To conclude an already very successful indoor season, the Team competed in the British Indoor Championships in April, where they took part in inter-club category races over various distances, with excellent results:

The day began with the younger skaters, and this is where the trend for the success of the day began… Maya Bathgate competed in the Mini Girls age category. The race was tough as Maya took a tumble early on, but she got to her feet and fought hard to pick up places and get to the front of the pack, to eventually take the Gold Medal.

Jordan Woodward competed in the Mini Boys age category, making a very welcome return after taking a short break from the sport. He raced hard and took a well-earned Gold Medal too.

Bethaney Galloway competed in the next age category, Pupil Girls, in her first ever competitive race for the Club. She put in a great effort and finished 4th, a promising start to the 2010 season.

The second of our skaters making a return to the sport this year after a short break was Taylor Scott, who competed in the Pupil Boys age category. Again, this was a hard fought race and Taylor rose to the challenge and took the Gold Medal.

Louise Sullivan, just returning from a recent injury, competed in the Cadet Girls age category. She raced well and finished in 5th place.

The final age category the Club competed in was the Junior Boys, where the now familiar team-mate duo of Daniel Smith and Robert Whiting were to once again take the double, with Daniel winning the Gold Medal and Robert taking the Silver.

Also skating, in the ‘non-category’ race was Kiara Woodward, who took part in her first ever race meeting. Kiara is the newest member of the Club and has only just started her weekly training sessions. One for the future….

The group, from the South Woodham Roller Speed Skating Club, will appear on Skate Nation, starting at 9am on BBC2.

Hosted by Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes, who were former Pop Idol finalists and children’s TV presenters, the show is similar to Dancing on Ice but for children.

Top prize is a trip to the World Games in Taiwan.

Teams of three children, aged seven to 13, and one parent were invited to audition for the show so Maya Bathgate, Taylor Scott, Louise Sullivan and Taylor’s mum Jenny signed up as the Rapid Rollers.

The group made it through an auditon earlier this year in front of the judges, professional dancer Camilla Dallerup who was on Strictly Come Dancing, professional skater Asha Kirby and Kevin Adams, a fitness instructor from Fame Academy.

RAPID Rollers got their skates on to move from the South Woodham Roller Speed Skating Club and onto our television screens.

Four skaters from South Woodham Ferrers will be appearing on the new Skate Nation show which starts on BBC at 9am on Saturday July 18.

Hosted by Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes, former Pop Idol finalists and accomplished children’s television presenters, the show is similar to Dancing on Ice but for kids with a grand prize of a trip to the World Games in Taiwan.

Teams, consisting of three children aged seven to 13 and one parent, were invited to audition for the show so Maya Bathgate, Taylor Scott, Louise Sullivan and Taylor’s mum Jenny signed up as the Rapid Rollers.

The first auditons were held earlier this year in front of the judges - Camilla Dallerup (Strictly Come Dancing, professional dancer), Asha Kirby (professional skater) and Kevin Adams (Fame Academy, fitness instructor) - and the group made it through as they changed themselves from speed skaters to dance skaters.

Maya Bathgate competed in the Mini Girls Marathon over a 3 Mile distance, and took the Silver medal in the Championships, and also won the Bronze medal for her overall age group (6-9 years).

Jessica Hoare competed in the Junior Girls age group race, (16-18 years), skating her first competitive full 26 Mile Marathon distance. She raced superbly to take the Gold, winning the British Junior Girls Marathon Championship title, and also won the overall age group trophy as well. Daniel Smith and Robert Whiting competed in the Junior Boys age group race, and were also competing in their first Full Marathon. They worked well together for the first half of the race, but unfortunately Robert had to retire through injury. Daniel continued and raced on to take 1st place, winning the British Junior Boys Marathon Championship title, and also won the overall age group trophy.

Errol Spence competed in the Veterans category, also racing over the 26 Mile distance. He raced well, recovering from a fall part way through the race, to go on and win the Championship title and the overall age group race trophy too.

The skaters, who still do not have proper track training facilities, and train round industrial estates, and in School playgrounds, as usual produced outstanding results which is down to their dedication to the sport, and the time and commitment given by the Team Manager - Alan Moore and Team Coach - Chanelle Moore. The Team are currently competing in the outdoor season race meetings, which will culminate in the British Outdoor Championships which will be held over two days in early October. We will bring you an update on their season successes later in the year. In the meantime, we congratulate them all and wish them good luck for the rest of the season.

To conclude an already very successful indoor season, the Team competed in the British Indoor Championships in April, where they took part in inter-club category races over various distances, with excellent results: Daniel Smith, who currently holds six British Outdoor Championship Titles, won the Junior Boys Indoor Championship Title, with teammate Robert Whiting winning the Silver Medal.

The first of two double-wins for the Club on the day. Louise Sullivan won her first British Championship Title in the Pupil Girls category, putting in a great performance to take the Gold. The second double-win for the Club was in the Mini Boys age category, and was achieved by two relatively new skaters in the Club – Jordan Stiff won Gold and his first British Championship Title, and teammate Jordan Smith took Silver.

Maya Bathgate, the youngest South Woodham skater to participate, aged 8, battled hard and took Silver in the Mini Girls race. Taylor Scott raced in the Mini Boys category and also put in tremendous effort, narrowly missing out on a medal position, finishing a very close 4th.

Also skating, in the ‘noncategory’ races was Bethany Galloway, who took part in her first ever race meeting. She skated well, and we look forward to her progression into the category racing very soon