| Dec
11/03 P&B
on the road again.. |
 The
stunning team of Patrick
Venerucci & Beatrice Rossi will be performing in Germany
this weekend at a special show in Freiburg. The magical team have
reunited for the show and will no doubt, bring the house down for
those fortunate enough to see. With thanks to photographer Raniero,
we might actually see some shots from the show as he is traveling to
Germany with the two... More soon...
|
| Dec
10/03 Awards
& Win Luca a massive hit... |
| WOW!!
What can I say?? The response to both the 'Win Luca' competition and
the 'Rolaboi Awards' has been absolutely amazing.. There have been
hundreds of entries for both already and they have only been online
less than a week! This is testament to the popularity of the site,
'Luca' and interactivity with visitors.. Thanks for showing such
great support. I have to say - the results for the Awards are a mind
blower!! There are some BIG surprises in store... Let me tell you,
its not just the winners who are pulling in the Votes by the truck
loads and boy... its exciting! I can't wait to announce all the
winner and show the percentages, you might even be surprised
yourself! Well, keep voting, keep entering.. More prizes, more
competition, more news ahead in the future... Enjoy!! There
appears to be voting war between Skate Attach of Germany and Revival
of Italy... its certainly heating up in that category!
[Win
Luca] [RolaboiAwards]
|
| Dec
09/03 Photography
at it best... |
 Italian
Photographer Raniero
Corbelletti, made passage to Argentina to capture the world on
film for all to see, yet it wasn't quite the case after some 'in
house' politics.. However, it didn't stop Raniero from taking
thousands of photographs.. Yes thousands!! and none of them are
less then spectacular. Sadly, the images were not available for sale
during the championships, however... it is now possible for you to get
your hands on probably the BEST images of you in action you will ever
find..
Raniero
is preparing CD's of images in high resolution for people who wish to
purchase them. In almost every instance, up to 100 images were taken
of each skater in every event.. All you need to do is follow
this link, view the details etc. and he will then contact you.. easy
as that.. Below is a sample of the images he took of me... View
the Globus form here..
|
| Dec
09/03 All
hail Romano... Champion |
 Although
I cant make clear translation of the information on FIHP, it appears
that Tanja
Romano, 2003 World Champion, has WON the prestigious title
of the World Cup in Florence on the weekend, ahead of Luca
D'Alisera and crowd pleasers, Maria
Mugica & Flavio Fissolo ARG. Sponsored by Porsche
(amongst other big name companies) the World Gala is with out a
doubt the most unique event within the sport in the sense of
promoting the athletes and artistic roller-skating. Other finalists
in the top six were, Leonardo Pancani, Michela Pizzi/Fabio Grossi
& Marika Zanforlin/Federico Degli Esposti.
|
| Dec
07/03 PatinVision
Exclusive.. |
 |
Monday
8 Dec at 17.00hrs, PatinVision will broadcast across Latin
America an exclusive interview I did with them in the studio this
week in Buenos Aires.. And boy, did they dig up some dirt!! (not
really).. But for those who see the show each week, be sure to tune
in.. In addition, they will also play footage of the Inline and
feature the Precision events.. Visit
PatinVision here..
& The Interview here..
Próximo estreno: En exclusiva en nuestros estudios el sub
campeón mundial de In Line representante de Australia, Jayson
Sutcliffe. Además el patinaje de precisión en Argentina 2003.
Lunes 8 de diciembre a las 17 horas. Y las repeticiones. Visit
PatinVision here..
& The Interview here.. |
|
| Dec
07/03 Online
RolaBoi Awards 2003 |
NOW
IS YOUR CHANCE TO CHOOSE THE 'SKATERS OF THE YEAR'...
The
first, and all NEW, Annual 'RolaBoi
Online Awards' are here and they will be voted by YOU..
Roberto
Riva was awarded Athlete of The Year for
2002, but now its
up to you.. Enter here to choose your winner in each category for
Junior, Precision, Show, Inline, Senior, Coach, Site, Event and
Overall. The Winners will be announced in January when all the votes
have been compiled.. [here]
|
| Dec
07/03 Lallai...
gone but not forgotten!! |
 Luca
Lallai, the great, may not have been at the 2003 World meet
after having won the men's title four consecutive years, but it is
still around it seems, more recently in Taipei. Lallai
thrilled and inspired us all with his sheer technical brilliance,
jumping perfection seen only by others like Tim
McGuire of the yester year. Its possible we will see and
hear more of Lallai's adventures in the near future and we'd sure
love to know about it..
|
| Dec
07/03 Skater
sites emerging... |
It
has been almost four years now since this site went online, filling
the void on the net in the absence of any other 'skater' site. Yes
there are many club and Federation sites, but there has been a huge
hole when it comes to fan sites and personal pages of any of the
'elite' or any other skaters in roller sports.. As we speak, they
begin to emerge though, a new presence online, perhaps inspired by
this site, perhaps for pleasure, many sites a popping up that will
only help with the growth of the sport and recognition of athletes
across the world.. You have to admit, there has been a serious lack
of that for decades.. So here is just a small list of sites I have
come across of late, many from Argentina, 'Let's just hope the
Italians pick up on this'!! Please
email me if you
know of any others..
|
| Dec
06/03 2003
World Artistic Gala.. Firenze |
Only two days to go until the 2003 World Cup gets underway..
The best Artistic 'Roller' skaters in the world will meet in Firenze,
Italia, to contest the biggest artistic skating show in the world,
with huge prize money on offer. Winners & guests from the recent
World championships including Luca D'Alisera, Tanja Romano,
Heather Mulkey and special guest, Mauro Mazzoni.. Word on
the street is that in the future, the gala may become a joint
venture between, Italy - Spain and Argentina, ensuring this will be
the BIGGEST skating event staged ever..
See
the official site for more details and updates.. [World
Artistic Cup 2003]
|
| Dec
06/03 Online
catch up.. |
 A
brand new site in the UK has been set up by Neil Emms project
partner Richard to help bring skating friends together, aptly named
'Skating Friends'... It has been a massive project
constructed in PhP with a MySQL backend...(nerdy computer jargon) It
has the potential to be a great tool for people all over the world (
who have an interest in skating ) to find each other and could
become your next best home on the net.. Check it out here and see
what you think.. [SkatingFriends]
|
| Dec
05/03 100,000+ |
| Thanks
to all those who visited the site during worlds.. There have been
more than 100,000 visitors in the past three weeks of the World
Championships!! Amazing stuff... Cheers to you all!!
|
| Dec
05/03 Flight
from hell... |
| Well,
all I can say is.. I'm happy to be home safely.. My flight from
Chile to Auckland proved to be one hell of a ride, many on that
flight will not forget, and damn it was frightening.. A few hours in
to our 'rough ride' they captain made an announcement that they were
'experiencing' some 'difficulties', and that it required us to
urgently return to Santiago. Well, understandably, there was some
hysteria and the poor woman next to me just couldn't contain herself,
she was hysterical, poor thing. It was made known there was engine
failure later and now all is ok and we are home safe... phew!!
|
| Nov
29/03 Worlds
2004 USA |
 There
will definitely be an online presence felt in 2004 at the World
meet, already USA has got a site in place for the championships that
is up and running with lots of information available. Visit 2004
Worlds here... as
for my site, you can be sure to rely on my again next year in Fresno
in providing the same info as per this year, if not better!!
|
| Nov
27/03 Thanks
to all... Order Worlds Videos |
Well
I just wanted to say thanks to all those who have sent in mail
thanking me for all the updates during the world meet.. Believe me,
I had a partner in crime, Tammy Bryant (winner
ladies inline) was with me almost every day at the net cafe
doing the updates, she would read all the names and results out as I
typed them in, so big thanks to Tammy too.. We had a great
time doing all the work and now for those who wish to order videos,
please visit this site as they will be able to assist:
A
new area on this site will be up in days with details how to order
your videos directly from patinvision.com.ar & details on
an exclusive interview on their show!!
|
| Order
Worlds 2003 Videos here: www.patinvision.com.ar |
| Nov
29/03 Win
a piece of Luca D'Alisera... |
 Luca D'Alisera has signed a t-shirt exclusively
for this site and you have the chance to WIN it..
All you need to do is simply answer one very simple
question... Enter
here for more information and details....
We
will also be featuring a very special interview, here on the site,
that I have also done with Luca and you'll love it... Stay tuned for
more..
|
| Nov
15/03 Skater
of The Year 2002... |
 Last
night, here in Argentina, I had the opportunity to catch up with
Roberto Riva and present him with the award for 'Skater Of The Year
2002'. This is the first award of its kind and purely an
internet award generated and presented by my site. Roberto has been
an outstanding athlete, and continues to be, and his win in 2002 is
only the beginning. This year, the winner will be decided by YOU. An
online voting POLL will go online post the World meet in an effort
to find the new SKATER OF THE YEAR..
See
Roberto's Interview and athlete of the year page here..
|
| Nov
12/03 2003
WORLDS... ARGENTINA |
| Just
in case you haven't noticed the new 2003 WORLDS area on this site..
Here is the link.. Updated daily, almost on the hour!!! Cheers..
Enjoy.. [View
2003 Worlds here]
|
| Nov
07/03 2003
WORLD MEET... ARGENTINA |
 Most
of the Junior teams have now arrived in Buenos Aries and are hitting
the training venues. New Zealand's, Sarah-Jane Jones, (3rd
2002 Jun Comb) says "Wow it is very hot here. the
stadium looks awesome jay. I think its just been revarnished so it looks really
grippy. ill let u know when we skate on it on Monday. Training rink is grippy too!!!
Italians turned up half an hour b4 the end of our training. excellent."
Australia's senior team leaves Aust. today and will be out and about
within days enjoying what Argentina has to offer. Updates for the
world meet this year will all be completed on a similar format to
this news page, as with 2001 in Firenze. Its far less complicated
and makes for easy viewing.. [View
2003 Worlds here]
|
| Oct
18/03 FIGURES
& LOOPS - hit the big screen.. |
 B
O S S F I L M S presents FIGURES & LOOPS,
a feature-length documentary exploring the world of artistic roller
skating. Boss Films presentation of artistic roller-skating
highlights its unique character and profiles its subtle complexities
in competition. The film will create a greater public awareness of
this unrecognized sport. As a documentary, the scope of the film
extends beyond the rink. It also examines themes that include family
dynamics, the impact of stress on competitors, politics within the
sport and lack of Olympic representation. The film follows several
competitive skaters throughout a complete season, depicting their
aspirations, determination, triumphs and disappointments. Through
private interviews, recording of practice sessions, and
competitions, we portray the sport in its entirety - from makeup and
glitter to the intensity of world-class freestyle. Dave &
Walter (directors) take you on a spectacular journey, one every
avid rollers sports fan should see. Click on image (left) for
screening details - show your support to make this venture a
huge hit for Boss & our sport.. For more information: Visit
the official site FIGURES
AND LOOPS
|
| Oct
18/03 On a
roll.. |
 Having
caught up with Jonathon Young in Perth at the Australian
championships, I thought it would be good to interview a younger
skater within the sport and see what goes on inside the head of a
cadet skater these days... seems, not much has changed - he's quite
a character.. Check out his interview here along with many others if
you haven't already read them.. [Interviews]
|
| Oct
16/03 Feet
for thought.. |
 Getting
your feet in to the sensational EDEA boots is one thing, now
you can slip your feet in to something equally as comfortable, on or
off your skates - skate socks!! Yes, EDEA have a cool little range
of accessories including skate bags, sweat towels and socks. All available
exclusively through EDEA. The socks are 97%micro fibre and 3%
elastan, without an annoying toe seem. The perfect gift idea
if you can get your hands on them!!
Visit the EDEA site here.. Pictured
left: A shot of the goodies I received today!!
|
| Oct
16/03 Italia..
Italia.. |
 The
Italian Team will be out in force for the 2003 World championships,
boasting an incredibly strong team even without Luca Lallai
and the teaming of Venerucci & Rossi. A listing of
the team is available on the FIHP site, with indications that the
Inline team has not yet been decided and possibly will take place on
Oct 23-24. To view in full, along with other news articles, view [here]
- titled IL RADUNO PREMONDIALE A TRIESTE (Pre world meet in
Trieste)
|
| Oct
15/03 Australian
Team 2003 |
| The
following skaters have successfully been selected as the Official
members of the 2003 Australian Team to compete at the World
Meet in Argentina in less than four weeks.. Good luck to all.. The
team will have some support from Skate Australia through the High
Performance program.
|
| Inline:
Ladies - Tammy Bryant, Men's - Jayson
Sutcliffe. Senior Ladies FS: Purdy Rawlinson, Kylie
Russell, Lisa Curtis. Senior Figures: Ladies - Karen
Clough, Rachel Tonkin. Men's - Bryan Lloyd-Jones. Junior
Figures: Ladies - Samantha Russell, Tamera Russell. Junior
FS: Ladies - Jenny Nisi, Ashlee Heasman, Men's - Eugene
Tirados. Team Manager: Chris Clough
Assist: Christine Krol, Coach: Steve Bowman
Precision / Show: Aaron Young, Amy Munro, Anita Lloyd-Jones,
Belinda Ford, Bianca Burrow, Bree Irlam, Bryan Lloyd-Jones, Cassandra Sellars,
Dotti Wypych, Esther Ambrus, Eugene Tirados, Jayde Morris, Julia Norman,
Kelly Hedemann, Meghan Loader, Nigel Foster, Sally Gilroy, Shannon Busch,
Simone Tregoning, Tara Read, Teresa Chittick, Yvette Colonna-Morrow
|
| Oct
08/03 Westies
on wheels.. |
| If
you haven't already checked out the great site from New Zealand, run
by Steven, who recently competed in Australia at our Nationals in
dance, then do so now.. His run down on Nationals is four pages long
with SPECTACULAR photos.. check it all out here - Westies
on Wheels (scroll
down to Aussie Nats 2003)
|
| Oct
07/03 Patinvision.com.ar |
 Argentina
must be one of the very few countries in the world, if not the ONLY
country, who have a daily television program about roller sports.
The afternoon program, PatinVision, will be at the world meet
to interview and film most of the championships and they have also
just opened their brand new site online. Former world skater, Diego
Farina, (left - on the job) is one of the feature
reporters for this show, and he will be seen throughout the event
with his mic in hand. In the mean time, check out the site.. and
watch for more updates.. [here]
|
| Oct
06/03 2003
Nationals Photos.. |
Sportingimages.com.au were
present at the National Championships in Australia and you can now
order any photographs online that you may have missed whilst in
Perth. Visit the sportingimages site and go to the database section
and choose roller sports or follow this quick link to the Artistic
section from Perth.
Below
are samples of images taken from the site to give you an idea as to
the superb quality, click to view.
|
          
|
| [Visit
the site here] All
images Copyright © 2003 Sporting Images. Photos by Duane Hart |
| Oct
06/03 2003
Worlds site online.. |
| 2003 Worlds are
less than five weeks away and an online presence is already
available for all at Capatin.com
(English version). There is plenty of information and links which
are very useful and also information about Buenos Aires for those
wishing to do any sightseeing.. Check it out
|
| Oct
06/03 Australian
Team 2003.. |
| The
2003 Australian Team to Argentina will consist of members
competing in all disciplines including: Junior, Senior, Inline,
Precision and Show groups. A full listing will be made available
here in the next days. In the meantime, any team members/supporters
who are traveling to the championships, you may find this link
useful, being that it is our HOTEL where we are all staying.. Just
click on the folder for ROOMS to see further info.. [Catalines
Suites Hotel]
|
| Sep
25/03 Australian
Nationals videos online... |
 To keep
tabs on the events up to date during the Australian championships,
including fantastic video clips, images and results, keep an eye on
this great site run by Peter Frye. Bookmark the page and watch for
updates.. [here]
Pictured: Lauren Backrack, J, Paris
Abbott |
| Sep
25/03 Australian
National meet... |
 Only
a few days to go now until hundreds of skaters head to Western
Australia to compete at the Australian Roller Sports National
championships. All disciplines will be contested and the
championship will run in conjunction with the Inline hockey event,
staged at an alternative venue. It will also be crunch time for the
skaters competing in the International divisions as teams will be
selected and ratified by the AAC to compete at the world
championships in November. Results and info will be added to this
site as well as the official Skate Australia site here. |
| Sep
22/03 Rolling
up for Inline... |
 The
inclusion of Inline figure skating at this years world
artistic roller-skating meet
in Argentina will mark the second year of competition. Already there
are a few skaters confirmed as official participants (prior to
registration), four being
from the USA, Saralyn Maurer, Aubrey Orcutt, Sean Arisco
& Donavan Thomas, for both freeskating events. From
Argentina, we can now confirm the participants in the training squad
are, Daniela Rodas, Vanessa Agnus, Walter Iglesias and Adrian
Baturin. The Australian team will be decided next week when we
compete at the National titles, vying for the top 2 positions will
be, Tammy Bryant, Kristen Slade, Lauren Smith & Nadia
Zaccharia. It is not known if World champion, Silvia Marangoni
will defend her title, nor is it clear if Italy will send a team... Pictured
left: Tammy Bryant More soon... [V1] |
| Sep
22/03 VOTE
NOW FOR 'ERIC' ON POPSTARS... |
 Eric,
from France, could well possibly become the winner of POPSTARS,
with a little help from his fellow skating friends.. Erik, having
competed at five world meets for skating already, he has loads of
friends in our sport, so it's time to lend him a hand.. We can make
a difference here.. All you have to do is follow this link [here]
Then, click on the word
Côte de popularité, which is directly under his picture,
then a popup window for Voting will open. Press the number 1
for all the other entries (if you wish) and then when Eric's picture
appears, give him a 10 How easy is that!!! Vote!!!
Eric's
page at POPSTARS
here.. Check it out and VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!! Go Eric... |
| Sep
18/03 Elly's
love of the art... BBC Article |
 Elise
Hadgraft, 13, will be off to Portugal on the weekend to
compete at the Europeans.. Below is an excerpt from her feature
article on the BBC UK site.. 'When I started roller skating
I wanted to be a street hockey player and went to learn to skate
better - I had no idea the sport I do now even existed then but when
I saw the power of the jumps and spins I wanted a go too'... [Read Elly's article
on the BBC website] |
