My 12-year-old son has been obsessed with hockey from the moment he was old enough to lace his own skates. We take him to Phoenix Coyotes games whenever possible and try to support his enthusiasm by paying for lessons and clinics whenever we can afford it. The only problem is that we live in Phoenix, Arizona – a wonderful town, but not exactly the ice hockey capital of the United States.
For obvious reasons, the only rinks in the area are indoors, and they all cost a pretty penny to use. I wanted to find an alternative that would allow him to practice his skating outdoors. Street roller skates turned out to be the sensible solution. Now instead of pestering me for money to go to the ice rink, he just skates to school and over to his friends’ houses. When high school hockey tryouts come around, I know that he’ll have an edge.
Back in the 1950s, ’60s and even into the ’70s, roller skating was a low-intensity, leisurely affair. Roller rinks weren’t athletic arenas so much as social gathering places. You might meet your sweetheart during a roller skating session, but you weren’t likely to find much in the way of spirited competition. In fact, my own parents met and bonded for the first time at their local VFW hall, which was transformed into a makeshift rink on the weekends.
More recently, quad roller skates have made way for inline skates. Aggressive skating is one of the most popular extreme sports, and it’s probably the easiest to pick up. In street-style aggressive skating, participants use whatever structures might be lying around to make an impromptu obstacle course. Rails, benches, walls, curbs and stairs are all fair game. Vert competitions are held on half-pipes where skaters try to get big air even as they bust out tricks.
As anyone who’s tried running as a form of cardiovascular exercise would surely attest, the activity isn’t for everyone. Although the health benefits of running are beyond dispute, there’s no getting around the fact that it can take a serious physical toll on the body. The high-impact motion of feet repeatedly hitting hard pavement can make for an unappealing situation. Luckily, the skater bud offers a viable alternative.
These skate shoes offer people all the benefits of running – the cardiovascular workout and endurance training – while also spicing it up with some fun. When you go whizzing past a sweaty, exhausted jogger, you can’t help but feel grateful that the skate shoes are doing some of the work for you. It’s time to put all of the excuses aside; now there’s no reason to hold back from developing a beneficial fitness plan.
Fashion trends seem to operate in a cyclical fashion. Many of the same styles that were popular at the height of the hippie movement in the late 1960s came back into fashion in the ’80s. You may have even noticed the brief reemergence of polyester pants and bell-bottoms – clothes that were perfectly normal in the ’70s – in the early to mid ’90s. It’s enough to cause us to wonder what trend from the past will be next to reappear. Will teenagers be wearing flannel and other assorted grunge rock apparel in 2010?
But clothing isn’t the only cultural element that continues to recycle itself in the public consciousness. The roller skating trend that was so popular in post-war America is rearing its head once again. This time, however, roller blades and the roller skate shoe are all the rage. Skate shoes embrace all of the best elements of skating – the sense of freedom and whimsical wonder – while eliminating the bulky awkwardness of quad skates.
My daughter recently informed me about her interest to try ice skating. She had been watching the pairs skating on TV and wanted to dress up in an extravagant costume and hear the peals of applause from a capacity crowd. Unfortunately, it’s August, and none of the local indoor rinks are affordable. I suggested that she try a pair of youth skate shoes instead.
Before turning her loose on her new wheels, I made sure that every safety concern was covered. The helmet came first, of course, and then a pair of kneepads and wrist guards. I broke out my old pair of rollerblades and skated alongside my daughter as she learned to maintain her balance. It’s become an activity that we can share as a bonding experience, and I’ve set aside many Saturday afternoons for the express purpose of skating through the park.
It practically goes without saying that advanced technology has made our lives better in an infinite number of ways. The Internet allows us to look up just about any piece of relevant information in a matter of seconds, and cable channels are specialized to our exact tastes and preferences. But sometimes an overabundance of convenience can translate to other problems.
Many of today’s children are overweight or even obese, and lack of physical activity is the primary cause. With that in mind, any means to facilitate some exercise would be a significant help. Kids skate shoes are flashy and aesthetically pleasing, but they also serve a truly altruistic purpose: saving our children from the burden of serious health problems in the future.
It’s in most children’s nature to follow trends. Before we figure out what we want to be, we imitate the actions of others. This doesn’t entirely explain the popularity of extreme sports – they do provide an exhilarating thrill, after all – but it comes close. There will always be a huge mass of followers, but only a select few kids actually set the trends and lead the pack.
Skate shoes are a cutting-edge alternative to skateboards and traditional roller blades. When not in use, they take up much less room in a kid’s backpack and they light up for nighttime demonstrations. It’s no surprise that skate shoes have begun to catch on at middle schools across the country. After all, the cool kids have given these extreme skates their stamp of approval.
If you’re a member of the Baby Boomer generation, it’s more than likely that you harbor a few special memories from the roller rink. That humming hub of social interaction has no modern-day equivalent. It was the place to be seen on the weekends, and if you weren’t there you were nobody. Who could forget the thrill of skating around and around with a cute boy or girl, then grabbing a milkshake before heading home.
Although it’s impossible to duplicate those treasured adolescent experiences at the roller rink, you can get in touch with your inner child by getting back in the skating habit. Adjustable roller skates give you all of the fitness benefits and freedom of movement provided by roller blades, and they aren’t nearly as bulky. It’s like being back in high school, minus the drama and pimples.
At first, I bought the heel skates for my nephew; however, in order to test it, I strapped it on and zipped back and forth in the garage. I had a blast! Riding on the skate buds reminded me of my first time putting on a pair of roller skates and the exhilaration that I had in my heart.
Now my nephew and I ride around the park together and are working on a routine to show off to the neighborhood. Yeah, it might seem cheesy, but there’s nothing better than remembering what’s it like to be a kid.
These days, most kids who are into skating have to spend a bit more money than what’s expected. There’s the cost of the actual skates (roller skates or skateboards), not to mention safety equipment and skate shoes. For the latter, why go the extra distance to buy “special shoes” for skating (which, in reality, are just sneakers that have extra cushioning) when standard shoes can be modified?
With the purchase of strap-on wheels, any pair of shoes can be transformed into literal skate shoes. Best of all, there isn’t the worry of purchasing additional equipment, outside of the standard safety gear that kids should already have.