WELCOME TO
THE MIDDLE EIGHT
WHo WE ARE
Hey fellow skater!
We are presuming you've landed here because, as with us, you have a passion for 8 wheels!
The Middle Eight Crew was formed because founding member Kerry Pearson (IG @authenticallykes) got tired of rolling solo in her kitchen and decided to do something about it... We are an eclectic bunch ranging from age 10 up to 57 currently, with a complete mix of skill levels as well.
We love rollerskating in all of it's glorious forms - park skating, roller derby, roller dance, jam skating, artistic and anything inbetween. Inline and quads inclusive.
The Middle Eight was created to educate, support, and grow the rollerskating community in the Herts, Bucks and Beds area.
We currently have a weekly club session from 7.30-9.30pm at Berkhamsted Leisure centre for ages 10+ and we'd love to have you join!
The OG crew on our inaugural meet up
Our Philosophy
Our motto is "Practice. Play. Progress." and this perfectly describes our outlook on rollerskating. We refute the notion of inbuilt "talent", instead believing with intentional practice anyone can get better.
For us rollerskating is not performed for the sake of achieving a particular trick or skill, but rather that strapping 8 wheels onto ones feet is simply joyful. We do it for the love, the thrills, and the sense of freedom rollerskating gives.
When we skate it allows us to reconnect with our inner child and remember what it is just to "play". Progression just happens to be a by-product of this process. Wherever you are on your skate journey we invite you to join our growing community to see how a little practice and a lot of playing, can help you you progress.
What we do
Thursday "Jam Skate" sessions
Don't let the name put you off! Primarily this session exists to provide our community with a weatherproof buttery smooth floor to practice all things on skates in a calm and safe environment.
We can help you with the fundamentals of forwards and backwards skating, stopping and transitions. Once you are feeling confident in the basics we can help you master classic dance and jam moves such as struts, dribbles, the hez, crazy legs, spins and much more.
We are massively inspired by the vibrant UK skate communities such as The NC (London), The Invisible Skate Tribe (Liverpool), Late Skates (Reading), MCR Jam Skate (Manchester) to name a few. As our own group grows we hope to learn and create group choreos in the way these groups have, creating our own distinctive style influenced by the strengths and interests of out members.
Future Plans
Our Thursday night club sessions are just the start ๐ค From September The Middle Eight has a number of exciting projects launching including:
6 week block Beginner Lessons
A monthly Own Skates evening Roller Disco
Hosted beginner street skates
Skate workshops from community experts covering diverse topics from skate dance fundamentals, "chopping", rollerskate maintenence, fitness for rollerskating and much more
Outdoor pop up skate jams
Group trips to national and other community skate events
To be first to know, click the link below๐ to join our mailing list. We can't wait to skate with you ๐
Where we Meet
Locations
Our main base is at Berkhamsted Leisure Centre where our weekly jam sessions are held, and future lessons and workshops will be run
๐ Berkhamsted Everyone Active, Lagley Meadow, Douglas Gardens, Berkhamsted, HP4 3QQ
We street skate in Watford, meeting at Meriden Park Community Cente
๐ Meriden Centre, Garsmouth Way, Watford, WD25 9ET
We also outdoor skate at Abbots Langley Manor House Park
๐ Manor House Park, Gallows Hill Lane, Abbots Langley, WD5 0DE
Contact Us
We are currently a very small team of super enthusiastic rollerskaters trying to make a "thing" happen. You can reach out by sending us a message below or on one of our socials and we promise we will reply! We also have WhatsApp group you can join for the inside scoop on what's going on which you can join by scanning the QR code.
Join The Midde Eight Chat here ๐
