DURING the Covid-19 lockdown, people were forced to come up with creative ways to free their minds and stay mentally healthy. Some took up at-home craft projects, some threw themselves into baking and cooking and some found fulfilment in recreational activities. One such activity that made a massive resurgence was roller skating.
Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok were buzzing with viral roller skating videos.
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For some Durban residents, taking up lessons at Durban-based roller skating school, Hop, Skip & Skate, has been a life-changing experience.
Morningside resident Amy Wyatt, a member of the Durban Roller Derby League, said roller skating and rollerblading are both great forms of exercise.
“It provides a great cardio workout for the body. I’ve been roller skating since I was eight and doing roller derby as a competitive sport since 2020. And I’m in it for the cardio!” said Wyatt.
Wyatt says that roller derby is a competitive sport in which players compete on quad skates on an oval track. “Roller derby is not for the faint-hearted, but I can say that you will have a great time!” she said.
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A member of the professional inline skating club, the Durban High Rollers, Luthando Ngqulunga, joined Hop, Skip & Skate at the start of 2020 and says that it has introduced him to new people.
“I’ve met a lot of new people – there’s a huge Durban roller skating community that I wasn’t aware of,” said Ngqulunga.
Ngqulunga is a skilled roller skater and now glides through the promenade with ease, however, he says he didn’t start out that way and offers his advice to first-timers: “You shouldn’t be afraid to fall – eventually, you will get it right and feel the freedom of skating.”
Learning from scratch
New to roller skating, Aaliyah Jacobs says she’s still getting the knack of it but is learning with the help of her boyfriend, Yaseen Ebrahims, and the Hop, Skip & Skate roller skating school.
“I usually come to the promenade; I love the fresh air. The times that I wasn’t afraid and I forgot about being scared, I enjoyed the feeling of being free and floating through the air. I hope to eventually improve, but the lessons are really helpful!”
The Hop, Skip & Skate roller skating school is run by Durban resident and Durban Roller Derby member Vicky Kettle. “Hop, Skip & Skate roller skating school brings the Durban roller skating community together so that you never have to skate alone. We empower and support skaters by teaching,” she said.
Local roller skaters from the Durban skating scene met with the Berea Mail on Durban’s scenic promenade to showcase some of the cool tricks you can learn through the Durban-based roller skating school.
Watch here:
To book a skating lesson, contact Vicky Kettle on 074 429 1466 or email hopskipskate@gmail.com.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za). At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations. 
