Skating to success

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, July 15, 2004

EVERETT – It all began one night at the roller skating rink.

Three years ago, Christine Beckett and her husband, Bill, were on a date at Skate Deck in South Everett.

They jovially but awkwardly skated around the crowded wooden oval. The disco ball overhead cast its funky spell.

As they orbited the floor, Christine Beckett noticed some skaters going backward and doing fancy turns. She pointed them out to her husband, who suggested she try roller-skating lessons.

She enrolled in a Saturday beginner’s class, and before she could say “Xanadu,” Beckett was a four-wheeled wonder on her way to a national championship.

The 34-year-old Snohomish woman, admittedly timid, couldn’t help but wonder how in three years she ended up with a gold medal around her neck, standing on the winner’s podium as someone handed her roses.

“I had no idea this would happen,” she said. “No inkling.”

Beckett is one of eight members of the Everett Expressions Artistic Skating Club heading to nationals next week in Lincoln, Neb.

The skaters, who range in age from 7 to 34, are practicing six days a week and sometimes twice a day to prepare for nationals.

While their friends are hitting the beach, the roller skaters are heading off to yet another practice in the dimly lit rink.

They are as devout as any athletes, avoiding all sorts of indulgences in the name of their sport. Though many are teenagers on summer vacation, there will be no late nights, candy or soda.

All this for the little known and often misunderstood sport of artistic roller-skating.

“I think that makes it every bit more cool,” said Jessica Williams, 15, of Lake Stevens. She’s been skating for 12 years. “I train like an athlete, I compete like an athlete – I am an athlete!”

It’s strange, she said, that Everett’s roller skaters are widely known in national roller skating circles, yet not so well known in their own backyard.

“People always say, ‘Artistic roller skating? What’s that?’” Williams said. “I tell them, ‘Have you ever seen figure skating on television? It’s exactly like that only on roller skates.”

Coach Anna Carrier, who created the team 13 years ago and this year was named Northwest Coach of the Year, knows just how her skaters feel.

It’s frustrating that such a close cousin of the wildly popular Olympic ice figure skating is left out of the games in favor of sports such as table tennis and the trampoline.

It’s a sport without endorsements, scholarships or touring athletes.

When Carrier roller-skated, she won the national champion 11 times, was a five-time World Team member and won gold medals at the Olympic Sports Festival and the World Games.

Those who stick with the sport learn valuable life skills – discipline, respect, time management and confidence.

“What hurts us is that there’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” Carrier said. “They do it because they love it.”

At last year’s national competition, pairs team Kylee Berger, 14, and Trace Hansen, 31, won fourth place. The two were one point off from landing a spot on the world team.

Hansen was going to retire, but wants one more shot.

“You can’t walk away when you’re this close,” Hansen said.

Though the world championship is in Fresno this year (versus last year in Argentina), Berger is determined to make it this time.

“I just wish it was in the Olympics so everyone could see what we do,” Berger said. “They think ice skating is so amazing. If they could only see roller skating.”

Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@heraldnet.com.

Everett Expressions Artistic Skating Club national team

Christine Beckett, 34, Snohomish; Trace Hansen, 31, Mukilteo; Katarina DeMello, 7, Bellevue; Priya Rastogi, 7, Everett; Kim Neal, 14, Everett; Kylee Berger, 14, Shoreline; Jessica Williams, 15, Lake Stevens; Adrienne Erickson, 19, Everett

Everett Artistic Skating Club national teamvv:

Christine Beckett, 34, Snohomish

Trace Hansen, 31, Mukilteo

Katarina DeMello, 7, Bellevue

Priya Rastogi, 7, Everett

Kim Neal, 14, Everett

Kylie Berger, 14, Shoreline

Jessica Williams, 15, Lake Stevens

Adrienne Erickson, 19, Everett