| Brief history of inline freestyle rollerblading in Ukraine. It had declined as well, but head a peak much later than US. 2003-2008 -- this was rise period of skating. Primarily in Kyiv, but also Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Odessa 2006 -- Sebastian Lafarge creates SEBA brand and Seba FR1 boot. For some reason it becomes #1 choice for "pro" skaters in Ukraine. Maybe because it is well suited for freestyle lifestyle? Anyway, more and more white-black boots had appeared. I think French and Russian existing roller cultures greatly influenced the whole Ukrainian movement. 2008-2013 -- "boom" of inline skating in Ukraine. During this time originated several different skater subgroups: * yamakasi -- as a tribute to movie "Yamakasi", where tracers gather together to watch sunrise from high point. Skaters chatted which hill of Kyiv they plan to watch sunrise, skated whole night, gathered in one place and watched the event. Those meetings were sometimes up to 100 people. * Wizards (catchskating) -- basically "freeze tag" on inline skates. It turned out to be a good team sport, and more accessible than inline hockey. Common teams were 2 catchers VS 5 runners and 3 VS 7. There were compettions, Luhansk and Donetsk teams were best there. I think this game originated from Russia * Season opening -- yearly spring event when weather becomes warm enough for skating, and people from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia gather together in Kyiv for grand mob skating. I think record goes to 1000 skaters of all ages. * Night riders -- freeskating empty streets at night was common and even had weekly schedules. Bikers sometimes participated too * Downhill -- Kyiv has many hills, so people quickly learn the fun of downhill. We had teams, night downhill trainings, maps of good and bad DH, and so on. * all kinds of tricksters -- slalom, slides, jumps. This was copied from russian and french FSK tournaments. (at time Kyiv had very few skateparks) 2014+ -- war happened and we lost Russia, Luhansk and Donetsk teams. This probably was the most disrupting event for whole movement. Ban of Vkontakte had cut many contacts and communities. |