Visakhapatnam: After kabaddi, now skating enthusiasts too have something to cheer about. In a bid to promote and popularise the game among children and youngsters, various skating clubs in Andhra Pradesh will organise Artistic Skating Premier League (ASPL) in Vizag city from July23 to August 14 at Sivaji Park Skating Rink (SPSR).
The inaugural session of the ASPL held on Saturday evening at Sivaji Park resounded with the loud cheers of the skaters and the practice session will continue till July 22.
Speaking to newsmen here on Saturday, secretary of SPSR, Mahendra Tated said that skaters from various districts of AP will participate in the event which is being held for the first time. For the inaugural chapter of ASPL, four teams and 72 players with 18 players, including a few international skaters in each team under various age categories would participate.
The four teams are named after the different types of wheels in Roller Skating, Pavan's Gladiators, Satyam's Mustangs, Chitti's Heliums and Simhadri's Panthers.
The teams will be coached by Pavan Akula, P. Satyam, K. Chitti Babu and Simhadri respectively.
The ASPL is an ideal occasion for junior skaters as they will get a chance to interact, practice, involve, observe and learn along with national and international level skaters, which will in turn boost their confidence levels and develop Artistic Skating in the state.
Andhra Pradesh has always won the Artistic Championship Trophy for every national event conducted by Roller Skating Federation of India.
The organisers expressed that after bifurcation, it was challenging to retain the past glory.
In the last nationals, Andhra Pradesh bagged the Artistic Skating Championship Trophy at the National Championship event held in Ahmedabad of Gujarat.
ASPL will help in developing and honing the technical and artistic presentation skills of the skaters, which will in turn help the state of Andhra Pradesh to retain the Championship.
“It will be unfair if we do not mention that in the upcoming selection trials for ASIAN and WORLD Championship, approximately 10-12 skaters will participate from our state alone, wherein the total number is 35-40 skaters. This brings pride to Andhra Pradesh,” they added.
