Moxi<\/a> waiting for me\u2014a humble storefront in a beachfront city with a diverse staff of coaches and teachers encouraging me to get on some roller skates and feel the freedom of gliding on wheels.<\/p>\nMoxi is Long Beach\u2019s only roller skate shop and its pastel storefront in the heart of Retro Row has birthed not only the Long Beach Roller Derby League\u2014 which plays occasional matches at the Queen Mary Dome\u2014but now Moxi Roller Skating School, a safe, fun and healthy summer program for local girls ages 7-17 that meets every Monday evening at the Bay Shore roller hockey rink. \u201cWhy roller skating?\u201d you may ask. But a better question might be, \u201cWhy not roller skating?\u201d Roller skating is an alternative sport on the rise, sneaking its way into the lives of out-of-the-box thinkers around the world and this time they\u2019re back with a new skate culture and endless opportunities for mentoring strong, powerful youth. Although roller skates can be used as an independent source of daily exercise, games such as roller derby teach defense techniques and camaraderie while giving players both confidence and the balance of a ballerina.<\/p>\n
As a Moxi Roller Skating School coach myself, I feel a sense of purpose at every practice I teach. When the five o\u2019clock hour rolls around and I see a beachside roller hockey rink full of fresh faces, I know it\u2019s my job to give them all we\u2019ve got and make sure they remember why they are there.<\/p>\n
Moxi Roller Skating School works on a variety of skills\u2014such as defense, dance moves, power stops, endurance and the proper way to fall (and most importantly, how to get back up!). And at the end of every practice, no matter how we started off, we all feel as if we learned something and left a better skater than the time before. Moxi may be a skate shop, but it is also a family that believes in the talents hiding in today\u2019s youth. We want to dedicate endless hours to our up-and-coming roller stars, and when we see all that time and work translate into self-worth and empowerment in our students, we know it was time well spent.<\/p>\n
In most games it\u2019s all about winning or losing\u2014a tally of points that leaves only one champion. But every Monday night at Bay Shore hockey rink, I become surrounded by a group of first-place champions that are proud of every score they make.<\/p>\n
In a world where positive outlets for our energetic youth (and especially for young girls) are being de-funded daily, we should be unplugging them from their virtual adventures and strapping on a pair of skates for a \u201cwheely\u201d good time. Interested on embarking on that roller journey? Moxi has a strict \u201cno excuses\u201d policy and offers a months worth of free practices as well as free rentals of pads and skates when check out the Sunday before practices. For more information on the Moxi Roller Skate School, contact Coach Liv at Livskates42@gmail.com.<\/p>\n
{vsig}shelby\/jrrollerderby{\/vsig}<\/p>\n
Photos by Shelby Dereszynski<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"IMG](\"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_8995.jpg\")
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I remember being ten like it was yesterday. I was the tomboy trying to fit in, struggling to figure it all out. But if I could go back and do it all over again, I\u2019d hope to find a place like Moxi waiting for me\u2014a humble storefront in a beachfront city with a diverse staff of coaches and teachers encouraging me to get on some roller skates and feel the freedom of gliding on wheels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":16729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=481"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"IMG](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_8995.jpg\")
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