I have sat down the last three nights wanting to tell all of you (the skaters that participated in the National and Elite clinic) what an incredible job you have done!!! But something or someone has needed me at that very moment and I have been pulled away from my computer until now. I still have hundreds of pictures that I want to share with you, so do not stop looking to see if I have updated the photos or the blog.Check out the smiles on their faces!! 11-year old Paul Everett from Washington and 13-yr old Jacob Daniels from Arizona practice their "jabs" .
The last clinic that I was a part of was this same time last year. I absolutely LOVE being at the clinics and if I could, I would be at all of them working with all of the super people that are a part of In-line speed skating. To watch a young skater finally be able to get past the middle of the bank and actually skate "high" on the banked track and doing cross-overs from the moment they enter the corner until they shoot out and down the "hump", gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.
Or the teenager who started skating "later in life" (LOL...) and while they love this sport, it is one of the most difficult things for a young teen who is maybe not the fastest or the most coordinated, to
come out to a clinic and go from being a shy skater to a more out-going, young adult who has opened their mind and tried new things... and lived to tell about it!!To finally the adult, who knows they are crazy for even thinking about putting a pair of "roller-blades" on and skating with all of these young bucks. Because they know that if they go down and break some thing or hurt something, it takes much longer to heal. And besides that... we have work, kids, spouses, houses and every thing else that an adult is responsible for and we cannot afford to do so with only one arm or one hand. But it is something special when that wind hits your face and your quads are burning and you are going faster and faster that brings you back to your childhood and makes you feel just like you did 30 years ago. You have a coach, speed skates and competition. What more could you ask for?????
The clinic has been over for more than 24 hours now and we are preparing for the next clinic. But there was something truly special about this clinic. I can't put my finger on it and maybe never will, but there was magic out on that track and I got to be a part of it. Thank you... to the parents who came.. thank you to the skaters who donated their time and were demonstrators/coaches and most of all... to the skaters who tried everything that we asked and gave 110% of yourself and left it all on the track! You are why I LOVE doing clinics!! See you next year. Linda Wood
