Born to Skate

A ll it took was a friend's birthday party at the roller skating rink. After that, Trinity freshman-and nationally renowned roller skater-Billy Schoenfeld was hooked.

When Schoenfeld began taking group skating lessons 12 years ago, his coach noticed his natural talent and directed him to take private lessons. Since then, he has been to the roller skating nationals 11 times and the world competition twice. At his second appearance at the worlds, he placed second overall.

"At the beginning, the fact that I was really good at it without much effort... was the excitement of it," said Schoenfeld, who no longer skates competitively. Schoenfeld added that he enjoyed traveling around the country and the world, meeting other roller skaters.

Schoenfeld spent two to three hours, six days a week practicing in his hometown of Virginia Beach, Va., which left him little time to pursue other extracurricular activities. "The rink became like a second home," he said.

Except for the surface and different types of skates, Schoenfeld said, roller skating is similar to ice skating. "Roller skates are heavier than ice skates, making jumps more difficult," he said. "I can do a few triples, not all the ones ice skaters can do."

According to the web site for USA Roller Skating, which handles amateur competitive roller skating programs, competitors "are judged on content and manner of performance. This includes the skaters' ability to do identifiable, difficult content items, like jumps, spins and footwork, while utilizing those movements in an artistic interpretation of accompanying music."

Schoenfeld said his parents were behind him through all his practices and competitions. "They were really supportive of the whole thing," he said. "My parents were just like, 'Do whatever you want to do.'"

Because the added stress of his academic load and college life in general made the necessary hours of practice impractical, Schoenfeld has stopped skating competitively.

"I'm going to miss traveling around the country and miss the friends I made," he said. For now, his only time in skates is as a member of Duke's club roller hockey team.

While not many people at Duke know of his special talent, Schoenfeld said that those who do are intrigued by the sport's uniqueness. "Most people are impressed because it's something they've never thought of," he said.

While some roller skating champions-like Tara Lipinski-have made the switch to the more well-known sport of ice skating, Schoenfeld said that was never his goal, because of the added commitment. "I never wanted to devote my life to it," he said.

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