Cornelia Fort Airpark
I’ve been roller skating on and off since middle school, but my skate career saw a couple setbacks over the past year. Moving to Nashville and losing all my gear in a house fire made me feel like a beginner again — on top of figuring out the local spots, I had to start from scratch, finding a new set of skates and relearning the muscle memory of being on wheels after months away.
Thank goodness for Asphalt Beach. At veteran skater Steve Larios’ shop in East Nashville’s Five Points, you can get fitted for your own gear and get advice from expert staffers who skate around the building throughout their shifts. Plus you can meet the shop’s cats Sean Kelly, Biggie and Fabiola — a survivor of the March 2020 tornado that destroyed the business’s previous building. With a new pair of quads in hand, I found a city full of prime skating spots at my doorstep.
Cornelia Fort Airpark is a classic for a reason: Its wide-open spaces and flat, paved runways make for an ideal spot for beginners to practice laps. But local skate coach Alyssa Kontos (on Instagram as @rollerpony) also recommends the outdoor roller hockey rinks at YMCA Bellevue and Hendersonville’s Volunteer Park at Arrowhead, which are open to the public when they haven’t been booked for games or practices. The group Skate Nashville holds meetups throughout the city, and Shelby Park Community Center hosts bring-your-own-skates family skating hours from 12:15 to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
Though the East Side skate shop was destroyed in the March 2020 tornado, Fabby and Duzy survived
“If you don’t have your own equipment, and you want to try out roller skating, I always recommend people to just go to the rink,” says Kontos. Rivergate Skate Center and Skate Center Brentwood both have adults-only skate nights, and Rivergate has also started hosting ’90s/2000s-themed throwback nights, with the next one on June 8.
Jason Cockerham, who owns Rivergate and has worked in local roller rinks since high school, particularly recommends the Tuesday night adult skates and Thursday family nights for beginners. For young skaters, the rink offers skate trainers, a kind of PVC pipe walker on wheels that helps kids maintain their balance. He says Nashville’s skate scene has grown with the city — these days, a melting pot of regional skate styles shows up at the rink, including fast-paced California skating and Chicago-style JB dance moves.
Austin Black, a Skate Nashville member who skates both inline and on skateboards, also thinks the scene has changed. Mainly he says that since the ’90s, past animosity between skateboarders, roller skaters and BMX riders has dissolved: “We’re all coexisting.”
After local professional inline skater Tony Woodland started running greenway skate outings, Black got involved hosting them and says “anyone who wants to be there” can attend — no matter your preferred type of wheels. He recommends greenways for the intermediate to advanced skater who’s comfortable navigating hills and tight curves, but the group’s outings vary by skill level. He also says not to discount the skate park — if you’re willing to go during a less busy time, spots like Two Rivers Skate Park and Sixth Avenue Skatepark at Rocketown can be “very suitable” for beginners.
When it comes to advice, Kontos, Cockerham and Black all say experienced skaters in the community are welcoming and excited to meet newbies. Don’t be intimidated by how cool they look, and don’t be afraid to ask for help — most of them, Kontos says, are “thrilled to help new skaters” learn. I can personally say that after gracefully falling my first time at Rivergate, I got a supportive thumbs-up from someone skating by.
“It’s a family feel,” says Cockerham.
Black also emphasizes the freedom and confidence-building that skating offers: “It’s been a good hobby to me.” His general recommendation is to “just get outside.”
“You don’t have to compete with anybody else — you don’t have to be the best,” he emphasizes. “Enjoying that community is what we’re after.”
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