The letter

Dear young skaters of the USA,



What happened to the US team??? It seems like everyone has the answers... Blame is put on the federation, coaching, the older skaters, ice skating, lack of tracks, lack of racing, lack of knowledge, and a hundred different things.  At one point the US had all of the advantages, and now we have fallen behind.  Truthfully, the problem is a combination of a lot of things, but one thing is for sure, we have failed you.  All of us.  There are still people with the ability to win world championships, but the depth isn't where it needs to be. And we are the ones to blame, not you.

  But what I'm begging of you, is not to let our mistakes hold you back.  The road will be hard, but it's not impossible.  Learn to set goals, and sit down with your coaches to find ways to help reach those goals.  If your coach doesn't know the answers, ask them to reach out to others that do. Kids that only skate indoor try and skate outdoor. Remember that training hurts, always.  You get faster, and stronger, but when training doesn't hurt you've stopped getting better.  If you have the opportunity to race in Europe, South America, Asia, anywhere else, take it.  Get experience all over the world.  But if you don't have that opportunity, don't think you'll never make it.  Go online and watch race videos!!!!  There are hundreds of video's of races online, watch them.  Be proud of your country, but don't be so proud that you can't learn from other countries.  And don't be too shy to talk to the people from your own country that have been there before.  Skaters like Vogel, Stelly, Sayasane, Oniel, and a bunch more have all been there before and are all great people.  Don't be afraid to ask them questions when you see them(don't nag them, or be offended if they're busy at the time, but if they have the time to talk to you they will.  And if you ask nicely a lot of them will make time to talk to you).  Go to every; camp, clinic, practice, race, just anything that you can.  Don't be afraid to become a leader.  So many kids now days wear lack of training like a badge.  If you lose with out training, you still lost.  Work your butt off everyday, and then if you do lose, look yourself in the mirror and say I got beat by somebody better than me.  There is no shame in giving it 100% and losing to someone better, the shame is losing and having to look at yourself and know you could have trained harder.

You'll have to work harder than  any inline skater in the US ever has... But it's not an impossible task.  More great skaters will come from the US, not just good skaters, great skaters.... I know it.   Please please please do everything in your power to make sure that you are one of those great skaters.

Thanks for your time,

Michael Cheek

This may seem like a shameless plug, there is TONS of video's from world championships in 2010, 2011, and 2012.  You really should check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/user/powerslidevideo