When: March 23, 5-7
Where: 2311 Cassiar St.
How much: $7
What: roller skating!
Why: roller skating!

Happy vernal equinox, everyone! The equinox is the moment of balance between light and dark, when daylight and night are equal.

Balance is incredibly important on roller skates. Balancing on skates is physical, of course. Your body position, your weight distribution, how push through your feet, all affect your skating tremendously. Balance on skates is also mental. When you are skating, you will fall down. You will hurt. You will get knocked for a loop, more often than you think. Mental balance, the ability to adjust to circumstances, change course, learn from mistakes, shrug off pain (but know when to quit to allow injuries to heal!) and retain focus in a chaotic atmosphere is vital for skaters.

This session will focus on balance—both physical and mental. Mwahahahahaha. I mean, come join us! You will learn roller skating basics, and few crazy moves too.

Don’t forget! Our Schedule Changes in April

Raw Meat Roller Skating will meet at Thunderbird Community Centre, 2311 Cassiar St., every Saturday from 5-7 until April 13 (that’s the TCRG session opener—no Raw Meat, go watch the game!). Starting on April 20, we’ll meet on Saturdays at Royal City Curling Club, 75 East 6th Avenue in New Westminster. There will be an advanced session from 10-12, and an all-levels welcome session from 12:30-2:30. The advanced session will require skills testing.

Watch this site for more info over the next few weeks. You will need to sign up for the skills testing. A sign-up form and more information will be coming soon. (I did promise to have all this ready this week, but life intervened. Speaking of mental balance, did I mention that my house sprung a leak? Good times).

What you’ll learn at Raw Meat Vancouver Roller Skating:

We’ll cover the basics of roller skating, including stops, falls, agility drills, skating form, roller skating in proximity with others, a few fun tricks, and some (non-contact) roller derby strategy drills.

All levels of roller skater, including beginners, are welcome. We’ll help beginners learn to skate, and give more advanced skaters some fun drills and games.

What to bring:

You must have roller skates, and all safety gear: knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmet, and mouth guard. The venue also requires everyone to use white or light-coloured, non-marking toe stoppers. If your knee pads are black, please cover them with white, non-marking hockey tape. Vertical strips of tape work best.

Sessions are $7, and take place every Saturday from 5-7 at Thunderbird Community Centre, 2311 Cassiar St. In late April, we move to Saturday mornings at the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster.

Sessions are drop-in. Just grab your gear and come join us!

The rules:

Raw Meat has two rules: 1. Be Safe, 2. Don’t be an asshat. All sessions are non-contact.