XL Cover Story: Small Worlds - Skate World

A place to catch up with your kids -- or play catch-up

Skylar Kobren, 9, overtakes his mother, Jami, on a turn. "He's too fast for me," she says. She tries to keep up and each time he speeds ahead, making for a mother-chases-son game at Skate World. It's a game Mom can't win. All the while, Skylar taunts her. The moment is priceless.

At this skating rink, countless parent-child bonding moments have occurred through the years: races, dancing to the "Hokey Pokey" or the babying a parent does after a child has fallen for the umpteenth time. "Skating together is just a good family thing to do," Jami declares.

The Kobrens are at Skate World for Sahar Rashed's seventh birthday party. Concurrently, brother and sister Cheyenne and Jeremy Petrich are also celebrating a birthday at a separate table nearby. One time or another, seemingly every kid in the Austin area ends up at Skate World, whether it's a birthday or a school-sponsored party.

The rink has a new owner, David Phalan, who is jazzing up the place: new bathrooms, carpet and paint. He's installing an inflatable playscape for little ones and ramps that will be set up for skateboarding on certain nights.

He'll continue supervised all-nighters that are popular with kids who are locked in the building. They skate and eat till exhaustion. Summer camps are planned that include movies and field trips to Lake Travis to teach children to water ski.

Skate World is patronized by rink rats of all ages. Beverly Mendoza, 38, who hung out at the now-closed Hot Wheels rink in South Austin as a teen, discovered Skate World in 1995 when her son Dylan, 4 at the time, began skating. Now, the two and husband Paul make it a family event when they aren't scuba diving or riding dirt bikes.

"We reserve Friday nights for skating. I like to skate to the music, which, of course, embarrasses Dylan," says Beverly.

The rink is a hit with the Mendozas because they think it's a safe place for children. "I like the way everything is situated so you can see the reception area where the concession is. Parents can skate and, if their child stays in the reception area, it's easy to keep an eye on them. That's important," says Beverly.

The rink quickly grows on families. Eddie Lance, who teaches roller hockey at Skate World, says, "I can remember the first time we walked in on a Friday night at 6:30 in 1990. It was crowded. Parents were skating with their kids. Three birthday parties were going on. The tables were covered with party favors."

His son Christopher and daughter Victoria took to the rink. Soon, they were there four or five times a week. Christopher took up inline hockey. Victoria joined figure roller skating.

"You meet good people at the rink. It's just a good place to be," he says.
--Ricardo Gándara

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