Roller-skating has emerged as one of the most-sought-after sport among youngsters in the city primarily for the thrill and frills it offers. Sliding gracefully on the rink, youngsters are keen to master the nuances and later harness the advance techniques to make it to State and National level competitions.
“Summer camps are the platforms to identify future talents. We have around 100 children in the age groups of four to 14 for both morning and evening sessions,” says coach Vijaya Reddy. For the administrators of the sport the dearth of good rinks has always been an issue, and the present one behind DRRMC indoor stadium awfully falls short of standards.
“The district sports officials have promised to allot half acre in the stadium planned at Vidyadharapuram. If we could spruce up one quality rink there, we can increase out medal hunt in all there categories – artistic, speed and roller hockey,” says Durga Prasad, secretary of the Krishna District Roller Skating Association. With the rink at Rajeev Gandhi Part turning useless and others not matching the specifications, the talented skaters who wish to make a mark at the national-level are heading for Vizag for practice sessions.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We have as many as eight international rinks in Vizag. In fact Vizag produces more number of national medals followed by Vijayawada,” says Mr. Prasad. “A good number of youngsters prefer artistic category which is considered graceful. In fact, in the recently-concluded meet at Mumbai, Krishna skaters won as many as 26 medals in various artistic competitions, which is a record, says Coach Vijaya Reddy.” The Class XI student B. Jeswanth emerged as the star skater winning four medals.
The sports quota is also a reason for the youngsters to throng the rink. Recently, one Dasari Alkehya got a medical seat for her exemplary performance in skating. What about the fear of injury? Says Durga Prasad: “There is a misconception that injury galore in skating. That is not true. The most important aspect skating in maintaining balance. First, we teach skating using the left leg and later we teach sliding on the right. Later, we make the skater use both the legs and hands to move forward rhythmically. ”.