Hangin' with Joe Kaplenk at Regionals

Qualifying skating championships are a social opportunity as much as they are a competitive event. In addition to an opportunity to show off the years efforts, this season's Great Lakes Regional Championship has provided an opportunity for me to sit and talk with Joe Kaplenk, president of U. S. Inline Figure Skating.

Joe is surrounded by his portable video studio at the regional venue, because in addition to competing in inline and quad events, he is providing video service for the skaters and their families this week. It's fun talking to another skate junkie. He is excited about skating in general and anxious to continue building inline figure events as well as other inline skating disciplines. The next big event for Joe, the organizer, will be the next U.S. Open Inline competition, which is tentatively scheduled for April 23 - 25, 2010 in Chicago. Next season's Open will follow almost the same format as this season's competition.

Joe clearly appreciates the effort that USA Roller Sports and other organizations have made to help his inline promotional efforts. Now, we need to pitch in and start building some inline figure skaters for the USARS and USIFS events next season.