"A sport based on fun, teetering on the edge of craziness."
Sports Organizers The Aggressive Skaters Association

The biggest thing to happen in aggressive in-line during 1997-98 was the introduction of the amateur circuit.

Organized by Aggressive Skaters Association (ASA), this circuit marked the first time skaters had a clearly defined path to follow toward becoming a professional skater.

"Before it was who you knew," said Todd Shays, executive director of ASA, "now it clearly has more to do with how you do in competition. Having a performance-based measurement has raised the bar in the competitive world and legitimized the pro class. It's been a wake up call for the industry and a great way for new skaters to rise in the ranks."

Jason Roy, Tribe team manager and in-line competitive judge agrees. "The amateur circuit has increased the enthusiasm among skaters, especially the younger ones. Now there's an organized way to find success. The competitive stepping stones go from local contests to regional and on to national. Skaters who can follow that path not only have more competition confidence and experience, but they also know where they stand in the big picture. It's much more clear."

And the best thing is that the new competitive atmosphere hasn't changed the ambience of the sport. "It's still based on fun and teetering on the edge of craziness," Shays said. "That will never change, nor should it."

As an example, Shays told of the national ASA comp in Naples, Florida last October when Chris Edwards jumped out of an airborne construction crane to the vert ramp during the finals.

"We had the crane there for aerial photography, but Chris got it in his head to begin his run from the crane," Shays said. "He stood on the fence inside the basket and flew onto the ramp. You know how Chris is, he almost gets angry with intensity. What was anyone going to do but watch it happen. We knew it was history being made. That's our sport. There's an energy to it that's going to dominate no matter what the structure."

About the Aggressive Skaters Association Inline skating has been one of the fastest growing sports in the United States for the last six years, according to American Sports Data, Inc. Since 90% of all inline skaters are under the age of 35, it is no wonder that aggressive skating has burst onto the scene with such an explosive and continuous rate of growth.

The Aggressive Skaters Association (ASA) was inspired during the summer of 1994 by a group of top professional skaters who wanted an organization to oversee aggressive skating and to look out for both the prosperity of the sport and its emerging legion of top-level participants. By mandate from the skaters themselves, the ASA has since become the official organization that governs all phases of this fast moving, exciting, cutting edge sport.

The ASA sanctions and oversees the premier professional events in the sport, including the ASA Pro Tour, the ASA World Championships (the final event of the Tour) and the ESPN X Games, the MTV Sports & Music.

The ASA is also building a solid grass-roots structure for the sport through the highly-successful ASA

Amateur Circuit, which culminates in the Amateur Championships and determines the next generation of ASA pros.

For more information check out http://www.ASAskate.com

For in-depth news and reviews on the 1999 Summer X Games go to http://espn.go.com/extreme/xgames/index.html

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