Dear Friends,
 
I would like you to know that all of World Skate and I are here for you during these very troubling times. As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted activity across the whole world, interrupting our daily lives and forcing sports to come to a stop.
 
During these past months, sports across the world have gradually ceased their activity, starting at the local and national level, and continuing to the continental and global level; with even the Olympic Games being postponed to 2021. Ceasing activity was not an easy decision to make, because the physical activity of sport helps us to put our best self forward in our everyday life: sport supplies you with the energy and motivation to face and overcome the hardships of life, something that we are all in need of right now.
 
I’ve always thought of World Skate as a family composed of all the National Federations. In a family we take care of each other and make decisions to protect each other, especially those in need. I am proud of the fact that in this big family of ours, you, the National Federations, have often been among the first to put athletes’ health above everything else.
 
This is indeed the time to stay home, however, it is not the time to stop or disappear.
 
We have the duty to make our presence heard by our athletes at all levels, judges, referees, coaches, and the clubs that continue to work tirelessly to make our sports grow.
 
We have the duty to ensure that once this ends, our family will be even more united and happy to get back skating.
 
During our digital meeting this past week, the World Skate Executive Board appreciated and has enthusiastically agreed with my proposal to give the utmost priority to national sports activity in rescheduling the events calendar and then to focus on the continental and international events. It is pointless staging international championships if we don’t give athletes the chance to train and compete at the national level first. 
 
We have the duty to actively engage with the millions of athletes worldwide eager to get back to normality: they are our future!
 
If you haven’t done so yet, I invite you to engage all athletes, coaches, referees, and judges within your National Federations through video calls, online training sessions, education sessions, and on your social media platforms. By giving a sense of continuity to the work you have been doing during these past years, we will all get through this together. We are available to create a network showcasing what is going on within the different Federations. When this pandemic is over and we are all together again, the creative efforts we are putting forward now will allow us to start up again stronger than ever before.
 
World Skate will continue to monitor the evolution of the pandemic and the repercussions on our international activity.
 
I thank you once again for your passion and dedication. I hope to see you all again really soon.
 
Best regards,


Sabatino Aracu
President 


World Skate | Maison du Sport International
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