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Few sports events can match the head-to-head excitement of a roller speed race. It's a sport everyone can readily understand - racing - where the gold medals and trophies go to those who skate the fastest. When people are first introduced to the sport they are usually surprised by the sheer numbers as well as the enthusiasm found at competitions.

The fastest skaters in the world are members of USA Roller Skating. Regardless of age, these speed skaters share a determination to race as fast and as far as they can. This youthful enthusiasm is matched by the sport, which demands a blend of quickness, stamina and strategy.

It's fun, exciting, healthy, social and rewarding. The benefits, however, go beyond winning. Skaters learn the importance of teamwork, of being persistent and organized, and of setting and reaching goals. It builds strength and discipline, while teaching the value good sportsmanship.

USA Roller Skating speed skating is a non-contact sport, requiring skaters to display the skill to maneuver cleanly through the pack and into winning position. Skaters are disqualified for pushing, blocking, forcing another racer out of position, or using their arms, legs, or hands in any way which impedes the progress of other competitors. For added safety skaters are also required to wear approved helmets with the chin strap fastened during competition.

The amateur competitive roller skating programs of the USA Roller Skating have been in place since 1937, training talented skaters into the best in the world. Today USA Roller Skating membership exceeds 32,000 skaters in the three branches of the sport--speed skating, artistic skating and roller hockey. These members, in turn, belong to more than 1,100 amateur skating clubs across the United States.

In addition to promoting roller sports nationwide, USA Roller Skating organizes and facilitates opportunities for competitive roller skating by:

• registering and educating skaters and clubs, and certifying judges and officials;
• providing insurance for competing skaters, coaches, and for sanctioned competitions;
• program and competition rules development;
• conducting seminars for skaters and coaches;
• approving requests for amateur roller sports competitions;
• hosting regional and national championship competitions;
• and selecting and training USA skaters for international competitions.

When deciding whether to become a USA Roller Skating skater, there are many things to consider. You want to be sure that you are entering a program that can provide you optimal education, competition, safety and fun. USA Roller Skating meets all of these needs, through:

• participation in competitive authorized events, including exhibitions and roller skating shows, which could lead to national and world titles;
• certified coaches that are, without question, the best in the world;
• secondary insurance protection - $25,000 medical and $1,000 dental coverage.
• local and national sport development seminars;
• opportunities to develop friendships across the country and around the world;
• guidelines on how meets are to be run, including certified officials to help assure safe meet conditions and fair competition;
• published rules and regulations so that everyone has a fair chance;
• two free issues of U.S. Roller Skating magazine, containing official notice of USA Roller Skating board actions and rule changes;
• opportunities to hold office with USA Roller Skating and local clubs, and to become a commissioned official.

To take advantage of these benefits and become registered members, skaters may join independently through a club in their area. A $25 membership fee permits participation in any sanctioned meet, regional or national championships for the competitive season from September 1st through August 31st.

In order to give athletes the best opportunities for participation in artistic skating, roller hockey or speed skating at the skate center and in competition with other clubs, find out if your local rink has an official USA Roller Skating club charter. It's USA Roller Skating that gives a club written, official permission to compete with other clubs and protects skaters from unsafe competition.

Each chartered club becomes part of one of nine USA Roller Skating Regional Associations. Clubs have a vote in USA Roller Skating regional concerns, and club members have a direct, individual voice in discussions about competitive skating through their regional association. The USA Roller Skating Regional Association approves the officials selected for the regional championships and accepts bids for hosting this prestigious competition. Skaters who succeed at any of these nine regional championships advance to the national championships.

A USA Roller Skating club is eligible for membership in regional and/or state associations as well as more localized leagues. Through these affiliates, your club is entitled to participate and vote on issues on a local and national level. Within the region, inter-club and invitational meets can also be organized, eventually paving the road to possible leagues of teams who host regular competitions. Many of the regions also offer the opportunity for additional recognition through awards banquets held at the conclusion of each season. These local competitions culminate in a regional championship each year, from which skaters progress to the national level and possibly on to the international level.

Your club will also receive a bi-monthly issue (except August) of U.S. Roller Skating, the official magazine of USA Roller Skating. This magazine contains timely and informative news on roller skating such as a calendar of events, competitive results, sports medicine articles, judges information, competitive requirements, official notices and feature stories. Individual skaters are invited to subscribe at a cost of $12 per year.

In addition, roller hockey clubs will receive the monthly newsletter, Powerplay. Filled with up-to-date tips, competition results, informative articles and up-coming events, it holds the bond of communication between other USA Roller Skating hockey clubs across the country.

Many communities can take advantage of USA Roller Skating clubs in the area by targeting other programs that have already attracted people of all ages. Opportunities include a cooperative arrangement with a local school's physical education class, or helping a youth group find alternative activities for its members. Local parks and recreation departments often will offer to promote the program as well as handle registration.

A Junior Olympic program is an excellent way to begin a competitive program. Often times getting a Junior Olympic club going is a simple matter of redefining a rink's existing beginners or novice skating programs. Not only does a Junior Olympic club give the skaters a chance to start from the beginning with basic moves and techniques, but they'll be competing against skaters of similar abilities. The resulting confidence encourages skaters to move even closer to a senior competitive program.

The Junior Olympic program also shares many of the benefits enjoyed by skaters in a Senior USA Roller Skating program, such as insurance benefits and participation in competitions.

When a skater is ready to move onto the more advanced Senior, or Standard level of competition, things will be structured in a similar fashion. Competition is at a more advanced level, making the challenge to skate even more exciting.

In-line skates have a permanent home in speed skating events throughout the world. Not only are in-lines popular among recreational skaters, the design's dominance over traditional quad skates in speed skating competitions has prompted USA Roller Skating to create separate divisions in sanctioned meets. In 1996, the USA Roller Skating Board of Directors also divided the two methods into separate national championships. Recognizing its impact on the sport, USA Roller Skating also successfully lobbied the Federation International de Roller Skating (FIRS) to permit in-lines in international competition. This led to in-lines making their debut at the 1992 World Speed Championships. Now in-lines are the sole skate type in use for international competitions sponsored by the FIRS.

Although the sport is at home in a variety of locales, the two basic USA Roller Skating (USARS) divisions are for indoor and outdoor events.

Indoor skating uses a 100-meter oval track in individual and relay events. (Smaller tracks can be used for rinks not able to safely accomodate a 100 meter track. USA Roller Skating will help with this determination.) In both events, distances and divisions are determined by the age groups. In individual events champions are determined by the points they earn in the final races of each distance skated.

As in individual divisions, relay teams qualify to skate at the U.S. Championships by having placed among the top three teams in the relay's division at their respective regional championships or be a defending champion.

Relay events are divided into four divisions and may be skated by teams of either two or four skaters. There are also separate divisions for quad and in-line skates in relays. The relay races include events for teams of four men, four women and four mixed (two men and two women). Two person relays are comprised of two men, two women and two-mixed (one man and one woman). The distance and number of laps skated by each team member are determined by age and gender.

In the U.S., a national indoor title is one of the most prestigious honors a speed skater may earn. It can only be obtained by accumulating points in a series of races over a variety of distances. The process towards determining a champion in each division begins with the elimination races or heats for each distance. These nerve-testers are followed by a pair of rounds from which only six skaters emerge to battle for the top three final placements. Athletes have the opportunity to race at the Indoor Speed Skating National Championships, provided they qualify at one of the nine Regional levels first.

In order to hold an official meet with clubs outside of the host facility a club needs formal written permission from USA Roller Skating, or, in other words, a sanction. When USA Roller Skating issues this permission, it means the competition will be conducted fairly, safely, and in compliance with USA Roller Skating rules of the sport. For their own protection, skaters should never compete in meets that are not sanctioned. Specific guidelines concerning sanctions are outlined in the General Rules manual.

Coaches are encouraged to join the USA Roller Skating Coaching Program, a service that involves a variety of education and certification levels. Coaches benefit from knowing that they have the resources to be the best in their field. Skaters are certain to receive the very best training, while rink operators enjoy the benefits from having a fully-qualified professional taking charge of the competitive program and possibly send skaters on to regional and national championships.

Benefits of the program include training programs and continuing coach's education,$25,000 accident/injury insurance while coaching in a registered USA Roller Skating club facility or a sanctioned competition; and free liability insurance while coaching in a registered seminar. It also gives the privilege of coaching recognition by the U.S. Olympic Committee, eligibility for commissions as an official without additional fees, and eligibility to be a club officer in any discipline.

Registered USA Roller Skating coaches are also provided free of charge National Governing Body technical manuals, including distribution of General Rules and appropriate discipline teaching manuals, recognition pins for championship achievement, and a subscription to the official USA Roller Skating magazine, U.S. Roller Skating, and the bi-monthly coaching newsletter Roller Skating Coach.

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