Grow Inline Speed is a group of volunteers.  Skating has enriched their lives, in various ways.  They work together to help each other benefit even more from skating, and to bring these benefits to others.

You also have skills and experiences which are valuable to others.  Share them!  Let us know your interests, and your ideas about how our sport can become bigger and better. We’ll provide you the support to help make those dreams reality.

Web help is something important everyone can do.  As you read our site, if you see something unclear or wrong (yes, it's possible), tell us.  If you know of something somewhere else on the Internet that would be good for other skaters to know, tell us so we can link to it.

Interviewing reporters are also needed. Our sport has some coaches and skaters who have great experience, and very helpful and interesting advice to pass on, but they don't have the time or inclination to write it down and do the Internet posting.  You can sit and chat with them for a little, perhaps with a voice recorder, perhaps via phone, then write it up, or pass on the notes and quotes to someone else in GIS.  If you are interested, contact us, and we'll  work out interviewees and topics with you.

Another way you can help is to join one of our committees.  Look over the list and contact  our General Mailbox

A very important way to help is to support skating in near you.  Skaters need coaching, help, and encouragement. Teams need people to do paperwork, make telephone calls, do publicity, raise money, sometimes drive skaters, and clean the rink after practice.  You can see these needs, and that your help yields great results.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

SPECIFIC PROJECTS/POSITIONS

Here are specific things needed for skaters.  If you are interested in helping, let us know; we'll provide more detail, and other people to work with you.  Most projects are big; if you'd prefer to do only part, let us know; anything will help.

TEAMS/CLUBS DIRECTORY
Start with existing lists of teams, the teams which regularly practice together at a certain location. Contact each by phone or e-mail to determine that contact information is correct, and that they respond.  Check that they welcome rookie speed skaters, and will be happy to help train them.  Identify whether they skate indoors or out, and any special requirements or programs they have.  List the rinks they train at.  Identify the geographic areas they serve, for people who want to know what team is near them.  Organize this information so Internet users can easily find what they want.

HUMAN RESOURCES (VOLUNTEER'S LEADER)
Work with people who are new volunteers for Grow Inline Speed.  Listen to them, to understand what they are willing and able to do, and what kinds of help they will need to do their best.  Put other people (people you'll know, from the Grow Inline Speed team) in contact with the new volunteers. and check  they are OK working together.  Explain to new volunteers the specific things which they can do, and work out with them which part of those things they will do.  Maintain contact to ensure the volunteer continues to get the help they need to do their best to help skaters.

DRILLS COORDINATOR
Receive explanations of skating drills.  Write explanations which are understandable by inexperienced skaters and coaches.  Explain the important things to do during the drill, to be sure it meets its goals.  Explain the purpose of the drill, and the circumstances it is better or worse than others. Explain how hard and long the drill should be done in various circumstances.  Explain possible variations, and why they are useful.  Where practical, obtain videos.  Organize and/or index drills so someone can easily find one to meet their needs.  Find new drills. Our drills page  has a link to a Hyper forum discussion which could be rewritten for permanent reference before it's deleted from Hyper.

PARENT ADVICE
Find and./or create resource material for parents of competitive skaters, in areas including nutrition, time management, goal setting, appropriate parental involvement and making choices for a balanced life.  Much of this material is available to parents in other sports, so the task is to find that which is appropriate for speed skaters, and to organize/index it so it's easy for parents to find what they need.

YOUNG SKATER ADVICE
Parents of young (e.g., 30-60 months old) skaters ask about starting their child into skating.  Sometimes they wonder when a child should start skating, and what kind of skating a youngster should do. Sometimes they wonder where to find equipment, particularly 3 wheel inline frames, and boots for growing feet.  You could gather such information and forward it to GIS, or write articles for the GIS web site.

VENDOR (REMOTE) GUIDE
Create a guide for buying speedskating equipment for people who can't buy it locally.  Find vendors who maintain web sites and/or provide good telephone communication. Emphasis should be on vendors who are willing and able to help skaters decide what specific products are best for them. Vendors should offer good customer service, and some should communicate in languages other than English and ship to many countries.

INFORMATION FROM OTHER SPORTS
Much information useful to skaters is plentiful in data bases for other sports.  Cycling, running, swimming, ice skating, and other sports have extensively studied about nutrition, training cycles, sports psychology, special considerations for athletes of specific ages, building clubs, parental involvement, and overall fitness.  GIS would welcome help for anyone to identify such information; even one lead would be appreciated.  Anything more, such as creating an index, or rewriting the information for skaters, would be very helpful.

WEB SITE ORGANIZATION
Identify general and specific changes so GIS web site information can be more easily used.  Discuss these ideas with others to reach a consensus for improvement.