Argentina Scene report

Tags: alejandro scarpelli, alex munichor, argentina, argentina scene report, augustin obarrio, augusto balarino, buenos aires, francisco march, ivan molero, mauricio camacho, oliver nermerich, scene report

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In the past months South America Rollerblading has been getting more and more attention from the industry. Just recently the USD- and the NIMH-Team toured through the vibrant countries of Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia. One South American country (that is definitely not to be sneezed at) has been neglected during those trips. Since Be-Mag is always looking for the underground and grassroots scenes around the globe, we are happy to showcase you some Argentina rolling flavor. Here, dedicated rollers are about to change their underground and grassroots status and put Argentina on the big map. Local heroe Francisco March provides us with a great insight into the Argentina Rolling scene and Argentina itself. Check it out.

Intro by Oliver Nermerich
Story by Francisco March
Images by Augustin Obarrio

Although Argentina is widely recognized for its soccer, sultry tango, world-renowned beef and passionate crowds, these are only a few of the cultural elements that define this South American country. With an incredibly diverse geography and climate, Argentina also offers some of the most exotic and unique landscapes in the world, from the glaciers of the antarctic south to the northern tropics next to Brazil. In the capital of Buenos Aires, a sprawling cosmoplitan city of 20 million inhabitantes, there is a countless number of leisurley activities to choose from. With its picturesque neighborhoods, museums, a stong culinary culture and vibrant nightlife among other things, Argentina is condsidered a main destination for vacationers and travelers alike.

Augusto Balarino

In regards to other aspects and in relation to in-line skating, the underlining issue in Argentina is a general lack of skateparks and a third world infrastructure that in most cases is not well equipped for developing the sport. As a result, the possibility of increasing the exposure of aggresive skating is limited as far as spaces for events, generating media coverage and therefore little recognition from the local up to the international levels. Unfortunatley, circumstances such as these have prevented in-line skating from gaining popularity as it remains not a very well known sport in general.

Francisco March

However, what we do find here are sub-cultures of aggressive in-line skaters with alot of passion, determination and perseverance. Despite the challenges, they always find time between work, school and their daily responsibilities to dedicate to skating, refining their style and perfecting their tricks. Aggressive skaters in Argentina have been around since the mid 1990´s, a time when we looked to Chris Edwards and Arlo Eisenberg as the main skaters and the only skates available was the Magestic and the video of the time was that of Mad Beef. This is when Argentina became a growing part of this movement. With an uprising of various skaters that demonstrated interest in the sport is when we began see new skateparks emerge in the main cities such as Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Córdoba and Rosario. Up until the begining of 2002 in-line skating had gained popularity and was continuing to grow. And although we lacked official skateparks, skaters took to the many plazas of the cities, public rails and using national monuments for launching and grinding.

Mauricio Camacho

In 2002 Argentina suffered a complete ecomonic collapse and defaulted on the largest foreign debt in the history of the world that sent the argentine peso tumbling, pegged against a strong US dollar. The entire county fell victim to an economic crisis where the one of the most affected industries was the importation of goods and services which included the accesiblity of in-line skates and accessories in addition to all of the tools necessary to skate. A grave economic situation further divided the social classes and those who continued to progress in the world of in-line were simply those who could afford it, most could not. As a result, the X Games Niss and ASA had dissappeared as well as other fundamental events that previously helped diffuse a sport that was now left without the ressources for further development.

In the wake of the crisis, aggressive in-line skating practically dissapeared from the map. However, there were still skaters that never stopped and were resilient in their determination to continue practicing, making due with what they had. Once the crisis had passed and Argentina had reestablished economic stabability there was a reemergence of in-line skating!! There was still however great limitations with respect to the availablity of in-line skates and the capacity to buy and import. This made it very dificult and the only option was to have a friend or family member bring in skates from another country.

Ivan Molero

After a trip to California in Febuary of 2010 and the chance to meet Andy Wegner of Sunshine Distribution, we decided to begin to import their products to Argentina. This was an important step for all of the local skaters who needed new skates or simply replacements and wheels. Due to the influence of the old school riders who have always been faithful to the sport and the presence of the main-stream brands (Razor, Remz, Ground, Control and Jug), many young aspiring skaters now have the posibility to enter the realm of aggressive skating and begin to practice, introducing a new generation of skaters with a ton of potential and as we say here “ganas” or drive. They represent the emergence of the future of aggressive in-line and are learning from the old school who kept the sport alive during tough times and are proud to have dedicated so much passion and commitment to the sport that they love.

Since a few years ago we have seen quite a growing interest among young aspiring and anxious skaters who have shown that they have a lot to give! Now we are seeing an emergence of new skateparks as a result as well as the organization of tournaments and an ever increasing presence of main-stream in-line skate brands with tremendous potential amongst local argentine skaters. I myself have been skating for 15 years, to have been an intergral participant in the aggressive in-line movement in my country has been an amazing and fullfilling journey… ROLL FOR LIFE!!!

Pictures

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Comments

August 19th, 2010 @ 02:55 - by Mariano Mariano

Arriba mis bros! Bien ahi Panchito y Alex! abrazo hermanos.

Lolo

August 16th, 2010 @ 06:05 - by Augusto Balarino

great success! sick pics Obarrio jajjajaajajaa!
thnks Be-mag n' Panchis!

keep rollin' vieja!

August 10th, 2010 @ 14:38 - by JP

Sick article. All the third world countries have similar stuff happening in different timing. Brazil had it´s glory days, than economic shit, than glory days again hehehe. Keep rolling : )

If you guys wanna contact the brazilian scene, please go to cpimag.com or mail me at jp@rollingsports.com.br ... let´s make the south american scene as strong as european (one day hehehe). !!!

Congrats for the article !!!

August 09th, 2010 @ 23:46 - by Esteban Esteban

Rosario is a skater city!! There are great parks and ramps to skate. More info and pics: http://www.hoteltraveltour.com/argentina/rosario-santa-fe.html

August 09th, 2010 @ 21:53 - by Olli Olli

Yo Fran, It's be-mag! We are a big family here!
We all love rolling! so it's not only me:)

August 09th, 2010 @ 18:18 - by Papa Papa

"Local heroe Francisco March" jaja que hijo de puta...... no podes!

August 09th, 2010 @ 17:55 - by fran march

Great!!! thanks olli for give us the chance to show some argentine Scene !!!!

Keep rolling]!!!

August 09th, 2010 @ 15:59 - by daveghent