00:00 Roller skating for me is very magical and whenever I skate I feel like I'm a
00:05 different person I feel like I'm a more confident version of who I am.
00:09 Every time I skate I feel like all my problems disappear and I just feel pure happiness.
00:16 Roller skating in totality is a sport and aside from that being a sport
00:27 roller skating is an expression it's a place where everybody could just become
00:32 a kid again. It is an avenue for people to connect and express themselves in so
00:36 many other ways. We started at least 500 members last year in the group and now
00:41 we're at least 8,000 more and growing strong. When the pandemic struck there's
00:46 a lot of people who were clamoring for something to express and do and I
00:50 believe that roller skating was an avenue for a lot of us even me to be
00:54 able to release all those frustrations those anger and angst when it came to
00:59 the whole pandemic.
01:00 Roller skating was a boom in the 70s up to 90s. I'm a 90s kid so I fell in love with roller skating.
01:08 So that was my first love. So if they say first love in sports, it's true.
01:14 I was the one who made it real.
01:16 Fast track to the 90s up to 2000. There were a lot of kids who were
01:21 driving on the streets, on the highway, in accidents. So there were ordinances to ban
01:27 inline skating, rollerblading in the streets. And the problem was we have lack of
01:34 facilities, skate parks, open spaces, safe spaces for skaters. So there was a problem
01:41 that other kids were not given the chance to skate.
01:46 Maybe some of the kids while growing up didn't find it easy to practice the sport
01:52 because there was no facility. So maybe some of them decided that I'll quit skating
01:58 but it didn't die because there were a lot of other cultures like aggressive inline skating.
02:05 Then there were other coaches who still skated shifted to ice skating because at that time
02:11 ice skating became a boom in SM. So what happened since it's a trend in the Philippines
02:18 to have ice skating. The hype that a lot of the parents would want their kids to practice
02:24 figure skating instead of rollerblading on the streets.
02:29 So that's the comparison with the time shift paradigm.
02:33 The underground scene of aggressive inline skating is still alive.
02:38 It's not just mainstream because it's prohibited. So there are a lot of ordinances
02:43 prohibiting skating at this place, at that place.
02:46 Eastsiders Roller Skaters, we actually met from our umbrella group called Everywhere We Skate PH.
02:58 We want to locally invite the skaters since geographically we are near each other.
03:04 So that it's not so intimidating once you get to skate outdoors.
03:08 Most of us are from the east side of the metro. There's Antipolo, Marikina, Pasig, Cainta.
03:13 So there, the ones at the end, the result part.
03:16 Skating usually is very intimidating for all those newbies.
03:21 So they feel shy when they skate outside.
03:25 So we bring them along and we try to teach them the basics
03:30 so that it's safe for them to skate outdoors.
03:34 It's really fun when you skate outdoors and you get the endorphins in.
03:39 And most especially right now, it's a pandemic and everyone's mental state is kind of low.
03:45 So roller skating really helps in that aspect.
03:49 Every time I skate, I feel like all my problems disappear.
03:53 Because it really disappears.
03:56 And I just feel pure happiness when I glide.
04:00 Whether it's trail skating, city skating, or even dancing on skates.
04:07 That brings me a lot of joy in my life right now in this pandemic.
04:12 The fashion in roller skating is really diverse because others really want to look good as well while skating.
04:18 Because it really brings them confidence.
04:21 Here in my roller disco rink, you can see them wearing disco clothes.
04:27 There are also people who like to wear sporty attire since this is a sport.
04:32 And you really want to be comfortable in skating.
04:36 So there are people wearing jogging pants, leggings, boys wearing t-shirts.
04:49 The Roller Sports Union is a group of coaches and experts in the field of roller sports.
04:56 There are a lot of fields in roller sports.
04:59 Aside from skateboarding, there are 11 fields in the discipline.
05:02 There's speed skating, hockey, artistic, derby, and jam.
05:12 Which we are inclined to do skating and dancing.
05:16 A lot of institutions and places here in the Philippines are not aware of what roller skates are.
05:22 And they always tag us as dangerous.
05:25 They do not allow us in other spaces.
05:27 We can't even practice in closed spaces where people without skates are allowed.
05:33 I think that kind of discrimination stems from a lack of education about roller sports.
05:43 One of the challenges we have in the skating community is having a decent place to skate.
05:49 A skate park, a venue like this one, a rink, or any other safe place where we can practice and learn things related to skating.
06:01 I can say that the government hasn't recognized us for the past decade.
06:06 Until Asian Games, SEA Games, and Olympics were held.
06:13 It became a birth for our Filipino culture and other countries to welcome the Philippines as a legit country.
06:22 Where there are athletes, especially Marjolaine, who is good at skateboarding.
06:26 Since I was part of the NSA before, we really had a hard time convincing the government.
06:33 That Filipinos are good at skateboarding, we will have gold.
06:37 It was a long lobby, it was really hard.
06:40 But as you can see, the Philippines is in the Olympics now.
06:44 And in the SEA Games, we won a lot of medals.
06:48 Other people are showing that us Filipinos can do more if we support skateboarding.
06:55 That's why we need to have more skate parks.
06:58 Because most skate parks are privately owned.
07:02 So for that, I request our government to support skaters, to give us skate parks.
07:08 Not just basketball courts, because there are so many basketball courts everywhere.
07:14 But skate parks, come on.
07:17 There are only a few skate parks that you can count on your hands and feet.
07:21 And that's what we need as a community.
07:23 We're growing, we're thriving, we're bringing in medals from the Olympics,
07:27 from other legit Olympic Games, sports, SEA Games, Asian Games.
07:32 So it's about time that the government support this community.
07:36 [Music]
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07:51 Thank you for watching.
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