Making A Passion a Profession

Aug 16, 2018

Sofi On Stage Mexico

By Sofia Carreras

Rollerblade Athlete/ICP Level 1 Certified Instructor

My name is Sofia Carreras, I am originally from Agentina andlive in Barcelona, but have spent the summer Mexico City teaching skating lessons and promoting skating for Rollerblade Mexico.

On my first visit to Mexico some time ago, I had the opportunity to meet many people from the world of skating, visit stores, attend events, etc. It was at that time when I realized that with the experience and knowledge I had in promoting and teaching the sport I could really contribute as skating is growing very fast in this country.

In Mexico the shops and schools that teach skating are something very new. There are few compared to the number of people who live here, and usually do not follow any type of teaching program. It was because of this that I decided to return to Mexico, to be able to teach and apply everything I had learned with the Inline Certification Program (ICP). I felt that I had to share what I knew with people who wanted to learn to skate and to also help my colleagues in Mexico to find a more adequate and orderly way of teaching.

Taking the Level 1 program with the ICP gave me many teaching tools that I did have before. It also showed me that been a good skater does not mean you know how to teach skating!

The program taught me how to properly organize a class, how to break down skating skills into progressions and exercises and how to solve common skating problems that would be overlooked or consider "simple" by someone who has been skating for years. The program also taught me to talk to students in the most professional way possible in a variety of teaching situations.

I also found a lot of support from all the people at the ICP, both from the examiners who conduct the courses, and from my certified Level 1 & 2 colleagues that I have around the world, with whom we share information, and we collaborate a lot with each other.

Without a doubt, having become an ICP Instructor was worth it. It helped me to make my passion a profession. It made my horizon become much bigger and gave me very useful tools that go beyond teaching skating.

Thanks to that Level 1 I did with the ICP, I had the unique opportunity to work in Mexico, teaching skating and dedicating my days to what I love to do most!

Are you ICP Certified and want to be featured in the next newsletter?

Send us a picture of yourself - ideally in skates and at least a helmet on. Please include, some information about yourself. Try to answer some of the following questions:

How long have you been skating?
Why did you start skating?
Whatdo you do apart from skating? Do you teach full time or have another full time job?
If you teach, which school do you teach with?
Do you take part in any skating events?
What future plans do you have for your skating career?

Of course, you don't have to include all of these. If you wnat to include other info, we are happy to review it. We look forward to hearing from you :)