnels. Parks are brimming with roller skating enthusiasts, hell bent on perfecting their skills. Sports shops and hobby stores come out with advertising campaigns aimed towards kids and young adults, promoting roller skating as the newest, hippest alternative sports craze after skateboarding.
The first recorded years of roller skates was in 1743 in London. The skate was used as a stage performance. 17 years later John Merlin designed an inline skate with metal wheels.
By the 1880’s roller skates were being massed produced in America. Skates usually come in two different varieties, quad roller skates and inline skates or blades.