Roller skating is making a resurgence while maintaining its nostalgic link to decades past.
When I was a kid, as soon as the holidays rolled around, I knew that meant one thing: Attending my dad’s work Christmas party at Lloyd’s Rollersports Centre. Run by Lloyd and Florence Cooper for more than 50 years, the Calgary institution closed in 2018, two years after Florence passed away at 95-years-old. Lloyd had passed away 14 years earlier, and Florence continued to run the business the pair had built together.
The Coopers built a legacy that irrevocably shaped Calgary’s rollerskating community. With rates that hardly increased with inflation (one could skate on Saturdays for only $15, including rentals and a hot dog with a drink), Lloyds was a safe, fun, slightly smelly but nonetheless singularly special place for folks of all ages to gather.
Each year brought the same rollercoaster of emotions — excitement as my mom navigated finding me the right fit, and anxiety as I strapped wheels to my feet and made my way ever so carefully onto the smooth wooden floor. One push, then two. Legs and nobbly knees, Bambi-like in their hesitancy. Arms splayed like a baby penguin trying to flap uselessly. Then, the lights and the music would take over. Another push and I was flying. Was there any way I’d be able to stop gracefully when it was time to go? Absolutely not. But for the moments where all I had to focus on was gliding endless loops and being so completely in the moment that my anxiety fled like migrating monarchs, it was pure bliss. No, it was magic.
That magical feeling endeared Lloyd’s to so many Calgarians; it felt as if the entire city were grieving when the roller rink closed its doors. For the following six years, Calgary’s rollerskating community was rootless, and one of the champions keeping the groove alive during those transitional years was Angie Thomas.
A Lloyd’s veteran, Thomas, 51, started rollerblading in her twenties. However, she didn’t strap on a pair of skates until her forties. At that time, Thomas was a single parent teaching herself to skate at Lloyds. What started as a hobby turned into a lifestyle as Thomas reclaimed her spirit, her joy, and even her physical freedom.
“Rollerskating is an escape. It’s an escape in a memory where you are lost. And you can be whoever you want to be in your skates,” said Thomas. She started skating in 2015 while battling chronic pain, later diagnosed as Lyme disease.”
“Chronic pain changes you. It puts you in a very dark place,” said Thomas. “But when I put my skates on, the pain would melt away. The old Angie would come back, and I would forget all about my troubles.”
Thomas noticed a gap at Lloyd’s. While the rink offered space to skate, there weren’t many people dancing. After getting certified as an instructor in 2016, Thomas started her own roller dancing school, the Fresh Rollers. When Lloyd’s closed, she went on to host skate nights and discos wherever she could find space.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, rollerskating took to outlets like TikTok and Instagram, with trending audio and disco remixes making headway on the apps. Nostalgic disco music harkened back to a time well before social isolation was considered a “new normal,” and helped spur on the roller skating resurgence, which would become very good news for skate veterans like Thomas.
The World Health Organization declared the pandemic phase of COVID-19 over in 2023. Only one year later, no less than three roller rinks have popped up in Calgary, including SkyCastle Roller Rink, where Thomas now works as a manager, instructor and promoter.
“The SkyCastle rink has a feeling. It feels warm and fuzzy, and like you don’t want to leave,” said Thomas, who adds that while she was decorating the rink, she imbued it with good vibes. Perhaps, like Lloyd’s, SkyCastle will become a decades-old, safe, fun, hopefully not smelly, special place for folks of all ages to gather.
Roller Derby Revival
Skating on four wheels doesn’t always take the form of dance or recreational loops. Roller derby has likewise seen a resurgence in popularity, with groups like Calgary Roller Derby expanding their memberships and offering programming for young people.
“Calgary has one of the top-ranked teams in our region,” said Caitlin Snow, also known as Dynamite Roll, and the director at large with the league.
Snow adds that roller derby offers an inclusive, counter-culture sport for folks who don’t want to fit into the traditional narratives of sports like hockey. Indeed, the league is one of the few sports that doesn’t discriminate between cis and transgender players.
