If you live in the San Jose (CA) area and you want to support America's most fabulous Dance team, currently ranked No.2 in the world, then get your butts along to Cal Skate in Milpitas, from 7.30 - 9.30pm. Its only $12 entry and that includes a Spaghetti dinner (now come on, u can't beat that!).. There's misc cash prize raffles and hey, Logan Boggs and Julie Locke will also be performing an exhibition... Seriously, do yourself a favour and support these guys and the sport... More [here] Map [here]  

It looks like the official site for the world meet in Murcia is actually going to keep us up to date this time round, which is good news! So be sure to keep checking in at Worlds 2006 Murcia. The page set up at SkateLog.com is great too, with loads of other links and info. Oh, and the 'Westies on Wheels' site in NZ will also be having regular updates, worth a look too.. I am now going to Murcia, for two reasons, and for a change its not to skate!! I'll be looking after Kristen Slade, whom I've taught previously for ten years and in the past month, we've recommenced that coaching relationship, which I'm excited about..  Kris is slowly recovering from a rather bad ligament injury - so its been a hard few weeks in the prep stages, but she's getting there and I hope she does really well, as this could well be her last world meet after more than a decade at worlds.. Outside of that, further development work is being done on 'Jesus Cant Skate' and I'll be there to do some follow ups and with a few skaters who will feature in the film, including Romano, Cohen, Peck, Hossfeld, Tamara and more.. which is fantastic and I cant wait.. Hopefully I'll be able to continue with updates while I'm there.. :) 

'Aussie Skates' (the home for Ice Skating news on the net) webmaster and ice skating pro Nick Pilgrim was at the Premiere of 'Jesus Cant Skate' and has been kind enough to write a review and include it on their site. [here]

Renowned Italian Photographer, Raniero Corbelletti will unveil his greatest works in Murcia with the launch of his spectacular new BOOK and CALENDAR, 'Wheels In Movement'. Corbelletti's unique collection of images from the past five years will highlight some of the greatest and most breathtaking skating action captured on film. Not only will the book be available at the world meet, but Raniero will also be the OFFICIAL photographer at the championships giving you access to the best images of your performance you could hope for. Wheels In Movement will be available at the championships and by contacting Raniero directly. If you reserve your copy of the book, you will receive a calendar free. Limited numbers only. [email here]

The Italian team is doing some pre world meet prep in Rimini, at the rink of (and named after) Patrick Venerucci. Reportedly the entire team is there working together with their trainers and team officials. In other Italian news, world no.2 pairs team Andrea Barbieri & Irene Nardo will NOT be competing at the championships in Spain, a blow to all the fans of this amazing couple. Pictured left, the home of Venerucci - inside is a state of the art venue with a massive wooden floor, mezzanine level with gym, offices, change rooms, expandable seating and adaptable for other sports. Kristen Slade and I visited the rink last year in July and had a skate there, and its amazing.. Oh, & only 3mins walk from the beach!  [View the rink here] [Sara, Christina, Me & Patrick] 

It is with regret that I inform you of the passing of Shane Lashua (USA), who was involved in a motorcycle accident on Sunday. Shane and his family were a big part of the Redwood rink for many years. Shane skated pairs with Julianne Hines (her brother Robert Hines is in the current US Team) and they won the world junior pairs title in 1998 at the world championships in Bogota, Colombia after placing 4th in 1997, Reus Spain... Our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.  

Kathie Fry from the fantastic Skate Log forums has set up a great new page with informative and very useful links to assist those planning on attending the World Championships in Murcia. A must see for all [here] And while you are at it, why not join the forum and chat about Artistic skaters with many of the other members... 

Results & images from the 2006 Nationals can be viewed in full at the Skate Australia site [here] and PDF [here], 

One night its 'Hall of Fame' inductee and a great short program for world no.3 inline skater Kristen Slade, the next night it is crutches and a badly damaged ligament in her knee and NO long program.. yes, that's right Kristen Slade is out of the competition. Sadly for Slade, a bad fall at an official training session today forced her to withdraw from the event. A walkthrough to the world championship for our top skater has been granted and she will be back on her feet in time for the event in Spain. Congratulations to Kylie Russell who won the International Ladies singles event after a lack luster performance in 2005, Kylie is back in fine form and well on the way to a great skate also in Murcia. More results and updates soon, and they can also be found at the Skate Australia official site.. I hope! 

It's great to see that former world champion Luca D'Alisera is out and about sharing is great knowledge with other skaters, in particular other countries. As reported on the FEP site, Luca can be seen working with Spanish skater Oscar Molins during his recent visit to the neighbouring country. View details [here]

It's been a long time coming for this veteran athlete at a tender age of 22. Kristen Slade has competed at world level every year since 1995 and produced results of the highest level throughout, achieving Top 4 rankings in Junior ladies singles and Top 10 for figures while competing on roller skates. More recently with the transition to Inline skating, she has won three medals at the world championships and this year, as she becomes one step closer to her ultimate dream of becoming world champion, Slade has been inducted in to the Skate Australia 'Hall of Fame' alongside her dearest friends Tammy Bryant and myself. Sutcliffe and Bryant were also awarded 'Athletes of the Year' at the Opening of the National Championships last night in New South Wales. 

There will be a 'Social Skate' on Saturday September 30 at the 'Brickpit Indoor Sports Centre' from 8-10pm. The Nationals Dinner will be held at the conclusion of the championships at the Castle Hill RSL on Friday 5th October from 7pm-12am with a special presentation screening of 'Figures & Loops' during the night..  [view promos here]

The Skate Australia September issue of E-News is now available at the official S.A site [here] and next week Australian skaters competing in the National championships will gather in Sydney to contest the biggest competition of the year for Aussie skaters.. 

Don't miss this: A rather urgent call out for a corporate gig in Sydney (Dome) with a major who require SIX skaters for two shows and rehearsals. The skaters must be Sydney based. If you are interested and will be available and would like to submit your details please email me asap. Job description= Be able to take direction & learn choreography, good performers and have a good work ethic. They will work in with 4 performance cars and with various light projections/FX on the floor, elaborate LX, work in with pyros etc etc. Director you will be working with is ex Commonwealth Games Opening / Closing Ceremonies and segments from Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Please contact here to express your interest. Required dates: October 9,10 rehers/ Show time Oct 11. [email]

WHY this news wasn't made known to the world earlier I don't know!! But I've just learnt that at the recent European championships ROBERTO RIVA completed the TRIPLE AXEL jump in both the short and long programs (fell in the short but hey, at least he's the first to try it in a short program!).. It's not since 2003 have we seen a triple axel in competition, the last attempt by Andrea Barbieri in Argentina in the long program.. D'Alisera was doing it in the warm up for the long program in 2005 but did only a double in the competition. Riva was to perform the jump in 2005 also but he had been suffering an injury that prevented him from doing so. Now, back with more ammunition to keep him firing all year is the triple axel.. View two clips here from Patinagem.net [Riva's Axel3] And there is also a second clip with a short interview [here] Those links wont be there for long I'm sure! 

Many in Australia will remember the name, Burton Powley, he was a coach in Melbourne at the Caribbean Rollerama for several years (yes - my home rink of 15yrs!!) and since moved back to his home in the US, returning to ice skating and has continued with a succession of masters championship titles and even run an ice rink or two. In the headlines again, Burton recently carried the Flag into the stadium at the Gay Games VII opening ceremonies. Read the full story here..  Visit Burtons website [here]..

The support for Jesus Cant Skate has been overwhelming, I'm getting emails from all over the place!! Thank you! And I have also noticed a link that appears on an online costume shop for skaters in SPAIN (Cassie Lou), so I am happy to return the favor.. In essence, this is what I love about working on projects like this film, it brings everyone together and gets them talking about the sport! I love it and lets hope the world over does the same... [here]

The Rollkunstlauf Deutscher Rollsport site has added all the official 2006 CIPA rules for each discipline, which is kinda useful and they aren't that easy to come by.. Visit [here] Heading: 17.08.06 CIPA RULES 2006

Chennai (India) students and skaters Upasana Updhyay and Aaron Jayant Saldanha have been selected to compete at the Asian Championships in the Pairs event, soon to be held in Taiwan. View story in full [here] Source: The Hindu - India's National Newspaper.  

Ryan Allen had the chance of a lifetime this year when he  was cast in the film clip for Madonna's 'Sorry'. Former US team member and fave of many, Bryan Richarson assisted Fred Talekson (choreographer for the clip) in the early stages of shooting a promo when sourcing the job. Ryan skated worlds in 1999 on the Gold Coast and has since been extremely busy doing shows in the US. View the interview at 'Drowned Madonna' [here] 

The guys at CanAm Crew have been pretty busy and have a skate collection packaged up in to a dvd.. view [here] 

This is really non roller or inline, but there are many fans out there who might enjoy this... like it or not!! [here]
However, if there are any readers out there who were at the Mt Gambier show skate!! in 1993, you'll remember this was almost identical to another 'showskate' that scored a 'ten' and won the event!! No guessing who! hahaha.. 

Roberto Riva has again proved he is virtually unstoppable at the recent European championship held in Monza. Riva's combined total score topped the 1000pts range, an amazing result. Spanish hopeful for a future spot on the world podium is Carles Gasset, second in the competition and achieved a top 10 result in senior world last year, his first time in that level. Tanja Romano came under pressure from the Spanish in the short and long, unable to take the lead in either program. Monica Coma fought back after the short program from behind Laura Sanchez to take home the gold. See all the results from the championship [here]. Great pics & report here on [Coma]

Joshua Rhoads may have 'Killed Bill' last year and had a bad run at the world meet in Rome, but that guy is still one of the best skaters in the world and he's back with a win at the US Nationals. Rhoads has put an end to any rumors that he had quit and packed the skates away by defending his title in the US. He will go on to compete in Spain, news that will excite all. Rhoads is a favorite of many and always will be. Notably, in second place in the men's was Derek Leonard, who competed at the Junior world meet in Fresno 2004, and got 4th in the WC event in the US last year. Derek is famous for his unforgettable appearance in the iPod commercial on skates and is one of the fewer skaters I've seen out of the US in a long time with a more European style of skating. David Jacques (retired) was missing from the list, now there's a guy who's toughed it out for many years and put in strong performances every year at world, never disappointing. He'll be missed on the circuit. Personally, I was a little touched to see that Anthony Peck had won his events at the competition, more so that he had continued to be involved in the sport after the tragic accident in Rome last year that took his younger brother. Congratulations to Anthony and his partner Tricia Miller,  who won the Junior WC pairs.  See all the results for the US Nationals [here]. 

I mentioned above that it was thought David Jacques had retired, however thanks to Ben Reeves (also competed in the WC men's event), its now clear that David in fact was competing at the Nationals, but not in men's singles or figures. He competed in the Pairs event with partner Meghan Burt, who skated with Edrick Stewart previously. 

I don't have too much info, although word in tells me that Roberto Riva is holding fort and won the men's, Andrea Barbieri - second and Luca D'Alisera - third. It's going to be a long time before anyone breaks those three. Tanja Romano may not have skated, her name is listed in the figure placing's but not the free, an injury perhaps? Irene Nardo has finally gained a placing that might well give her a spot on the Junior Italian team for worlds, having already won pairs and placed in senior pairs, she is still yet to compete in her own age group. More soon I hope. 

I mentioned previously that 'Pink' was coming soon.. Well, the wait is over. EDEA skates have done it again and supplied one of Australia's top Inline skaters with an amazing pair of boots that I am sure will prompt huge demand.. Here are some shots of Kristen Slade (world top 3 in 2004&5) at the recent Victorian Championships with not only her new boots, but also her new amazing body. That girl has been in the gym 5 days a week for the past six months working with personal trainers, and wow - how fantastic does she look! And so do the boots! Enjoy!!!

A link to this site was kindly sent to me and the site will be great when it is complete. Let's hope more like this continue to appear on the net to promote the sport. Visit [here] 

More great images from Raniero Corbelletti at the 2006 German Cup - view [here]. Next stop for Raniero will be the Regionals in Fresno, CA USA. Be sure to see some more action from there soon. 

The annual event in Paris, the Prestige International D'Issy, will take place from June 30. Eric Traonouez will compete on inline in the senior event, in the hope of making the French team to compete at the world meet in Spain. Outside of his inline commitments, following a hugely successful stint on 'Popstars' Eric has recorded a fantastic single and is somewhat of a celebrity in France.. Go Eric!! Picture left: Eric back in 2003 on Popstars. 

For those many people who wrote regarding the 'official' site for worlds... sorry for the delay but here it is.. [here]

See full results for this years cup, the prestigious German Cup held in Freiburg [here]. And go here directly to see an all new look Luca D'Alisera [here] who competed in, and won the Men's event, with Mauro Mazzoni in second and Pierluca Tocco in third. Ilenia Baldisser took out the ladies event, also from Italy. click on Day 3 pictures to see more in action!

It's good to see the schedule for the running of the world meet is back in order with all the group, show and inline events competing at the same time in between the Junior and Senior meets. Check out the schedule at the home of USA Roller sports [here] And visit the official home of the championship [here] Better still, why not chat about it in the most popular skate forum on the net, here at [skatelog.com]

Finally I've found a site with all the results, thanks to Pam P. Cheers.. Congrats to all the skaters. Its a little sad to see the international events with lower numbers than the other grades, while that support is good, the competition just isn't there for those competing in the 'International' events that go to worlds. Visit her site [here] and view the results  [here]

I'm not exactly sure as to results for Oceania as I can't seem to locate them, however I've come to learn that Sarah Jane Jones did jump up ahead of Purdy Rawlison after the long program to retain her title in the ladies freeskating. Sarah also won the Inline ladies title. Well done Sarah. Visit the official Oceania site [here]

Now here's a comp I didn't even know was on, and its just around the corner! The Oceania Championships are being held in NZ as we speak, in fact, I just received a message from a skater over there who has just let me know that local lady, Purdy Rawlison from Victoria (Australia) has won the ladies short program ahead of former world no.3 junior and inline skater, Sarah Jane Jones from NZ.  It will be a tough competition for Purdy in the long, good luck to both girls and to all the other skaters over there!! Visit the official Oceania site [here]

April 17: Small things in life can often brings the greatest amount of joy, and this is one of those times a skater wont forget! Remember landing your first axel? It's a big deal isn't it and from there, the real journey begins. It's not often though, moments like that are captured on film, so its hard to relive that excitement. However, on Saturday night it was 'that time' for youngster Tenielle, when she landed her first axel. Tenielle's skating efforts, since day 1 on January 31, 2005; have been captured online at the i-sk8r.com site, although sadly the host of this site has experienced some major data corruption and it is feared all may be lost, so we wait anxiously for the return of the files. In the meantime, enjoy this short clip and cast your mind back to that day when you landed your first axel... Well done Tenielle.. [T's big day]

In the early 90's we knew him as British Dance champion, Galvin.. post roller sports glory and a move to Australia we know him as award winning writer/director/actor ... Galvin Scott Davis (left). Congratulations are in order to Galvin who is celebrating in LA as we speak with 3 big wins at both the 'Silver Lakes' and the 'Beverly Hills Film Festival' where his short film 'Brother' has won the awards for 'Best Short Film' at both festivals, and also 'Best Editor' at the BHFF. Brother of champion dancer (World Games No.2 in 2001) Gawaine Davis, now coaching and working in Sydney, Galvin is unlikely to return to roller sports!! Oscars next on the agenda for this guy! Brother is written, directed and produced by Galvin. Excellent work G. 

Visit the official Brother film site [here] and grab a copy on DVD [here] 
It's absolutely amazing and a must have in your collection. 

Roller Sports has been included in a special permanent display that features prominently at 'Dandenong Park' in Melbourne. Fourteen athletes were chosen as representatives in a celebration of Sport during the celebrations of the Commonwealth Games. Local skater, Jayson Sutcliffe, made the selection and features on the first board displayed in the walk through display of the park. Acknowledgement, such as this, only enhances the profile of our sport and opens the doors for others that follow in the years to come. This is a landmark event for skating and one to be celebrated by all. The park unveiled the displays today, lead by the Mayor of Dandenong. (interesting fact: Skating is seen at the top of the board I made it on to, and Football is beneath it!!!) Pictured: Rolaboi display board. 
Edan & Tenielle with their coach, cuddle up for a pic at the launch party. 

Above: Sabrina & her team rink side. The Olympic medals on display. The flame burns.  

Last update on Worldnews [22] - July 20, 2005