Australian results: Nadia Zaccaria - Cadet 11th, Megan Tonkin - Jun Figs 12th, Cassandra Sellars - Jun Figs 14th, Tamara Russel - Sen Figs 9th,  Rachel Tonkin - Sen Figs 10th, Karen Clough - Sen Figs 12th, Lisa Curtis - Sen FS 7th, Purdy Rawlinson - Sen FS 8th, Lauren Backrack - Sen FS 9th. 

Top European coach Peter Berlic, completed his round trip of Australia on Monday in Perth W.A. The series of camps extended further than expected and made throughout the country (apparently he was even in Melbourne!!).. The camps were extremely successful, and because the numbers participating at the HP level are limited due to selection, this ensured value time for each skater. The atmosphere in Perth was great, participants from interstate included Tammy Bryant and Kristen Slade, both working in the Inline classes. Caitlyn Botica from Perth was of the shining stars for the weekend, proving her return to the sport will be a huge success with her stunning on floor appearance while Lisa Curtis, (recovered from illness in Argentina) proved to be in fine form executing some brilliant triple jump attempts. We can only hope there will be a continued area of development in Australia, both at the HP level and at the grass route levels to involve all skaters. I'm sure as a result of this years successful trip, we can aspire to that. Pictured above: Barry, Linda, Me, Tammy & Peter, enjoying the coastline on a lunch break..

HP Group - Perth 2004		Peter presents Tammy Bryant	Peter get's physical..

Only just days ago in Spain at the International Trophy of Noain (Pamplona), the Spanish press reported that Luca D'Alisera made the best roller skating performance of ALL TIME, crowning him the greatest skater in HISTORY. This came as a result of Luca's absolutely perfect performance and, the reward from the judges, all PERFECT SCORES OF 10.0  In other results, LAURA SANCHEZ skated the long program of her life completing all the triple jumps brilliantly and winning that portion of the competition, however it was Tanja Romano's outstanding short program and first position that gave her the title. In a bold move for roller sports, there were NO MEDALS presented at the event, this time - MONEY was given in place. €1500.00 for 1st position down to €150.00 for fifth. A sign of the times and definitely a great promise for the future of the sport.  

Top European coach Peter Berlic, has arrived in Australia and will conduct a series of seminars over the next fortnight, primarily with the High Performance skaters. An additional one day seminar will also be held in Brisbane for other skaters who wish to participate at any level. Peter will conduct classes for figures, freestyle and Inline during his visit here and when he travels to Perth next week for the Eastern camp the Inline component of the seminar will also be assisted by, myself and Tammy Bryant in alternate sessions. The camp is run to assist in the development of the high performance level skaters who either participate at International level or are selected in future teams. Skaters from all states will participate and meet at either of the two venues. The camp has been very successful in previous years and 2004 marks Peters second trip to Australia for the seminar. HP - Brisbane (Mar 19-22), Perth (Mar 26-28).  Image left: Berlic with skaters last year.

With the future of our sport still in limbo as numbers decrease every year, the effort to push forward is ever increasing - especially online. Without the internet I dare say, there would be no communication or promotion whatsoever for roller sports, and that is rather alarming. As more and more websites appear for clubs, organizations, individuals and fan sites, product based sites specifically catering to the sport also emerge. Big companies like Roll-Line, Risport, McRuben & Edea cater to the masses and now the many of the little fish get on board too.. Custom Inlines have set up shop online and will be expanding in the future with a brand new 'new-look' site, also introducing entry level inline skates, the DL Snow white frame,  for skaters starting out on inlines and getting a feel for it before moving on to a more advanced frame like the V1. This would be a progressional move like in the Roll-line range, when you would use a Mariner or Mistral and then hit the high end with an Energy skate. Inexpensive quad and inline skates are what is required at entry level to assist in building the numbers and with more distributors appearing online it can only assist in increasing participation levels. If you would like to add your skate shop directory or club listing, please email me here and I will add it to our links section. 

On the back of their smash hit single, 'Somebody To Love', the Boogie Pimps (..the name Boogie Pimps is actually derived from band member - Markus’s- hip hop collection) are set to film their follow up clip and you could be a part of it! Another big act is about to film a music video on wheels and if you are in the UK you could get in on the action! Details as followed: (casting now closed - watch for the filmclip soon!)

Are you 18 – 25 years old and want to appear in Boogie Pimps’ new POP video? Filming is on Wednesday 10th March 2004. If you want to appear you will need to attend the casting session at Rollerworld in Colchester at 11:00 am on Monday 8th, the scene will be an 80s Roller Disco.
Telephone: 01206 868868 Fax: 01206 868868  Please contact by Phone or fax, not by email. Andy Starr @ Rollerworld http://www.rollerworld.co.uk/

When the 2004 requirements were distributed recently, it was pointed out that the 'circular footwork' had been removed from the Inline requirements for the International grade. It has been confirmed that this is not the case and that the footwork is most certainly a required element and it was accidentally 'left off' the listing. An amended list will be circulated as soon as possible noting the inclusion. Therefore, it is suggested to Inline skaters who are preparing choreography/programs, to include the circular piece. More info soon.. 

Many people resort to (and enjoy) subscribing to mailing lists for information on our sport, I too. But in doing so, you also have the freedom to post your own response in relation to other posts, well normally this is the idea, but not always the case and more than often on the EIFSA list. Please be aware that if you are a subscriber to the list, and at good times it is informative, but if you reply to the list - it is so heavily moderated that your message can often been edited and re-written by the 'moderator' with their 'own' interpretation, thus infringing your own right to post to the list. You will also be removed from the list at any given time without notice... 

Recently more than eight million viewers of the hit Italian TV show, RaiUno, witnessed Tanja Romano in all her splendor perform live in their lounge rooms.. Now avid sports readers throughout the Italy will get to read all about her in the latest issue of Sport Week. Tanja talks candidly about the future and what it is like to be a World Champion. One can only hope that the notable enthusiasm within the Italian media of late can spread across Europe and the rest of the world in the coming years and embrace our sports athletes on wheels both Inline and Roller. God knows we need the support.. 

Roller skaters have been featured in movies and video clips a number of times over the past years, most notably in the Austin Power film and the Mya clip.. As we speak, Will Smith is shooting a new movie in LA that interestingly enough, includes a lot of roller skating.. more news on that soon.. Whilst in Italy, the Cristal Skating team have featured heavily in the new clip for the Sunseathours, called 'September 2001' (watch the clip here). Not since 1979 have seen a feature length movie about an Artistic skater, for those who may have seen it will remember Linda Blair and Jim Bray in 'Roller Boogie'. Doing the rounds of Film Festivals in the US though, is the feature length doco by Boss Films, Figures and Loops - don't forget to check that out if you get at chance.. 

There are many international roller sports events throughout the year, many that go unnoticed. Here is a very brief list of some of the competitions that will take place over the coming months expecting to attract strong competitor numbers. 
The 10th Asian Roller Sports Championships - held on June 12-16, 2004 Akita, Japan
The 4th International Trophy - Fabio Barbieri Memorial , April 24-25, 2004 in Bologna, Italy.
German Cup - Freiburg Germany, May 19-22. For registration and nomination forms - [Download here]
RICCIONE 2004 - 1st RICCIONE ROLLER 27 June - 2 July in Riccione, Italia. [View here]

More events and news soon.. 

Just a reminder to all that I have a forum up and running and there are now 40 members but in order to make this a really useful tool.. we need more people to get in there and participate.. There are a few topics there that are quite interesting... All you need to do is just register and post your views.. [here] 

Available now through the RWC Italian site for a minimal price, the 2003 World Cup is available in TV quality to purchase. The World cup (for those who don't know) is purely an exhibition show skate competition, that was held in Florence post the world championships. Only the top competitors from around the world are invited to perform, making it spectacular viewing.  2003 was the first introduction of Inline skating with Lorenzo Ronci giving an exhibition, paving the way with hope of inclusion at future events. To purchase the VHS tape/s, please visit [here].

As more and more great sites on the net emerge promoting roller sports and the like, the community becomes tighter knit.. In this instance, the great new site 'e-Sk8r' is no exception. Packed will lots of information and links this site will be around and only get better and better. If you have cable and are eager to see online video highlights from the 2003 worlds, then this site is for you! Check it out

My apologies for the site being 'offline' for the past few days.. there was a problem with 'excess' traffic resulting in the temporary suspension.. anyway - back to work.. 

If there are any members of the International Roller Skating Trainers Association out there, please contact me here. And/if you have any info on IRSTA - would you mind forwarding it to me thankyou...

Many visitors to this site have been writing to me and asking how I am (thanks), post operation that is.. Well, just to let you know - I'm fine thanks and in good spirits. Although the image to the left may appear a little gruesome, the worst is now out of the way and I am on the way to recovery - and as it's now been SIX months since I broke my arm, finally I can say there is hope that within six weeks my arm will finally be out of a cast... I've just had a bone graft done on my left scaphoid (taken from my hip) which should see me back on my feet in a few weeks and back on wheels within the month.. Boy, when they say you'll suffer from bruising, they really mean it - my hip is completely black now! But, it's not going to stop me from enjoying what I do, skating... and I'm going to stick around for another year or two....  In the mean time, its work, rest and 'less' play... Cheers!

Good Sports: As reported in the leading Melbourne newspaper, Herald Sun, on Feb. 5 - Roller Sports was amongst the Top 20 'popular' sports in Victoria according to figures based on the number of participants at Club level. Roller Sports, boasting some 35,000 active members of clubs, ranked 19th in the list of the top 30 selected. Tennis was the highest ranking sport with 339,400 members and Golf second with 313,700. Victoria boasts more than 10,000 registered sporting clubs, more than a thousand with each popular sports such as, football, cricket and netball. According to a recent survey conducted by Deakin University, 23% of 18-35yr olds nominate sport as their primary source of satisfaction. There's no argument that it's great for your health and younger people believe sport is also essential for happiness.