Guernsey Press

Club looking for new members to get their skates on

A NEW club is looking to revive interest in roller skating.

Published
The Sarnia Artistic Roller Skating Club, left to right, head coach Monica Dekker, Mia Le Tissier, 13, Caitlin Dekker, 11, Jamiee Harvery-McTeague, 13, and Lucy Ozard. (Picture by Ben Fiore, 24764236)

The Sarnia Artistic Roller Skating Club was registered as a non-profit making organisation in November and it is in the process of registering with the Guernsey Sports Commission.

Club secretary Lucy Ozard, 23, said roller skating was very popular in the island about 10 years ago.

‘One of our main aims is to promote the growth of skating and to get people to learn it as a new skill,’ she said. ‘If people want to compete they can, but they don’t have to. Competing can be quite nerve-racking for some and they don’t like it.’

The club currently has six members, of whom two have competed in national championships and another is about to.

It is based primarily at Beau Sejour and people can initially pay £5 per session plus £1 for skate hire.

Sessions are on Sundays and divided into two groups – basic skills or general skating. The minimum age for participation is five.

Head coach Monica Dekker, 20, said all were welcome and the most important thing was that people had fun.

‘If achieving is what makes people happy then we’ll help them do it, but the most important thing is that they enjoy it,’ she said.

The club is already affiliated to the Federation of Artistic Roller Skating. Each year there is an artistic roller skating section in the Guernsey Eisteddfod festival.

In 2020 it will be on 29 February and Miss Dekker said they hoped to feature skaters from Jersey in it.

The club has a Facebook profile and further details can be found there.