Dreams, Aspirations, and Making a Team (?)

[Arc Linegod]

Hello everyone! As always, proper introductions go first.

My name is Marc, and I'm from the Philippines. I've been skating for less than a month, but the inline freestyle/slalom community has really inspired me to push my passion (and practice) with skating to its fullest. To be honest, I don't have much tricks in my bag, and I feel quite awkward about it.

In any case, I've been going around the net reading articles and visiting forums on slalom/freestyle. Everyone, people from different countries, seems to know each other one way or another, and they all seem to be great friends with each other. It is indeed something to be proud of [Skating = World Peace (?)]

Sadly, in my country, inline skating is a taboo sport/hobby. I'm sure I could count the number of pros here with one hand. Even worse, I believe that they're solely for aggressive inline. That leaves me to believe that I'm the only one who skates freestyle/slalom in the country. This brings me to my end-goal, if I may. By joining international competitions do I want to show the fun in skating to my countrymen and women. In a way, I'm aspiring to be the ambassador for skating on behalf of the Philippines. It especially touched me when I got to meet two little boys who wanted to learn how to skate. I knew that it was possible from then on to bring skating to my country.

The real problem now is, my question, what then makes a team? Should I have any right to represent my country if I'm merely a single soul within the myriad of all others? Although everyone's really really great, and treats each other like family, I can't help but feel alienated.

Much thanks to everyone here in the forums, as well as the whole skating community. May everyone's aspirations fly with their skates! Cheers!

[jlacivita]

Hi Marc,

When i first started doing competitions, no other americans were going, so i think i understand where you're at.

The two things that really made it great for me were:

1) As soon as i found out about freestyle skating, i got in touch with my friend and said "we're doing this" Denni and i started at the same time, and we were both at the world slalom championships in singapore. (Megan also joined us, for a total of 3 americans, woo!)

2) you're already part of a team, called freestyle skaters. Really everyone was like automatically my friend just because i was into the sport. Sometimes language barriers might get in the way, but we're really just a big family in this sport, much more so than others.

So get some local interest, and pick a competition and go to it. You'll be representing your country merely by showing up, but more importantly you'll be joining a huge group of friends

Oh, http://www.battleus.com is coming up and we'd love to have you!!

[Blinx_Zypher]

Hello everyone! As always, proper introductions go first.

My name is Marc, and I'm from the Philippines. I've been skating for less than a month, but the inline freestyle/slalom community has really inspired me to push my passion (and practice) with skating to its fullest. To be honest, I don't have much tricks in my bag, and I feel quite awkward about it.

In any case, I've been going around the net reading articles and visiting forums on slalom/freestyle. Everyone, people from different countries, seems to know each other one way or another, and they all seem to be great friends with each other. It is indeed something to be proud of [Skating = World Peace (?)]

Sadly, in my country, inline skating is a taboo sport/hobby. I'm sure I could count the number of pros here with one hand. Even worse, I believe that they're solely for aggressive inline. That leaves me to believe that I'm the only one who skates freestyle/slalom in the country. This brings me to my end-goal, if I may. By joining international competitions do I want to show the fun in skating to my countrymen and women. In a way, I'm aspiring to be the ambassador for skating on behalf of the Philippines. It especially touched me when I got to meet two little boys who wanted to learn how to skate. I knew that it was possible from then on to bring skating to my country.

The real problem now is, my question, what then makes a team? Should I have any right to represent my country if I'm merely a single soul within the myriad of all others? Although everyone's really really great, and treats each other like family, I can't help but feel alienated.

Much thanks to everyone here in the forums, as well as the whole skating community. May everyone's aspirations fly with their skates! Cheers!

Don't despair Arc LineGod!I am also a Filipino skater and I sympathize with you ... Oh my name is Blinx.. My great friend Josef, for almost 9 months, are trying to scour forums and networking sites in the Net in order to find someone who can help in his goal of establishing freestyle skating in the Philippines... He experienced to be belittled and discouraged by other people because of his "long-term-not-gonna-happen-ever" goal.. He told me, that sometimes he is wondering of how watching a video of Japanese freestyle skaters in YouTube ignited his urge to bring this sport into reality here in our country. Even though he never took hold again of a pair of inline skates after his first-ever pair was damaged badly when he was 11 years old, he still see to it that he would not lose his ability of skating. He really is afraid of losing it. He is still training himself on balance beams mimicking the width size of skating frames and inventing new slalom tricks by drawing patterns on beach sand. Really, he is a one-mean-motivated person! One time, I asked him about the development of his plans and he just smiled and said," I just swallowed my pride by sending a "A Petition for Help" Mail to Mr. Sebastien Laffargue. I also requested Ms. Chloe Seyres if she could sponsor me of equipment or just find me a possible equipment sponsorship." My jaw dropped down as I heared his statement. I can't believe he did it, for REAL! Here's the link for it: http://www.facebook.com/search/?init=sr ... x/?folder=[fb]messages&page=2&tid=1135860209038

As he was always mentioning in his "A Petition for Help" e-mails: "And sir/maam, there are also young Filipino skaters posting videos trying to ignite the passion of inline slalom to viewers and it really touched me because i felt for the first time that I'm not alone in this battle for the establishment and spreading of the sport. Filipinos maybe "infants" in this kind of skating discipline but I assure you sir/maam that if, WE, Filipinos are given a chance to show what we've got against skaters from powerhouses such as South Korea, China, Malaysia, Japan, France, U.S., United Kingdom, and Russia, we could excel. For us, its not just the prize money, the trophy, the fame, and titles. It's all about national pride, uplifting the dwindling Filipino morale and spirit, and uniting the skaters all around the borders of the Philippines in pursuit of these goals: to promote skating as a freestyle sport to other parts of the globe where it is not present; camaraderie,friendship, and unity among skaters." I am always teary eyed whenever I read this. Its as if telling me to lift my head up and try my best in everything that I do, be proud of who I am, and try to stay positive whenever the shroud of uncertainty settle down upon me.

Presently, Josef and I are still contacting and reaching out to other skating sites for help in any form. And, as a common reply to our mails, we are asked why do we do this non-sense? We reply: " We are unselfishly doing this worthy action in order for other Filipino aspiring skaters to experience the thrill, excitement, and fulfillment of engaging in this skating discipline." 'Nuff said,right?

And as for me and Josef, we are not losing hope nor drive for our endeavor. We know that the One Up High (point upwards) will never let us down. We'll just have to wait for the RIGHT TIME..

Cheers! Goodluck to everyone who will be participating for the Battle U.S. this coming July!Ride with the Wind!


- Blinx & (also) Josef
Filipino FREESTYLE Skaters
The Philippines

[Arc Linegod]

Great to hear from you Blinx and Josef!

It's been over a year and progress has been slow in the north side of the country, partially due to my studies, and partially because some people seem to think of skating as deviant. Nonetheless, I am extremely happy that you guys are doing the best you can to bring our country in to the scene! I'll continue to promote skating here in Manila, likewise, I'll make your presence to the others known. Your words have inspired me to take things further. Perhaps I can get my connections to promote freestyle skating in magazines.

Also, I propose that we solidify our database of skaters in the Philippines. I suggest we divide skaters from macro to micro; from the national team to the provincial teams to the individual teams. We'll be able to track down others, and perhaps organize local events. Indeed, if we can share this passion, we can bring this camaraderie,friendship, and unity to the next level. We can learn from each other, thus further strengthening our aspirations. More so, we can break this norm of aloofness our countrymen have for these types of sports.

Thank you so much for all your efforts! I hope to hear from you both soon. Josef has my number.

Let's get ready to fly!

- Marc Acosta/Arc Linegod

[Blinx_Zypher]

Oh, its good to hear from you also Marc! No problem! We are one with you from now on. We are also trying our best to, at least, increase the awareness and exposure of the sport to the people. But our progress here in the south is also kinda slow as well since both me and Josef are also very busy with schoolwork and other academe-related activities.

I agree with your suggestion of solidifying the country's skater pool but one thing that concerns me is how do we gather them altogether since our number as practitioners of this sport could be counted by the fingers of our two hands? It would be really a difficult feat to execute. Not to mention it will require a lot of effort but most especially, a lotta hell of money. *ka-ching!*

Anyways,just this morning me and Josef talked about your suggestions and like me, he, too was dumbfounded. It took him 10 seconds to process what I said and speak again.Haha! He got a TSP (Temporary Speaking Paralysis). He told me that I think we should first concentrate in fueling up the popularity scale of the sport since it's really a fact that other skating disciplines overshadow its popularity among young skating enthusiasts. He added that maybe in a year or two, the three of us could organize an exhibition in a youth convention there in Manila which aims to let other people be aware of the existence of our discipline to slowly augment its popularity needle or we could even put up a kiosk (and eventually a business) that sells skating equipment, maintenance parts, and apparel to cater to the needs of freestyle skating practitioners. Oh god, I'm daydreaming again. But seriously, I think it really is possible and achievable, right?

And oh, Josef also would like to tell you that right now he's on the process of creating a custom-design for inline skates and he's naming it after me and your alias, BlinX and ARC.Line!

That's all for now. I hope you could keep in touch with us through this forum so that we will be able to keep ourselves updated with the scene their in the north as well as here with us in the south.

Ride with the Wind!

-BlinX & (also) Josef
Roller Spitfire Ltd. Skating Team (still tentative)
The Philippines

[Arc Linegod]

Great idea Blinx and Josef! Thanks for the honorary inline names as well!

Indeed it would be difficult to solidify if skating's popularity is at a low. I did ask my friends to spread the word though. Hopefully I'll be able to obtain a bunch of names and numbers soon. I guess our dilemma now is how to effectively advertise the sport. It usually takes an active retailer to promote and promulgate a sport. Stoked Inc. for instance, helped popularize and sponsor skateboarding and wakeboarding competitions. Hmm... that gives me an idea. Just in case I might be able to ask for support, and if they ask, what would you like to call our association as a whole? Philippine Freestyle Skaters or Filipino Freestyle Skaters sounds great. I'll also make a Facebook group for the association for easier dissemination of information. This can also serve as a directory and might help in identifying other teams.

Again, thanks so much guys!

Keep on flying~!

[Blinx_Zypher]

Your welcome... Just like Josef said, the honorary title is a positive motivator to push you through with your plans and goals. Yes, the advertisement sector of the skating discipline should be first put into consideration. Once its popularity is strengthened and firmly established, we could now go on to the next level. That is through participating in Asia-based tourneys before proceeding to the competitions that pack a lot of points for the world rankings. If we start off waves in Asia, we could potentially accelerate our chances of garnering small, much-needed rank points, popularity, experience, and oh don't forget a possible equipment sponsorship from Asian inline skates corporations and manufacturers.

Some of our future plans:
> Penetrate prominent newspapers through article contributions specifically targeting freestyle skating topics like difficulty in acquiring spare parts and equipment, the discipline's chance of penetrating the national sports scene, the BOOMing possibility of the sport in flourishing in the Philippines, and many others. (Still on the process.)

&

> Continuity of seeking of help in other forums and sending "PETITION for HELP" mails to prominent people in the skating world.


Forming a national skating association could be considered to be early at this point but giving it a try could possibly change our current situation. I give you a BIG credit for that! The association's name..? Hmmm..lemme see..

> Philippine Union of Freestyle Skaters or PUFS!----? (suggested by Josef)
> Filipino Freestyle Skaters or FFS---- (suggested by YOU. ^__^)
> Roller Spitfire, Ltd. - Philippines---- (suggested by ME! I'll stick to my favorite name..waha! )

A Facebook account will be great! It'll easify and skaterfy our contact list and the search for other individuals and/or teams across the country! BIG CREDIT! HUUUHA!


Ride with the Wind!


-BlinX & (also) Josef
Roller Spitfire, Ltd. - Philippines (tentative at the moment ^^)
The Philippines