SK8S Roller Disco at Deans Sport & Leisure
Not all our events are run the same way at each of our venues - the information below sets out how things run at the Deans Sport & Leisure which is part of Lincoln College.
Advice for parents and those supervising children
Generally children are less able to perceive risks on a skating rink – this is brilliant in some respects as it frees them to challenge themselves and learn more rapidly. However it does also mean they are more likely to be involved in collisions and accidents. To help keep everyone as safe as possible, please read the following and try and make sure the children in your care understand the best way to skate at a rink and the things they should not be doing in order to keep themselves and others safe.
Please make sure, children understand that everyone should skate in the same direction and that they should not cut directly across the path of other skaters but should move across, gradually and diagonally.
If your children are skating on their own while you supervise from the seating area, its probably a good idea to suggest they do not skate too close to the outside of the rink unless they are joining or leaving the skating area. Accidents do happen, and falling is an unavoidable part of skating but at the outside the rink there will generally be larger and faster skaters, so any accidental impact will be significantly greater.
Lastly, please ensure children in your care do not skate at speed from the main rink into the beginners area. Younger children in particular do not generally recognise the risks for accidents and collisions with less confident skaters in the beginners area. Parents must ensure their children understand this – it is as much for their safety as for everyone else’s.
If you have any questions or are not sure about some aspect during the evening please find one of our marshals or ask at the till. The marshals will always try and ensure everyone is following good skating etiquette but ultimately anyone under 15 is the responsibility of their supervising adult.
Skate Hire at Deans
SK8S carries approx 180 pairs of hire-able roller skates. These are in quite large heavy lockers and we have yet to figure out how we might get these to the 2nd floor where the rink is. Consequently our skate hire is conducted on the ground floor in the cafe and those hiring skates will need to take them up to the 2nd floor (without putting them on – skates should only be worn inside the sportsahll/rink). Its worth bringing an extra pair of thick socks to make sure the skates fit well and possibly worth quickly checking the fit before going upstairs.
Basic Rink Etiquette
Pretty much all skating rinks follow the same standard etiquette: everyone skates the same way and that direction of skating is anti-clockwise (when seen from above). Don’t ask us why – that’s just the way things have settled although right leg, arm dominance probably has something to do with it.
At most rinks it is generally the case that faster and/or more confident skaters will gravitate towards the outer parts of the skating area. If you or the people/children in your care are relatively inexperienced skaters, we would recommend skating closer to the middle than the outside. Similarly if you are not skating with your children, you should encourage them to stay closer to the middle – you might also want to explain that its rarely a good idea to cut directly across from inside to outside. best to gradually move across to help avoid colliding with other skaters 😀 .
Everyone skates in the same direction otherwise its the skating equivalent of driving the wrong way down a one-way street! Certainly the direction of skating might change for different games and activities but follow the signs for skate direction and watch the Marshals who will always wave their arms and point in the direction of skating after a change in direction.
If anyone is stationary on the main rink for any period of time you will probably find a Marshall will skate up to stand between you and any oncoming skaters. If you have lost your balance or fallen then please take the time you need to recover but if you have stopped to chat with friends or if you are tired you will typically be asked to move on, this is because its quite likely someone will skate into you if you stay still where you are.
Sometimes, particularly when it gets busy you will find the marshals might ask people standing at the sides to move on aswell for similar reasons.
If you have fallen and you ask a Marshall for help to get up, please don’t be offended if the Marshal says they can’t. Helping someone up or pulling someone up, who is not stable on their skates is a very effective way to pull two people down on top of each other and cause an accident. The best way to get up is to maneuver onto your knees then bring one foot forward ready to take your weight and use your toe-stop to get up while not losing balance. There’s a good video describing how here.
Rink Layout
Deans has a large sportshall which is a bit like a double sportshall with a chunk taken out of the corner. That works out pretty well as it gives us a nice space for a beginners area which we generally leave in place for all events at this venue.
The beginners area is intended to be a less ‘busy’ space than the main rink. This is to allow people to practice and to gain confidence; if you are skating quickly in this space then you are skating in the wrong place – please move to the main rink.
When we play stuck in the mud we split the main rink in two creating a mini rink and a game space. If you are not a confident skater you might not enjoy playing stuck in the mud – it can get quite fast paced.
