Newsletter 9/28/2023

Hello Skaters,

1. We have regular classes on Sunday at 845 and 10am. Mason is teaching Slalom and Trish is teaching at 8:45am for the Level 4/5/6 and Rox is teaching Level 4 at the 10am class.

2. New Class: We are starting to offer a free 15 minute Roller Fitness to everyone who is registered for classes. Starts most Sundays (when Trish is available) at 9:25am to 9:40am. Roller Fitness is for all levels (as long as you’ve have a B1 class) because Trish teaches 3 levels of learning at the same time. When she starts, she starts with swizzles, and then adds a similar move, but designed for Intermediate skaters and often an even more challenging, but similar move for Advanced skaters.

a. Here is an example:

i. Swizzle	ii. Inside-Outside Swizzle	iii. Alternating swizzles
iv. A Frame Turns-linked	v. Two footed slalom	vi. One footed slalom
vii. Toe taps to the side and to the back	viii. Kicks at knee height to the side and back	ix. Hip height (Tai-bo) kicks to side and back
x. Marching	xi. Marching but bringing knee up to have thigh parallel to floor	xii. Cross marching, with bringing knee across your body

  xiii.    It’s for all levels. Skaters will still be able to do slalom, or skate on their own while this class is running. It uses the whole rink, and we will switch directions from time to time, so skaters will need to pay attention. This class is for kids and adults, all levels and we go around and around (at your own speed). You take on only the moves you feel comfortable with, and it’s only a 15 minute class. Arrive by 915 to be ready for the class which will start at 9:25 and goes to 9:40 (when we do stretching. You can join in any time you arrive, and we recommend taking on the full class J.

3.   Trails class this Saturday at 9am at Log Boom Park. We are planning on a Hills & Hazards class at Jack Block Park on the 14^th of October (hoping for good enough weather.) This class, at Jack Block, is so great as half the class is spent on learning how to take hills. It’s a great class and here is what Rajiv V wrote about last week’s Hills & Hazards class at Crossroads: “It was a fantastic class today @Trish Alexander. Did a lot of things today which I don’t think we’d have considered doing on our own. Thanks for pushing us out of the comfort zone.” (And adding here that I teach you tips and tricks so that you can easily push your limits. Nothing crazy.

4.   Upcoming projects:

a.   Fall Fundraiser starts in mid October. We are a non-profit school and we will be sharing with you, why we need your support

b.   2024 will see us run a 5k 10k and a half marathon as fundraisers. Likely dates are April, June & July respectively.

c.    We are working diligently on our Client Portal. This will be your new interface and once we get it going, you’ll be able to simply show up to classes and to purchase classes then, or buy 4 classes at a time. If you want to assist us, we need a few testers for it. Please email MarissaP@skatejourneys.org with “I’d like to be a tester” in the subject line.

d.   Saturday classes resume Oct 7^th so we will have Saturday and Sunday classes.

e.   We are eagerly trying to find a location for classes on the Eastside. If you have ideas, send them to marrisap@skatejourneys.org Here is what we need: 3 months commitment. Indoor location about the size of one basketball court. Any contact info you have would be great. Please, check into the viability of the location for us, if you can. We know that many of the community centers only offer basketball, volleyball etc.

Thanks for skating with us!