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About: Facility, Club, Sports, and BackgroundsAbout the Facility Fun Nation is a recreational roller rink with an excellent wood floor and poly coating (last coat: October 2024) and a long-time official roller sports training facility. The family that owns Fun Nation (the Torries) have owned and operated their facility (indoor rink) for 60+ years and each has their own elite athletic and former coaching experience in their own roller sports: Frank Torries (Hockey and Speed), Debbie Torries née Thibodeaux (Figure and Speed), and Danika Torries (Speed). Today, Roller Louisiane is proud to carry About the Club Roller Louisiane ("RL") is a USA Roller Sports club hosted by Fun Nation (rink and sports facility) in Lafayette, Louisiana. Our club has two official sports—Speed skating and Figure skating aka artistic—and is led by with two professional coaches, each of whom specializes in one of two roller sports associated with our club: Figure aka artistic and Speed Skating. each of which is led by its own head coach—Brian for Figure and Jenna for Speed. Each sport offers a host of disciplines,
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Learning EnvironmentIf you've ever skated a public session, you may remember the colorful overhead lights, music by a DJ, and other around you enjoying the arcade and interior play area. For our classes, we use softer overhead lighting, low music, and all other attractions are closed to mitigate visual and auditory distractions. Example 1 of 3 Public Sessions Example 2 of 2 Figure Class Environment (Brian) Saturdays 10-11 AM Example 2 of 2 Speed Class Environment (Jenna) Wednesdays & Saturdays 6-7:30 PM
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Roller Culture & Important TipsRoller skating is a hobby you'll find the world over being enjoyed by people of all ages. For us and others, it is also a rite a passage, like learning to swim and learning to ride a bike. For hobbyists, you'll find skating on quads and inlines, indoors and outdoors, and on flat surfaces as well as in skate parks. For traveling enthusiasts, you'll find completely different roller norms (and skating styles) as you travel city to city, culture to culture, and country to country. Nevertheless, there are indeed some global rules. Fore example, you should always save and use indoor equipment whenever skating indoors, save outdoor equipment for outdoor surfaces; never carry a child while wearing roller skates; the floor is skates-only (never walk or run on the floor with socks or shoes for any reason); never bring or chew gum while in a rink; respect and follow the flow of the crowd; and perhaps most importantly: the fastest skaters fill out the outer ring of the rink, so look left and right before you step on the floor.
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TECH: What about skates?BUYING EQUIPMENT Before you buy equipment, please consult with our head coach. Our ProShop has options for everyone, whether you continue training with us (as an athlete) or continue enjoying skating as a non-athlete class alumni. NO EQUIPMENT No problem! If you don't have skates, rentals are included. EXISTING EQUIPMENT If you have inline skates, you will have to wear rentals during class. Inlines are either too basic—meaning, too simple and they'll hold you back—or too specialized, such as equipment made for speed/inline hockey skates. The elements you'll learn require proper tools and rentals will do the job until (if) you buy real skates. If you have quad skates, the wheels need to roll freely for at least 5 seconds or your bearings are holding you back. Rentals will do the job and a coach can help you with determining next steps prior to the start of class. EXISTING OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT If the student has already worn your equipment outdoors, it'll be immediately noticeable by our coach because your wheels will be gummy and not roll well. You always need to keep outdoor equipment separate of your indoor equipment. Replace your wheels and bearings before you skate indoors. Our classes take place on a large (175' x 65'), expensively maintained wooden floor with a polyurethane coat made for everyone from the general public to elite athletes. Your outdoor skates, especially the wheels, can carry debris in the tread that damages the floor, slows you down considerably, and could make other athletes/skaters trip. Rentals will do the job during classes.
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What comes after classes?Some skaters come to classes to learn to skate. Some come to learn more advanced skills, such as backwards or turns. Some come as an activity for themselves and/or their kids to do in their non-English language (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese) or they're visiting Lafayette/Bâton-Rouge and joining us for the same reason. Some come because they believe learning to skate is as much a rite of passage as learning to ride a bike. Prior to graduation, you'll know. Some skaters come to classes and one day they fall in love with it. Some already loved it. Skating classes are a sampling of Roller Sports, particularly a survey of the foundations of roller sports and roller figure skating. Nearly all club members, except Patrick Doyle, are former Bilingual Skating Class graduates. When you graduate, you will participate in a ceremony where we recognize your commitment and development, during which you will be confirmed a club graduate or class graduate. ABOUT OUR CLUB All membre-athlètes (MAs) of Roller Louisiane are MAs of USA Roller Sports. Most compete, so do not. All club members are required to register with USA Roller Sports and complete SafeSport training if required by age (18+). All club members wear proper practice attire and coach-approved, athlete-level appropriate equipment for all practices/training (non-competitive) and all travel or competition (local and beyond). Here's an example of the equipment available in Le Dép (our online pro-shop) February 1, 2023.
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Our Disciplines + Clips & LinksIntroduction Our coaches train athletes in all artistic disciplines—from figures & loops, solo and team dance, to freestyle and pairs, as well as quartet and show. You can learn more about the various disciplines and subdisciplines with USARS at USARollerSports.org and international or World Skate disciplines at WorldSkate.org. Sport: Roller Figure Skating (USARS) or Artistic (WorldSkate) Disciplines: Figures, Loops, Dance, Freestyle, Pairs, Groups, Show Circle Figures Colloquially known as Figures, Circle Figures is one of roller sports' oldest disciplines and are performed on 6m circles. Check it out: Loops The smaller cousin of Figures, the even called Loops uses 2m circles, with or without tracing the loop (crown) of the Loop Circle/Figure. Check it out: Solo Dance There are several forms and layers to getting a complete education in dance: compulsories, original dance ("OD"), and freedance. Example 1: Solo Dance Compulsories Here's an 2nd example of a freedance by #TeamUSA's Nicole Leonard, now Nicole Fiore, in Portimão, Portugal, competing in Solo Dance when it came onto the world scene—as an official world-level event. Nicole continues today via her YouTube channel (90k subscribers!): @ThatNicoleFiore. Team Dance Pedro Walgode and Anna Walgode (Portugal) Asunción, Paraguay (2022) Freeskating (Freestyle) Also known colloquially as Singles the jumps and spins clearly show technical superiority over ice skating's approach, time and time again. The old adage holds true: It's twice as nice without the ice. Here is our world champion, Rebecca Tarlazzi (Italy) in Buenos Aires's Olympic Park, in 2022. Note: This video has sound, but due to the crowd's intense cheering, is muted in the beginning and end. Brava! #Italia Pairs Get ready for a treat folks, here's Rebecca again—this time, winning her gold medal in Pairs with her partner, Luca Lucaroni. This 2022 program was hailed as the best program ever skated, though in our opinion, Venerucci and Palazzi-Rossi's long program in Massachusetts (2000) is truly superior. Opinion aside, this is not to be missed. Following this program, Rebecca and Luca were also awarded citizenship in Argentina to attract talent as coaches when they're ready. The King (re) and Queen (regina) of Pairs: Patrick Venerucci, Beatrice Palazzi-Rossi Quartet Colloquially and historically known as Fours (in the US), Quartet is one of the newest disciplines on the world scene. Check it out: Show Argentina's prowess as a world power is evident in Millenium and its multi-decade reign as world champions. This is one of the best programs in this discipline's history as skated by their hometown heroes in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2022).
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PathsIntroduction Roller Louisiane's Membre-Athlètes (MAs) may choose from three paths in our Club program. All MAs must meet our Club's Standard Requirements and continue their learning through group and private lessons with our coach(es). We allow our MAs to change/switch their paths to meet their yearly goals and life circumstances. CMA • Competitive MAs ​Competitive MAs train, test, and compete; CMAs are of all ages and came to us as class graduates or "current" athletes who transfer to our club. CMAs train regularly on weeknights and Saturday mornings—whenever we hold private practices (see: Calendar). CMAs train, test, and compete in local, regional, national, and when eligible: international competitions. TMA • Training MAs Training MAs train and test; TMAs approach their journey through roller sports as seriously as CMAs without competing. However, without experience in competition, TMAs are not eligible for our apprenticeship program and in our club, TMAs are not allowed to participate in partner events such as pairs (2 athletes), team dance (2 athletes), quartet (4 athletes), and show (multiple athletes and large groups). However, TMAs may decide to serve as consultants to athletes who are coming up and preparing for testing centers that TMAs have already passed, provided the TMA maintains a current status with our NGBs and IGBs. JMAs • Junior MAs Junior MAs train and test; JMAs are ages 5-9 and class graduates who—for any number of reasons—need to take a slower, less demanding approach to roller sports and are therefore taking their training as seriously as one may approach seasonal tee-ball, baseball, dance, and gymnastics. JMAs are required to train and test but do not train for regionals (Memorial Day weekend) and Nationals (2nd half of July) each year. After graduating from our class program, JMAs learn advanced skills appropriate for shows and exhibitions.
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Onboarding & RequirementsIntroduction Roller skating is an activity, a hobby, for all ages—since the 1760s. Roller Sports build off of your love for skating into a career as an athlete and someday: coach, judge, and/or official. Onboarding helps you kick off your journey with us. When you know, you know. When you join our club (Roller Louisiane, or LA-011A), you will have to fulfill requirements to move beyond the Présaison (Preseason) phase of training and development. If you feel you may miss one of the deadlines below, please contact our head coach—Brian Clary—at your earliest convenience by contacting Roller Louisiane via chat. Club requirements or Requirements help coaches, officers, and existing athletes set expectations for you—and/or your prospective athletes—as well as communicate standards, and most importantly deliver the results with which we are entrusted by our Membre-Athlètes (MAs) and their families. Before You Start The general public cannot simply join our club. For most, you have to start with classes; therefore, for students, the coach will discuss options on a student-by-student basis with each student/parent prior to graduation. We've never needed it but we do reserve the right to deny membership to our club. Step 0 • Onboarding: How are you coming to us? Our club members (Membre-Athlètes, or MAs) join us through a variety of origin stories. The most common ways are grouped as (G1) Graduates: Former students graduating from our Bilingual Skating Classes program; (G2) Revenant.es: joining us as a returning, usually adult, athlete of USACRS, now USA Roller Sports; (G3) Experimenté.es: joining us with experience doing other roller sports disciplines—the most common being Roller Derby; (G4) Transfert.es: less common but has happened and can always happen: Changing your club affiliation with USARS, thereby defecting from your current club and joining Roller Louisiane. • Group 1: Graduates* • Group 2: Revenant.es* • Group 3: Experimenté.es* • Group 4: Transfert.es** *G1, G2, G3: Club invitation issued by coach at graduation **G4: Transfer Form Step 1: USARS Membership (Yearly: September 1 - August 31) USArollersports.sport80.com How to Register USARS Membership Portal: Sport:80 Login URL: https://usarollersports.sport80.com See Also: Breakdown & Fees • Membership • Benefits & Discounts • SafeSport* Instructions 1.0 • Log in or create an account • Use USARS's Sport:80 page and your personal email to log in 2.0 • Add Your Athletes and Check-Out • Use the USARS Tips page for help • Discipline: Figure • Club ID: LA-011A • USARS Membership Support: membershipsupport@usarollersports.org • USARS Phone Support (National Office): 402-483-7551 *SafeSport training is one requirement of all adult MAs (18+) who register with USA Roller Sports (USARS). SafeSport is a mandate by US Congress and required of coaches, officials, judges, and athletes by both USAS and the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC). Parents/Guardians of minors who are registering as athletes are not required to take SafeSport training. Minors are not required to take SafeSport training. Step 2 • Club Membership (Monthly) RollerLouisiane.com/membership Club Membership, Athlete Membership, or simply Membership is required of each Membre-Athlète (MA) of Roller Louisiane. Membership is a subscription that auto-bills monthly. Manage your memberships from your My Memberships account page. Your Membership includes perks and comes with the following exclusions: Private Practice Membership covers private practice at our Lafayette Facility (Fun Nation, Lafayette, or LAF). Private practice does not include instruction. To book a Leçon (private lesson) via our Leçons page or RollerLouisiane.com/lessons Guided Warm-Up Held the first 30 minutes of each private practice in Lafayette. See our Challenges page for Présaison (Preseason) At-Home Challenges, which [especially] prepare Year-1 MAs for their first skating year. Parents are expected to enroll and assist Y1 MAs in our At-Home Challenges and reference our FAQ page's Testing category to understand practice structure, get tips, and help guide our youngest, especially when the MA is not in a Leçon (private lesson). Shadowing & QA Shadowing is observing, guiding, and preventing bad habits; Coaches will always observe and participate in private practice. MAs and their family are always welcome to ask questions but are kindly reminded to be courteous by saving questions (before/after) Leçons. Weekly Public Session Public Sessions are public skating hours. Each MA may choose one public session at Fun Nation each week—Tuesday or Thursday, 6-8 pm—and is admitted free of charge. Exclusions (1) Private Practice: MAs who also practice at our Bâton-Rouge Facility (Skate Galaxy, Bâton-Rouge, or BR) are still responsible for paying floor fees for private practice each time they use the BR facility (Thursdays for now) for private practice. See also: Calendar; (2) Guided Warm-Up is not included in BR due to time constraints; (3) Public Sessions: Not valid for any public at Skate Galaxy—however, your private practice floor fee ($8) covers admission to Skate Galaxy's 7-9 pm Thursday evening session. Note: the 4th Thursday public session is reserved as adults only, therefore any MA who is a minor is kindly asked to exit the BR Facility by 7:15 PM. (4) Other exclusions include general instruction (Leçons) during private practice, which is booked online via the following page: Private lessons. At this time, Membership does not cover any costs related to testing or competitions. Step 3: ProShop Equipment & Attire RollerLouisiane.com/proshop Expectations 99.9% of the population who joins a club, does so without having a clue about what proper equipment for training really is. So, you're not alone. However, our club's ProShop is seeking to change that. Variables Proper training equipment is individualized to a more specific degree and its resale value is therefore much higher than the junk we see on the market today. Equipment choices will vary by the MA and household. For MAs, common factors include skill level, age, events (Ex: obbligatorio, danza, libero), as well as boot sizing (measurements), life stage (still growing or not), skating surface, and body weight. For the household, each pair of skates is an investment in the athletic and professional development of their current career in roller sports. Suggestions Our club is made up of MAs representing all major audiences of athletes—youth, teens, and adults—and the following are complete skate packages (CSPs) provided as suggestions. This part can be difficult and even confusing—so, when you get to this step, if you have any questions, please contact Brian via chat (RL Messagerie) in the lower-right corner of this page. OBBLIGATORIO Obbligatario (Italian) means mandatory and in roller figure skating, Obbligatorio refers to the discipline of School Figures, aka Compulsory Figures, or simply Figures (plural), which at a high level encompasses the study of geometry and training, testing, and ranking through Form and Carriage, demonstrating and mastering two (2) types of Figures: Cerchi (Circle Figures) and Boccole (Loop Figures). Fun fact: Our club logo uses both Cerchi (pron: chair-key) and Boccole (pron: BO-co-lay). • Prepubescent Youth (Ages 5-10): Sole • Teens, Adults (11+): Specchio • Adult TMAs or CMAs doing Cerchi (Circle Figures) only: Padua DANZA Danza (Italian) means dance and encompasses American, Domestic, International, Solo, Couples/Team (Coppia), Precision, Quartet, Show, and related disciplines. • Prepubscent Youth Solo & Coppia: Coco* • Starter for Teens, Solo & Coppia: Hans • Adults, Experienced Solo & Coppia: Andrea *This CSP (Coco) comes standard with 57mm freestyle wheels (Combo Pro); Combo Danza uses 61mm ICE wheels, made especially for dance, and recommended for dance training, testing, and competition (sold separately from Coco). LIBERO Libero means free and in roller figure skating refers to "free skating" (jumps, spins, footwork) which is also called singles or freestyle in some contexts. Libero refers to one (1) athlete, whereas Coppia artistico refers to pairs (2 athletes), where lifting a partner, landing throws, among other skills requires more boot support • Youth: Coco • Teens and Adults; Libero: Beppe • Michelangelo • Teens and Adults; Libero and Coppia artistico: Rimbaud, Hermione • Adults and Elite; Libero and Coppia artistico: Leonardo, Merlin
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Private Practice & VisitorsPrivate Practice ("PP") are special training hours held several times each week at Fun Nation in Lafayette. Please see our Calendar page (/calendar) for more information. These times are provided for training, testing, and private lessons only. Athletes who do not have a private lesson scheduled are encouraged to come as often as we hold private practice but no learning services (Group or Private Lessons) will be rendered to athletes beyond warm-up. Warm-up is always the first 30 minutes of any scheduled private practice. Families with non-athletes (children) must review our policy to avoid misunderstandings and set the expectations thereof for a safe, courteous, and enjoyable environment. AUDIENCE Amateur and professional athletes in roller figure skating. POLICIES Please familiarize yourself with the environment needed for a successful practice. This policy is in place to prevent misunderstandings, serious injury, and yes, even death.
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Rules: USARS & World SkateBefore you continue, you should know the difference between Rules & Requirements: Rules vs Requirements Rules are more comprehensive than requirements. You should know, in terms of comparison, when you read Requirements, think Yearly Requirements. Yearly Requirements These govern us: They are the what and why of what we're doing because they tell us the requirements for regionals and nationals. Rules | USA Roller Sports • USARollerSports.org USARS is the US's National Governing Body (NGB) of Roller Sports and is recognized as such by the US Olympic Committee (USOC), World Skate (WS), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Our NGB's Rule Books, are filed under Figure Skating Rules; USARS's term Figure Skating varies from that of World Skate (Artistic) and there are three Rule Books: Youth, Adult, and Elite. How-To: USARS • Start on USARS's Home page: USARollerSports.org • Click on the site's menu icon; then Governance, then Official Rules & Bylaws • From the Official Rules & Bylaws page: choose Figure Skating Rules • Next, choose Figure Skating Rules • Last, use USARS's Figure Skating Rules page for all updates and all rule books by discipline WORLD SKATE • WorldSkate.org World Skate is the International Governing Body (IGB) of roller sports that works on behalf of all National Federations or National Governing Bodies (NGBs), including USARS. How-To: WORLD SKATE Rule Books = "Regulations" • From WorldSkate.org's Home Page, click to choose Artistic page from the horizontal menu • Next, hover on or click on About and a new menu appears. • Choose Regulations from the new options: Commissions, Regulations, and Bulletins • Rule Books: View all Regulations for 2023 on World Skate's Artistic Regulations page • Last, click on New Figures to navigate to the page with the list of figures Source: WorldSkate.org Discipline (Artistic): WorldSkate.org/artistic.html Path: site map or homepage / artistic / about / regulations KNOWLEDGE FOR ALL For World Skate (WS) the term Regulations is used for Rule Book(s), or Rules. Artistic is used over Roller Figure Skating, or Figure. In Figures (shortened form of School Figures) we practice, test, and compete on two types of figure circles. Colloquially, the large Circle Figures (6m) may be referred to as Circles or Figures, while the smaller Loop Figures (2m) are simply Loops. Unlike in our logo (below), neither can ever overlap, their arrangement (front, back, side, middle) and positioning (angles, orientation) vary greatly from one competition to the next. This is due to each location/rink having varying floor dimensions.
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Rules: ARSAmerican Roller Sports • AmericanRollerSports.com American Roller Sports, or ARS is an organization that hosts competitions in roller sports. ARS is not a National Governing Body (NGB) of roller sports and is not recognized by the US Olympic Committee (USOC), World Skate (WS), or the International Olympic Committee (IOC). ARS is the initialism for the organization; AARS refers to the division managing Artistic Skating under ARS and is used as the initialism for this division's activities, rules, and requirements. How-To: View AARS's Rule Book • Start on ARS's home page: AmericanRollerSports.com • Choose a discipline; For our needs, choose Artistic Skating. • From ARS's Artistic Skating page, choose VIEW THE RULEBOOK. Rule Book vs Requirements Use the GIF below or the following links for both Rules & Requirements. In terms of comparison, ARS's Rule Book is the most comprehensive and helpful. When you read Requirements, think Yearly Requirements. 2023 Yearly Requirements • Youth: Youth Figures & Loops • Youth Dance • Adults: Adult Figures & Loops • Adult Dance
OUR STORY
Our skating classes began in Lafayette, Louisiana, at our host facility, Fun Nation, in September 2021. Throughout our first Saison (season) or S1, our students came from near and far (as they do today) learning elements and skills (or adding to them). By the end of S1, we had our proof of concept and were ready to launch a club.
In September 2022, we started Saison 2 (S2) as an official roller sports club named Roller Louisiane formed by our Head Coach and Club President, Brian Clary, who grew up competing in roller figure skating—also known as Artistic—specializing in pairs and free skating. In S2, we expanded our club to include a new coach, Siobhan Jordan, who visits us regularly from Dallas, Texas, and who specializes in figures, loops, and dance, as well as Sommer Swajger Bognar, a Club Coach Consultant who is also now an official coach with Brian's home rink in Chester, Virginia. Continuing with Saison 2, our class graduates from the previous year began training for their first tests and competing at "local" meets (competitions) in Memphis, Tennessee, and Dallas, Texas, bringing home medals at both meets in figures, dance, and team dance. In Dallas, all athletes also successfully demonstrated the first four (4) circle figure tests and were awarded their testing pins (a tradition) associated with each test.
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Wrapping up S2, Brian and Jensen went home to Brian's home rink in Chester, Virginia, as Brian does each summer and winter holiday, where in the summer of 2023, Jensen got the opportunity to work on his MA-1 and MA-2 figures and loops with the champ herself, Sommer Swajger Bognar.
In Saison 3, we kicked off the season in October 2023 when we our students and athletes to support our 60+ friends from other roller sports (Skateboarding, Inline, and Scootering) who hosted a wildly successful local event hosted by Barousse Works in Lafayette's Centre-Ville (downtown). In December 2024, Brian got the opportunity to work with #TeamUSA member, Matthew Heilig (age 15), who represents Team Kate's (Gastonia, NC), a club led and coached by Nekoe Buckner, also a member of #TeamUSA. In April 2024, Roller Louisiane also attended and participated in a World Skate Seminar in April 2024, held in Spring, Texas by World Skate—the international sports federation for all roller sports (includes skateboarding and scootering) recognized by the International Olympic Committee, or IOC.
As we neared the end of Saison 3, we grew our club to by expanding to include a second roller sport—Speed Skating—by welcoming Jenna Guidry as our club's Speed Coach and Vice President. Roller Louisiane's athletes may now specialize in their choice of two roller sports, in Artistic (Brian) and Speed (Jenna), and any of its disciplines. Roller Louisiane's speed athletes also attended their first race together in Waco, Texas. Jenna is also a current athlete in Speed Skating and Roller Derby for USA Roller Sports and the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. She also serves as Vice President of Acadiana Roller Derby. Together, Roller Louisiane (Artistic, Speed) and Acadiana Roller Derby bring the world of roller sports to Lafayette, Louisiana, through our partnership with our facility, Fun Nation, serving Lafayette for 60+ years, and its esteemed owners Frank and Debbie Torries (née Thibodeaux) who are also professionals who once specialized, medaled, and coached roller hockey, speed skating, and artistic skating, right where we are today.
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For Saison 4, which runs September 2024 through August 2025, Roller Louisiane is continuing our classes programme and athletics program with Brian and Jenna, developing new projects and partners in roller sports here, nationally, and internationally, to bring Louisiana back to the world we grew up in: the world of roller sports. As class students complete all class elements (aka requirements) through Saison 4, they can graduate and choose to continue, whereby each will be invited to join Roller Louisiane's athletes and begin their own journey with roller sports while representing Roller Louisiane, their home town, USA Roller Sports, and their sports at large.