When I started learning to roller skate, it took me weeks to stop clinging to the walls. I was terrified of these strange, slippery things I had strapped to my feet. Several times, small children stopped to ask me why I was so bad. They had never seen an adult look so ridiculous before.

I gradually learned to let go of the wall, and I even managed to plow stop. T-stops took me months of practice to master. Crossovers were worse—it was six months before I could reliably do a cross over, and I didn’t get really good at them for a year or more.

There were many bumps (quite literally!) along the road of learning to roller skate. I fell on my ass many times. I fell badly on my tailbone, which zinged for months. My knees were not happy with this crazy new sport I picked up. Yet, slowly, I got better.

Considering it was so hard to learn to skate, why did I keep going?

Roller-skating is fun.

That’s all. It’s a very simple reason. That’s why I still skate, and why I help other people learn to skate. No matter where you are starting from, I guarantee that if you just keep it up, you will have the time of your life while roller-skating.

No matter how uncoordinated you (think you) are, you can learn to skate. Everyone’s body is different, and skills will come to people at different rates. Some people strap on skates for the first time, and look like professionals within a few hours. There are more than a few skaters who have taken months, if not years, to master the simplest skating maneuvers, but who kept practicing, week after week, and are now among the top roller derby players in the world.

Everyone who comes to Raw Meat is at a different level of ability. No matter where you are, the drills can always be made easier or harder, depending on what you need to focus on. If you need to just focus on staying upright, that’s great place to start. If you want to step it up, and practice something fancy, please do! Wherever you are at in your skating journey, please come by and have some fun with us.

When, where and what to bring:

Raw Meat Vancouver Roller Skating meets every Saturday from 5-7 PM at Thunderbird Community Centre, 2311 Cassiar St., Vancouver. Sessions are $7.

All skaters must have: roller skates, helmet, mouth guard, wrist guards, elbow pads, and kneepads. Your toe stoppers must be white or light coloured, and black kneepads should be covered with white tape. This is to protect the floor at our venue.

We just have two rules: 1. Be Safe. 2. Don’t be an ass-hat.

See you Saturday!