Re: Terrible Introduction to Short Track

After posting my introduction to short track article, I received many email responses.  Some encouraged me to remove the article from this website.  I have thought about it.  In hindsight of posting it, I suppose it had the subtlety and delicacy of a gang rape.  Some thought it was funny, and sent me a note to say “haha” or something to the effect.  Some spoke of the larger issue at hand; the short sightedness of the short track community.  It is to this end I would like to comment further.  It has been an interesting subject to talk about, and I have decided to post one email response in particular and my reply, that speaks of the segregation of inliners from other athletes in ST.  I think this is a real issue, especially in Southern Ontario.  It think it is a shame that there is not more cooperation between these two disciplines of the SAME sport.  I think that if there was, both would benefit.  The skater who sent me this email asked that his name and address be removed, which is really too bad, since it is further evidence of the problem in ST.  I know that as a coach, I could help alot of the ST skaters in SO with training …AND technique.  Imagine that.  That’s right, I know a thing or two that would actually help ST skaters with techinque in the straights AND corners. Novel idea.  Don’t get me started on tactics, strategy and racing…

Here is the original email:

—–Original Message—–
From: [name removed] [address removed]
Sent: December 26, 2006 11:35 PM
To: aaronarndt@gmail.com
Subject: Insight on Ice Article

Hey,
I Don’t know if you remember me, This is [name removed], Started inlining last outdoor season.I really would love to make it out to some of your indoor practices, but just find I don’t have the time.Anyways, the point of this message is to discuss the article you posted about going to a ice speed skating practice. I felt the same way, When I, for the first time started Ice speed skating, I felt and still kind of do feel a little unwelcome at the [club name removed]. I feel that inliners are discriminated against when they make the switch to ice. I find the cause of this is many of the parents are upset when ice skaters who have been racing for only one season (who originally train for inline) will bump their son/daughter out of qualifing when they have 4/5 years of skating.I think I know the feeling you were trying to portray and make the point of how important it is to make a new skater feel welcome and not push them away as you never know how they will be able to perform once given the oppurtunity.

Hi [name removed]! First, thank you very much for the feedback on the article. It is really rewarding to know that they are being read and enjoyed by my peers. I of course remember you through inline, and I leave for Florida tomorrow morning with Missy and her family. Regarding your experience on the ice, I would just like to say that you used a powerful, and very appropriate word to describe your experience. While I cannot say that during my incident I was discriminated against (Mr. O’Donnell never took the time to even find out that I was an inliner), I do think that this is a very real, and ongoing problem in the short track community, especially in the Southern Ontario region, including some of the very skaters that I coach on inlines. Frankly, it disgusts me, and I am sorry that you have to deal with such discrimination on a regular basis. I hope that you can take some comfort in the fact that this only speaks of the prospect that you indeed (as well as other inliners) threaten the status quo of athletic hierarchy in the local ST scene. It shows that you (inliners) are deserving high regard of your athletic potential in ST.Also, you should know that the entire US ST team has some amount of inline background, as well as the majority of the Canadian national team, and the Korean national ST team.In short, the outlook of inline skating, athlete development, the sharing of athletic resources, cross-training, and the sport model as a whole that the ST sport model has adopted is 100% backwards.

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