The Skate Instructors Association (Skate IA) is an organization that certifies passionate participants of “small-wheeled sports” to effectively teach inline skating, roller skating and skateboarding. While skating certification itself has been around in various iterations for years, the Easter Bunny has just delivered the newly hatched Skate IA member web site http://skateia.org/.
Curious about certification? Here are Skate IA’s current skate instructor examination programs. For a quick video overview of the teaching components for several basic skills, see demonstrations by Skate IA Director and owner of Skate Journeys Skate School, Trish Alexander.
Level 1 Certification. The basic certification gives you the tools to learn the Teaching Model, some physiology, how to ensure a safe environment, how to break down the 5 key skills and learning true skate technique. There are three exams: written, skills and teaching. More info>>
Level 2 Certification. Utilizes the Teaching Model for advanced learning from a technical perspective. Copious time is spent on solving common student issues. Also includes teaching to a wider variety of students such as adults, kids, and differing learning abilities. There are three exams: written, skills and teaching. More info>>
Grace on Skates. Technical learning. Whether a person is a racer, a slalom skater or an artistic skater, grace can be found as long as the skater is efficient. This course will review basic moves and help you relearn them for perfect technique and efficiency. From there, more and more challenging moves are added so attendees can see the common threads from basic through advanced moves. Particular attention is paid to Form, Edging and Rotation. This will be open not just to instructors but to all skaters who want to take their skating to the next level. More info>>
Skateboard Certification. See www.skateboardia.org for details. It’s new, it’s great, it’s about time!
Ready to roll? Check the 2011 schedule to find out when a weekend certification course will be coming to a city near you. If nothing is close enough with a minimum of four instructor candidates, you can arrange your own certification weekend with Skate IA Director Trish (see the Contacts page) .
