Seth Dantzie helping the children roller-skate. The Lucian Rollerz Rollerskating Club held its open day on Sunday. * More photos available on our Facebook page.
Rollerskating as a way to keeping Saint Lucia’s youth out of trouble was the idea Lucian Rollerz Rollerskating Club had in mind when they held their open day on Sunday afternoon at the Johnson’s Hardware car pack to showcase the skills club members have acquired.
Founder of Lucian Rollerz Rollerskating Club, Simon Octave, started the club a little over a year ago with the aim of keeping kids out of trouble and giving them something fun to do. The rollerskating club meets every Sunday from 3 pm to 6 pm at the Castries stand of the Beausejour Cricket Ground, which was donated by Sports St. Lucia Inc to be used by the club.
At present, the rollerskating club has between 15 to 20 members, ranging from ages 15 to 63 years old.
“On a good day at Beausejour Stadium, we can have about 25 people skating, and some days we get five to ten people,” Octave said. “Rollerskating is not only for fun but it’s a great way of keeping in shape, and meeting new people and staying out of trouble.”
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Founder Simon Octave
It is Octave’s hope that the club, which was recognised by the Olympics Committee as a sporting group, gets a venue of its own where members can go to learn how to skate and learn new tricks, and also a place where the public can come to view the skating activities.
Octave said the benefits derived from skating can be mainly physical. Instead of the kids remaining indoors playing video games, this is a great avenue for the young people to get fresh air, learn new tricks and keep fit.
Seth Dantzie, an avid skater from the United Kingdom who has been rollerskating for 36 years, having learned about the rollerskating club, has decided to donate his time and efforts in helping the club members learn some new techniques to improve their skills and to become a well-known club.
As an official rollerskating club, Lucian Rollerz have kept in contact with clubs in the UK and USA, and many of the clubs have expressed interest in visiting the island when there is an official staking facility to skate in.
Octave indicated that as the founder of the rollerskating club, he orders the roller skates for interested persons and sells them at a cost they can afford without them having to pay shipping duties. His plea is that someone in authority will see this as a good initiative to keep kids off the streets and will donate the use of an empty warehouse or indoor facility.
Members from the skateboarding club joined forces on Sunday to advertise their skills and encourage young people to become part of the club.
In an interview with James Decaires, he said their aim is to acquire some land from the government in order to build a skating rink where all the skateboarding enthusiasts can come to skate. With a skating rink, roller skaters, skateboarders and people with scooters can use the facility to practice and hold competitions.
With the interest the club is already receiving from outside skating clubs, the Lucian Rollerz members see the possibility of this becoming a tourism product.
“The beauty about skate parks is that they are aesthetically pleasing. There are plants and benches; the benches can serve two purposes: it will have flowers palm trees and be a place for family gathering,” Decaires said.
The club is open to anyone interested in learning how to skate or just being a spectator.
Lucian Rollerz Roller Skating Club is also on Facebook and interested persons can look them up.