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| What's
happening around the globe and @ home in Roller
Sports..???? |
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| V.06 ....Go here for more news in our back
log: V.05 includes, Oceania results, Darren Hayes video clip,
Vic Champs, skaters court case, worlds 2002, Anna Iannucci on
inline, German Cup & Jim Pollard interview and lots
more.. |
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| Australian Team leave for German Cup... |
| Members of the Australian Team selected to compete at the German Cup
are departing today, Sunday 26th May. The competition kicks off on
May 30 and our girls will contest in figure and freestyle events.
Unfortunate news for Caitlyn Botica though, her has had to
withdraw from the event and will not be travelling to Germany
because of an ankle injury that looks set to keep her off skates for
a few weeks. News on the competition will be posted here as soon as
the event begins.. our correspondent & competitor, Kristen Slade, will certainly be providing those
wonderful sms messages with all the info! Team members are:
Kristen Slade (Figs/FS), Karen Clough (Figs),
Lauren Backrack (FS), Samantha Russell (Figs) and
Rachel Tonkin (Figs). |
| Brand new look and site for Skate
Australia.. |
 Skate Australia, formerly Roller Sports
Australia, has now launched it's new home on the net. The site has
taken on a bold new look and adopted a more progressive face. With
the inclusion of street skating/extreme, it is a welcome change to
the traditional look RSA clung on to for years. All the areas of the
site are open, though not yet complete, but I am sure in the near
future it will be a hot spot for roller sports on the web. Check it
out and have a look around. A great job on the design to the team
involved. [..here] |
| Athlete of the month... |
 Kristen Slade, former
student of 10yrs and friend, is the new Athlete of the Month
on this site. Kristen, for years now has been a force in Australian
skating. Amongst her credits, she has won more than 15 National
titles since 1992 and has been ranked amongst the Top 5 in the world
on 4 occasions at Junior level. Kristen also holds the highest
Junior ranking for an Aust. athlete at World Level in both F/S (4th)
and Figures (10th). Kristen and Jordan Uriel Segovia,
from Argentina, are the only two skaters in the world to have
competed at every Junior World Championships since 1995 to complete
a full run of Junior Championships. Kristen recently suffered a
serious seizure and was hospitalised immediately. She is now
recovering and we wish her the greatest of health. [..Athlete of the Month] or visit Kristen's
very own homepage here.. |
| Victorian Championships wrap up... |
 The 2002 Victorian
Artistic Championships are now complete. There were some fine
performances in a number of events throughout the competition. Last
nights events included Senior + Junior International Freeskating
events with Kristen Slade winning the Senior evnt. Kristen
suffered from a serious seizure just last Tuesday and was lucky to
be competing. It was great to see her on the arena and put in such a
fine performance. Jenny Nisi took the gold in Junior ladies
with a solid program after a bad run at the recent Oceania Champs.
Clare Ballam performed a sultry creative solo dance routine
to the music of 'Roxanne' from the popular Moulin Rouge soundtrack
(I also noticed her competition from W.A also use the same music
last week at their championships!!). Senior OSP's proved popular
with the small audience, Seona Rough taking out the event
with tough competition from Erin Simpson, Carly Englis, and
my favourite - Louiza Franske. Former Victorian, now W.A
skater, Janelle Payne, found herself without competitors,
though did a fine performance to the music of FEVER. The
night ended with International Inline long program followed by a bit
of a fun skate prior to medal presentations. New found spirit on
Inline, Cameron Savanah, eager to show his skills after
only 2wks on the skates, doing a few nice double flips and double
loop combinations.. An eye opener for many!! |
| The State of a Championships... |
| An indication to the success to an event will certainly be
judged by the amount of spectators when you hear reports by the
media relating to poor ticket sales for sporting events and
attendances. This unfortunately has been the case for roller sports
events in Australia that needs urgent attention. Having just been to
three of Australia's State Championships over the past four
weeks, I can tell you this.. The sport is rapidly deteriorating at
an increasing speed. All three championships in Victoria, S.A
and W.A had very poor attendances with very little promotion.
Although all events were run well and had good support from
volunteers and branch staff, it failed to make any impact on the
sports appeal to the public. Unfortunately, even the elite events
cannot attract the crowds like they did in the sports hey day.
Although there are signs of improvement within the technical aspects
of skating, the crossover just hasn't followed with media or other
interest. An important factor that needs to be addressed. Only a few
years ago, the increased popularity in Precision skating generated a
large number of skaters competing and spectators along with it. Now,
with Precision at an all time low, what do we have left in sight?
The introduction of Inline at World Championship level could
well be the saviour. Traditional quad skaters can only hope that a
new found interest in this discipline can generate enough support to
see our sport survive. Instead of shunning Inline, it must be
encouraged and developed. For the sport to survive we need to
embrace all on wheels... |
| Breakthrough for Inline... |
 Inline may still well be in its primary stages and copping a lot of
flack from people who don't support it, but those doing it are
really enjoying it and moving along nicely.. Recently in W.A
at their state championships there were four girls competing in the
open inline event and they were all good and doing a couple of
double jumps.. Tonight at the Victorian Championships I
performed my new inline short program and scored 8.2's
(on my V1 Frames by Custom Inlines) which I thought was a
real breakthrough for Inline in this country. Without the spinning
capability of quads it is hard to push the scores right up in the
short program and not forgetting, no triple jumps can be performed
in the short program, but tonight really got Inline on track
to being a popular event of the future.. |
| VIC Championships Opening |
 The Victorian Championships were officially opened
tonight and competition commenced. A young girl sand the National
anthem and I presented her with a small gift from RSV. All the
events run smoothly and there was some great skating. Jenny
Nisi is leading the Junior ladies free program and Kristen
Slade is leading in Senior with good performances from Kylie
Russell and Purdy Rawlison. My event was first off the
rank to start the night, so it was great to get to perform on inline
so early in the night and give everyone a chance to see it. People
are still amazed as to how quiet it actually is when you skate..
There was some other events including Precision and Solo
Dance..Juvenile Girls was a good event too. Figures will be
contested tomorrow and W.A's, Janelle Payne, will compete in
the Youth Ladies event. Senior and Junior Long
programs are Saturday evening. |
| Junior girls battle it out for the top spot in their own
State.. |
 Over the weekend the Western
Australian State Championships were held and it was a great
event to be at. Support for the championships was fantastic and the
highlight of the competition without a doubt was the Junior
International Ladies Freeskating event (and boy were the girls
pushing the boundaries with their outfits!). The short program
proved very interesting with Caitlyn Botica taking the top spot (undoubtedly
the most brilliant short program I have ever seen) followed
closely by Lauren
Backrack, Ashleigh Heasman and Lisa Gobby. But
it was the long program that proved the highlight.. leading off the
challenge was Caitlyn, performing to Evita. Lauren
opened with a spectacular double axel and got the crowd moving,
though she then had a giant fall on her travelling camel and had to
come off injured. Lisa Gobby then took the floor with a
'take no prisoner' attitude and skated the strongest I have
seen her skate. Lisa's experience really came through and she easily
won the long program but b/c of a bad short program she finished
second, but a great return to the sport for sure. Lauren
re-skated her program and did another awesome double axel and scored
in the 8.5-8.6's. End result, 1.Caitlyn Botica, 2.Lisa Gobby, 3.
Lauren Backrack, 4.A.Heasman. More on the
W.A Championships soon. |
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| South Australian championships.... |
 St Clair, South Australia April 28:
The 2002 South Australian Championships were held at in S.A today in
fact.. and yes, I've just flown back in to Melbourne (after only
just making my flight and convincing them to reopen the gate!!). The
event was rather small but it was a good competition and would have
been even better if Tammy Bryant had of competed. She was nominated
in Senior Ladies, though had to withdraw due to an ankle injury (it
was great seeing Amanda, Tammy and Charmaine). Natasha
Gundlach did a great program in the Junior Ladies f/s and I
contested my first State Championships on my Custom Inlines.
Yes, that's right!!! - Inline freeskating! Lot's
more news about my assault on inline
soon! |
| A night at the movies.... wine-cheese... a reunion & lots
more in store!! |
 In order for
Australian skaters to get to worlds, they have to fundraise like
hell to make ends meet because they have to meet all expenses to get
there.. So this month, I've organized a fundraiser that no doubt
will be a treat for all. We are having a night at the movies,
that's right. We will be showcasing highlights of the 2001 World
Artistic Championships on the big screen in a new theatre at
Monash University in Clayton. It will also be a wine and
cheese night and a we have decided to make it a reunion for skaters
from the 80's and 90's!! Tickets are $10 for adults and $5
for children under 12 held on Sunday May 26, 5-8pm. All proceeds on
the night will go directly to Victorian members of the Australian
Team. For more information on the event, please email here.. Tickets avail at
Vic States. This event is proudly supported by
Roller
Sports Victoria in assisting
development. |
| The boy is
back... |
 Undoubtedly, Australia's most promising young male
figure and freeskater of the late 90's produced in this country,
Cameron Savanah, 16, having won consecutive National titles
for figures and free skating in Primary and Juvenile. Unfortunately,
due to a lengthy period of bad health, Cameron had to quit skating
as he entered his first year in the International division with the
prospect of becoming a top world ranking athlete... Now, some three
years later, the boy is back.. Cameron has ventured back in
to the world on wheels (after enjoying current success as a top
table tennis champion) and has started doing freestyle again.. only
difference is, Cameron is skating on Inlines and he is doing a damn
fine job.. stay tuned for more news guys... things are looking
good! |
| The wait has been worth it... and almost
over!! |
 That's right.. the worst of
the wait is over! Yesterday, I received confirmation from the
Federation that they had received a call from Canberra informing
them that they had received notice from the IOC in Switzerland,
regarding my application for the ban to be lifted. The IOC had given
it a tick of approval!! This is fantastic news and I couldn't
believe my ears.. Though, the wait isn't quite over yet. Now, the
Australian Sports Commission must finalize the documentation and
give it final approval, though with a nod from the IOC, I'd say that
things are looking good and I might just have the go ahead to
continue with my plans to compete at the World Championships in
Germany in September! Two years is a hell of a long wait and I dont
know if I could have lasted that long! So for now, its great news
and I am feeling on top of the moon.. now its time to move on and
get back on track... |
| U.S Film crew embark on Australia... |
 Earlier in the year I was
contacted by Dave Regos, from Boss Films, in
the United States (following their initial contact with USACRS) and
I learnt of his latest venture - a film about Artistic Skating! Yes,
that's right, a film about our sport. Not since the early 80's hit
flick, RollerBoogie, starring Jim Bray and
Linda Blair, has there been a film on the big screen
featuring skating, so this is certainly something very exciting.
Unfortunately Dave and I haven't been able to arrange a time when we
are both in the same place at the same time so I introduced them to
Gawaine
& Esther in NSW to enable them to do some shooting
whilst in Australia. Dave will now be at the NSW State Championships
and will film some of the skaters in action. It is hoped Dave and I
will meet up at the Victorian Championships on May 11 just prior to
his departure for the US. Filming has already taken place at a
number of competitions in the US and is hoped that the team will be
in Germany at this years World Championships. Backing for the film
is being sought and is hoped that the US Federation
will give the project consideration. More news soon... If you are wondering what the movie
RollerBoogie is all about, it starred Jim Bray, former top US
skater. A love story set on wheels that in fact featured a solo
performance by Bray in which he did four double loops in a row and a
great heel camel.. not much more can be said about Linda Blairs
moments on wheels! |
More World News ....Go here for more news
in v.05, v.04, v.03 & v.02
[back]
Part 03 includes, U.S Nationals and images, World Games,
Italian Champs, Taipei Show and more.. | |
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