Chasing the sound barrier, Tamil Nadu skaters aim high for India

As skaters from Tamil Nadu get ready for the World Skate Games to be held in Argentina later this year, we speak to some of the talented men and women on wheels

On a breezy morning at Hockers Sporting Club in Vadugapatti, a suburb of Tiruchi, young people kitted out in skating gear are trying out their moves, in a rural backdrop punctuated with birdsong.

The mood is one of nervous excitement, as these skaters are set to represent India for the World Skate Games 2022 to be held in Argentina from October 24 to November 4.

The nine skaters from Tiruchi pan different categories of the sport. For instance, three of them — R Jeeva, V Nishanth, SS Sri Iswarya and B Kaviya — are part of the roller hockey team. N Veeramanikandan, G Guru Prasanna and B Poornisha will be going for inline hockey, while N Rinisha and Mridubashini Kedararaman are for roller derby. They will be joining contestants from Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai, besides others from the rest of the country as part of the Indian contingent

“Our team has been busy practising and competing within Indian arenas through the year,” says Z Fazlul Kareem, the coach and former skater who built the Vadugapatti rink from his savings. “The facilities for skaters are limited in our city. When we were growing up, we had to make do by skating on the Palakkarai bridge in the morning and past midnight to avoid traffic. Having a rink may help a new generation of skaters emerge from our district,” says Kareem.

Five women are participating from Tiruchi, proving that the sport is gaining popularity among girls, says Mridubashini, 23, who will be representing India for the second time. The Agricultural Engineering graduate was part of the national team at the World Roller Games 2019-2020 in Barcelona, Spain (when India was placed fourth). She plays the pivot position in roller derby and has been coached by M Manohar of the Tiruchi Roller Skating Club.

“We have all been working very hard to make it to the top three this time, and I hope our journey will inspire more girls to take up skating,” she says.

Class XII student N Rinisha has been travelling 48 kilometres from Thuraiyur to Tiruchi to follow her passion in skating, first as a speed racer, and now, under coach Kareem’s guidance, in roller hockey. “I have been skating since I was in Class III. I hope we will make a mark in the Argentina event,” she says.