Although the sport of inline speed skating is somewhat new, inline speed skates are not. The first pair of inline skates were invented in the 1700’s by John Joseph Merlin as a means of transportation in the summer months. It wasn’t until around a century later that James Plimpton even invented the first pair of traditional style quad skates (2 wheels in front, 2 in the back). Plimpton’s invention of the quad skate sparked the popularity of roller skating; the quad was far more practical than it’s inline counterpart, which was illogically constructed using metal wheels that didn’t provide much control.
James Plimpton formed the New York Skating Association (NYSA) to help promote his favorite pastime. IN 1866, the NYSA turned Plimpton’s furniture business into the first roller rink in America. By the 1870’s, Plimpton had traveled to over 20 countries promoting roller skating, during which skating rinks were popping up all around the world.
With the popularity of roller skating growing at substantial rates, it was only natural for a pastime to turn to sport. The first national championships were held in Detroit in 1937, where 17 rink owners brought their speed teams to compete. After the national competition, the 17 rink owners met and formed roller skating’s first governing body, called The Roller Skating Rink Operators Association. From 1937 to 1972 the sport of roller skating was governed by numerous different organizations, however, today exists just one national governing body; United States Amateur Roller Skating Association at birth, and known today as USA Roller Sports.
With roller skating reaching it’s peak in the early 80’s to late 90’s, it seemed the sport was looking to evolve. With technological advances, manufacturers were able to create an inline speed skate that was far superior in performance to the traditional roller skate. In 1991, USA Roller Sports finally allowed athletes wearing inline skates to compete against those wearing traditional quad skates. It did not take long for the speedskating community to identify that quad skates had become obsolete.
After the revival of inline skates, we saw our sport reach new heights. With competitions being held globally and over 50 million skaters worldwide, it’s now time to see our passion transform from an amateur model to a recognized professional sport.
The Birth of NSC
NSC (National SpeedSkating Circuit) was founded and created by Miguel Jose, a 4 time inline speed skating National Champion, with the intention of commercializing inline speed skating, thus turning it into a professional mainstream American sport. With the help from 28 time World Champion, Joey Mantia, Miguel was able to form an organization strictly for professional inline speed skaters.