My first glimpse of inline speed skating at Toronto Inline Skating Club (TISC) was a strange mix of equal parts awe and intimidation. Obviously, the fact that I am telling my story means I was not scared away. After standing around the track for a whole evening, I came to a few conclusions. First, I felt self conscious to even share the same track with these serious athletes. Would my clumsiness get in their way? Would I ever be good enough to be part of the club? Would I need to buy new skates? And a new wardrobe too?
By the end of the evening, I was most certain my brand new ugly helmet would spend the rest of its life sitting in the Closet Of Forgotten Sports Equipment. That was until skaters walked up to me and started chatting.
“You’re coming back next practice with your skates, right?”
“You have to check out this magazine about inline skating. Here, take a copy. I’ll see you at the next practice, okay?”
“We’re having our end of year party next week. Why don’t you come by? With your skates?”
The message was clear even though they had no idea how slow I was compared to them. In all fairness, it was hard to refuse their enthusiastic invite, if only to prove that I did not belong. In hindsight, a healthy dose of social pressure from complete (though friendly) strangers changed the course of my life.
I count myself lucky in many ways. Somehow, good things always happen at the right time to give me the best chance to succeed. Fortune played an important part too when I filed my paper to become an official member of Toronto Inline Skating Club. Within a month, the club gained a group of new adult skaters. Our fitness and competency on skates were all over the map but we were all new to speed skating. From day one, coach Eric was assigned to our group to teach us how to skate. Our ragtag group in cushy rec skates had our own program, drills for technique and agility, and pack skating practice. Most importantly, we had coaching attention in a safe environment. I no longer felt like I was intruding on the very important training that other skaters were occupied with. I had no idea at the time that such learning opportunity was rare among adult skaters in North America. I was so preoccupied with the challenge of mastering a drill that the tears eventually dried up. Never underestimate the excitement of new friendships and a new sport that welcomed me with open arms.
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