Introduction to the Roll Series

What is the Roll Series?

The Roll Series is an international freestyle inline competition series that has a three tiered circuit: Sectional, Regional and a Continental Final. Sectional and Regional competitions have open registration. Competitors must qualify to compete at the Continental Finals. This is done by accumulating points which are earned at Sectionals and Regionals. None of the events are run, owned or hosted by the Roll Series. Instead, local skaters host each contest. The Roll Series is just a name for the contests joined as a network. This way, each event retains its own identity and ownership.

Who is the Roll Series?

Basically, the Roll Series is a bunch of skaters networking their contests together. For organizational purposes, there is a group of Regional Directors that network with the smaller, Sectional competitions within each of the five regions of North America. We are currently looking to expand the series to street contests in Europe in the Summer of 2008 and are in need of people with networking skills and good connections within the continent. If you are interested in having your contest be a part of the Roll Series or you are interested in becoming a Regional Director in Europe, get a hold of Collin Martin. If you are worried that your event is too small, don’t be. In fact, we are most interested in including the smaller events. These events are the foundation of the series!

Where and when is the Roll Series?

The Roll Series is developing a network of competitions around the world. In the Summer of 2007 the series took place entirely within the United States and Canada and only included street contests. However, starting with the Winter 2007 – 2008 Park circuit, the Roll Series network is increasing the network to park contests and to Europe and Asia. Specifically, within the U.S and Canada, the regions are broken up as follows:

 

Why do we need the Roll Series?

The Mission: The Roll Series aims to bring unification within the stunt inline industry that incorporates competition on a broad scale. Fundamentally, the Roll Series aims to be a bottom-up catalyst to the stunt inline industry by providing and assisting competitions within the sport with organization, direction and professionalism. Specifically, the Roll Series provides competitions of all sizes with support in marketing and sponsorship. The Roll Series does not aim to be a governing body of any kind.

Does the Roll Series own/run/direct the contests that are part of the network?

Absolutely not. The Roll Series does not own, operate or direct one single contest. Every contest that is part of the network is solely the responsibility of the contest host. Other than the fact that skaters have the opportunity to become qualified to compete in other contests within the series, every contests is a completely independent entity. With that said and understood, the Roll Series as an organization takes no responsibility for the happenings of any event within the network.

What types of events can be a part of the Roll Series?

Street and park, indoor and outdoor, privately and publicly owned– almost any type of freestyle inline skating contests can be a part of the Roll Series.

Why should I have my event be a part of the Roll Series?

First, we do not tell you how to run your contest. Being a part of the Roll Series increases world-wide awareness of your contest and should help increase your draw. Also, we promote your event on our website and we will try to get you product support. However, we cannot guarantee this. The best reason for being a part of the Network is to help our sport grow. Unification and cooperation industry-wide is crucial to our sport’s life and growth.

I’m interested in having my event be a part of the Roll Series. How can I go about doing this?

The Roll Series prides itself on including all sizes of events. If you feel that you can organize an event that will draw at least 30 contestants in a city that doesn’t already have an event, then get in touch with the Director for your region. The event doesn’t necessarily have to be preexisting.

I am interested in sponsoring the Roll Series. How can I get more information on how to go about doing this?

First, check out the Roll Series Sponsorship Proposal. To manually navigate to this document, click on “Support” at the top of this website. After becoming familiar with the proposal, contact Collin Martin at collin at fruitboot dot com or 630.697.6312.

How is the Roll Series different from the RFCC, IMYTA, ASA and AIL?

The Roll Series is a unique contest network. First, the Roll Series does not actually organize any contests. The Roll Series is simply the network between contests hosted by skaters. If a contest decides to be a part of the Roll Series, the ownership and direction stays with the original host. Also, the Roll Series aims to incorporate contests on a broad scale. What this means is that any freestyle inline skating contest of almost any size in any place can be part of the series.

Why does the Roll Series make you qualify for events that used to be open registration?

This is not true. The Roll Series no longer requires any competitors to qualify for an event that previously did not require qualification.

So a competitor has to be qualified to compete in the Continental Finals?

Yes. There are no exceptions. It doesn’t matter who you are, how big your name is or if your father owns Russia. You have to get qualified to compete at the Continental Finals. You get qualified by placing in the top 5 at any Sectional or Regional contest.

How many skaters will be qualified for the Continental Finals?

It is likely that more than 75 competitors will become qualified.

How do I increase the chances of qualifying for the Continental Finals?

Good question. You get good at skating and/or you compete in as many Sectionals and Regions as possible. There will be no limit placed on how many Sectionals or Regionals in which you are allowed to compete.

Why does the Roll Series only include street events?

This is not true. The Summer circuit consists of street contests. The Winter circuit consists of park contests.

How much will the purse be for each contest?

That is totally dependent on the contest and its host. A good rule of thumb is, if you have to pay to enter the contest, there will be a purse. The more you have to pay, the bigger the purse will be. If you want a contest to have a large purse, contact the host and help him raise money for the event.

To be clear, event direction is entirely up to the host of the event. None of these events are run by the Roll Series. Although we help with getting product, promoting, advertising and organizational advice, the Roll Series is not responsible for raising money for the purse of any event. That goes for the Regionals and the Continental Final. We do hope to contribute to the Continental Final’s purse through fund raising and locating donations.

I’m going to be hosting a skate contest. How should I go about getting money for the purse?

Since I, personally, have had a lot of experience with this issue, I don’t have a short answer. As you may already know, most companies within the stunt inline industry are not able to sponsor events with cash so contest hosts are forced to look for cash elsewhere. There are at least four main ways to get money for your purse outside of sponsorship or asking for donations directly.

First, you can charge people to enter your contest. The Roll Series recommends charging between $5 and $15 per competitor but whether or not there is an entrance fee is completely up to the contest host. If you do charge and you get 30 people to compete at $10 per person, there is $300 already.

Second, you can hold benefit gatherings. It is very easy to raise money through social gathering in which people pay to attend. For example, if you have access to a projector you can have a movie benefit. Have a few people ask their parents to donate food and you can also make it a dinner party. People are surprisingly interested in attending events like these. If you hold 3 benefits, charging $5 a person and get 30 people to come to each benefit, you will make $450. If you are located in a large city, you can host pre-contests in which skaters pay to compete knowing that all of the money will be used for a future, larger event. If you hold 3 pre-contests, charge $7 a person to enter and get 10 people to compete at each contest, you’ll get $210. Other ideas for social benefits include a date auction, sports tournaments such as dodgeball, softball or badminton, hosting a show that features bands that you’re friends with, and holding a skate demo at a local skate shop.

Third, you can make merchandise for your contest. It is very easy to find cheap, blank clothing onto which you can sew patches or stencil with spray paint or fabric paint. It is very easy to customize clothing with a sewing machine! You’d be surprised how popular local competition merchandise is. The Roll Series recommends selling most items for no more than $10. You could easily make $150 on merchandise by selling the products for a few months before the contest during the benefits and pre-comps as well as during the contest it self.

The fourth and least popular way to raise money is by doing good old fashioned work. You could get together a group of friends to have a car wash, spend a day doing temp work or create a temporary rollerblader landscaping company.

Most of these ideas are possible to pull off even in a relatively small city with a skate scene that isn’t too big. Keep in mind that there’s no reason why you can’t include people who are not skaters. All of this can be done in about three months and you should come out with over $1,000. But the best part about doing these things is that it helps generate a buzz about rollerblading in your city.

If I qualify for the Continental Finals, will the Roll Series pay for me to fly to the event?

No, we cannot possibly pay for 75+ skaters’ flights. Try asking your parents to help you out with funds. Given that you’ve qualified to compete amongst the best 75 skaters in your continent, they might be more willing to help than you think.

For more information, contact Collin at the email address: collin at fruitboot dot com.