Murcia, Spain ICP Level 1 9-11 May 2014

May 15, 2015

By ICP Examiner Asha Kirkby

It was a relief to arrive at Alicante airport and feel the warm sun after a turbulent and rainy few weeks in the UK. Spain has the perfect climate for skating and I’m sure this is one of the reasons for the huge growth we are seeing there over the last few years. I was met my Manuel Hernandez Cifuentes, President of Murcia FreeSkate (MFSK) ICP Level 1 instructor hosting the program and we drove 45 mins to his home city of Murcia, the capital of the region.

There were 10 skaters on the course which included other presidents from local skate clubs in Murcia and the southern region (TRS Albacete , Paritadores Murcia , Murcia Freeskate) who came with previous teaching experience but wanting to expand their knowledge base with the ICP methods. We began on Friday afternoon with 3 hours of skate skills training where old habits were ironed out and ‘demonstration quality’ was highlighted. The Theory session followed and then we skated with more local skaters for their Firday Night Skate tour, stopping at a few bars for tapas. Murcia is a super-skateable city, very flat and with beautiful smooth tarmac.

The venue was 3 basketball courts of a school and it was beautifully smooth (perfect for powerslides!). The ICP Level 1 timetable is intense, all day Saturday learning and practising how to teach in small groups with Sunday reserved for the 3 tests, written theory test, teaching exam and skate skills exam. Sunday was a challenge for everyone as we experienced a mini heat wave and the temperatures soared to 41 degrees (with no breeze). Even for Murcia this was unusual for this time of year.

I am grateful to Manuel and MFSK associate Gustavo Macanas (owner of skate shop www.boothsport.es) for their help over the weekend. I was showered with their generosity of time, ideas, gifts and great food! I look forward to returning to Murcia and hopefully having another course in early October this year.

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