Rico Rucker, president of PGH SK8, talks on a panel after screening the HBO documentary United Skates on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, at the Homewood-Brushton YMCA in Homewood. (Photo by Anastasia Busby/PublicSource)
Rico Rucker uses a roll-in movie to inspire the skate community as PGH SK8 works toward opening their own roller rink in the city.
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The Homewood-Brushton YMCA filled with the sounds of roller skaters of all ages doing laps around the gym while the first snow of the season came down outside last Thursday.
The PGH SK8 collaborative works to provide accessible and safe spaces for the skating community. Rico Rucker, president of PGH SK8, has been devoted to finding these spaces for the last three years, and hopes to turn the Greater Pittsburgh Coliseum into a roller rink.
Dozens of skaters and community members came to watch the screening of the 2018 HBO documentary “United Skates.” The film follows roller skating culture and communities and the devastation of sweeping roller rink closures in cities across the U.S.
“To show this movie tonight was a way to show my community that, ‘Hey, look what Los Angeles did,’” Rucker said. “They turned that roller rink that closed down to a community asset.”
After the screening, PGH SK8 held a panel featuring OG skaters Marlo “FloJo” Jones and Darryl “Dangerous D” Meadows. Together, Meadows and Jones host adult skate nights at the Pittsburgh Indoor Sports Arena, in Cheswick. Meadows, who has been skating for 56 years, hopes PGH SK8 will succeed in opening a rink in the city.
“We need a rink that we can call our own,” he said. “We are gonna keep on rolling no matter what.”
Anastasia Busby is a photojournalist with PublicSource who can be reached at anastasia@publicsource.org and on Instagram @abuzzbee_photography.
This article first appeared on PublicSource and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.