Over 500 Roller Skaters featured at the just concluded Big Heart Sketing (BHS) club Training Workshop held at the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos.
The workshop was conducted by two experts from Canada, Alexandre Hamel and Pascale Jodoin who were in the country with their little daughter on self sponsorship.
Chatting with journalists on Saturday, Alexandre Hamel praised Nigeria Skaters for the talents, decribing them as fast, energetic and full of life unlike the Canadian skaters that practice the art as if they are dancing Jaolyn.
According him, Nigeria Skaters need space to practice their trade. They need something big like the National Art Theatre to exhibit their God given talents. Noting that there are lots of difference between the Nigeria Skaters and their Canadian counterparts.
“I saw Nigeria Skaters skills and energy. I want to help in developing them and ask well discover and build more talents. I want to teach and share my experience with them. That is my main reason for coming.
Now I have come and have seen them. We have done things together and I believe they can take it up from there. But more importantly, they should try and be collaborating together. No playing tricks on one another. They should be less individualistic but corporations and working together in unity should be the key thing.
Kingsley Kedron Nkisa, the CEO of BHS Club and executive board member of the Nigeria Roller Skate Federation, has expressed his joy over the successful staging of the programme through the support of the Canadian experts and the financial support he received from Comrade Joseph Eva.
Kedron described the two Canadians as Angels sent from above to come and help the development of Skating Sport in Nigeria as he never met them before now.
According to him, they saw his project on the internet and decided to come to Nigeria to work with him. They got his contact through a body known as the Street Project Foundation based here in Nigeria and linked up with him all the way from Canada. And today , the rest is history.
Kedron revealed that what they were practicing in Nigeria before the Canadian experts arrival was only aggressive Skating, Street Skeeting and Shalome. But today, the narrative has changed for the better.
“We have been thought other skating skills like Artistic Figure Skeeting, Synchronized Skeeting and Choreography Skeeting among others.’ Kedron said.
He expressed his confidence and believe in Alexandre Hamel, a professional Skater and his wife, Pascale, a professional Skater as well who came to Ngeria on their first visit to Africa just to develop the Roller Skating Sport in Nigeria. He said their visit cannot be a one-off thing but a partnership that had come to stay, promising to continue to work with them as long as God permits.
He used the opportunity provided to plead to corporate Nigerians and well meaning individuals to come to the aid of Roller Skating Sport in Nigeria through sponsorship.
“if foreigners can notice the abundant talents of Nigerian Skaters through the internet and rush down here to appreciate and encourage them, then how much more corporate organizations and well Nigerians. I think Nigerians can do better with their support”, he said. He added that the Canadian experts also gained knowledge from Nigerian Skaters through their interest in Africa Skating football which he ( Kedron) introduced in 2011,” he said.
Hamel participated in it, got interested and promised to take it back to Canada to establish it as he gets back home.
“Infact, he promised to form a shaking football team as soon as he gets back to Canada.”
“This means the Canadian experts also got something good from us here in Nigeria, thus making it a two way thing”. Kedron said
Meanwhile, Secretary General of Nigeria Roller Skate Federation, Philip Oyede who was excited over the successful workshop, promised that his body will continue to collaborate with anyone that wants to join in developing Skating in the country
