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The sport of log rolling is, literally, "on a roll", as people are
discovering this great American sport. Kids and adults love the
challenge of learning to "spin cedar" while audiences, both live and on
television, are learning how thrilling the sport is to watch.
The ILRF, a nonprofit foundation, was incorporated in 2005 to "foster
international amateur log rolling competition and support and develop
athletes for log rolling competition".
The foundation will not be a governing or rule-making body but will
develop teaching programs and tournaments, while building public awareness for the sport. It will be governed by a
Board of Directors and funded through grants, sponsorships, and
donations.
This blog will have information pertaining to the development of
programs, competition, and any other random information we can find on
the sport.
Check back as we develop a full-featured website! For more information, contact us at: logrollers@aol.com
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Olympic swimmer
Robert Strauss and owner of SwimGym camps in Miami, reports that the
addition of log rolling to his summer aquatic camps is perfecto.
Camp started last week and Robert reports that the log rolling has been
a sensation at camp, and that kids are learning quickly!
He was unable to find an experienced teacher to go to Miami for the summer but thanks
to Sue Bulk of La Crosse, who sent him some teaching materials and a
training dvd, the instructors are finding their way and children are
loving it. He said, "Next year for sure you send me a real
lumberjack to run the station and it will really be the start of something big
in Aquatic Sports!!!"
Robert is a nationally known swim coach and promoter of good living
through aquatic sports, and he's proclaiming that log rolling will be
"something big in Aquatic Sports!!!".... Hallelujah! This is the first
log rolling program, that I am aware of, that has started up without
experienced teachers. It's very good news.
And the plastic log that the camp is using, while not ideal, appears to be good for
beginners and large aquatic programs. See the log product here: www.funwaterproducts.com
Thanks to Robert for his wonderful enthusiasm. As he says, "Why Swim, When
you can Fly!"
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Vail Village, Colorado was the place to be for outdoor sports action a
few weeks ago, and the log rolling demo conducted by Katie and Lizzie
Hoeschler at the Teva Mountain Games was a resounding "hit". The
log rolling demo took place in the kayak demo pool and drew huge crowds!
The crowd was wowed by the Hoeschler sisters fancy footwork but were
even more wowed when they watched the pro kayakers give it a try.
Brad Ludden, one of the best kayakers in the world, has been taking
lessons all spring and put on a pretty good show, though his fellow pro
kayakers who gave it try, learned why it's "as easy as falling off a
log".
Teva marketing reps were psyched to meet the log rollers and learn that
Teva is the shoe of choice for traction logs. And the Vail
organizers are looking ahead to a log rolling presence at the Games in
2007. Cool, dude.
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World Champion Log Rollers will be demonstrating at the popular outdoor
games which rock climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, and more. A
large tank that will be set up in the Vail Village for kayak demos will
now make room for an official rolling log. Team Hoeschler will be
demonstrating and teaching on June 3 and 4th.
Teva is, quite literally, a perfect fit for log rolling! Their
kayaking shoes have become the "shoe of choice" for many log rollers,
on traction (carpeted) log surfaces. They provide the grip and
support necessary for high performance log rolling. The ILRF is
optimistic this demo will lead to good things with Teva and/or other
shoe companies. For more info about the Games go to http://www.tevamountaingames.com
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After months of preparation, five logs were painted and carpeted to be shipped from
La Crosse, Wisconsin to Epinal, France for a summer log rolling
program: the first of its kind in Europe.
The ILRF spent part of the winter researching Overseas Shipping 101.
There's a bit of a learning curve but shipping has become a commodity and the
prices don't vary wildly from company to company. Not
surprisingly, if you ship in
quantity, the price goes down...A LOT. One full shipping container (109
logs) costs the same as
shipping five individual logs! And amazingly,
due to the huge US trade imbalance with Asia, you can ship a full
container
to China for $200!
Things were flowing downstream fairly smoothly when we received a
message from the shipper (one week before ETD) that "western red cedar
is a restricted commodity and requires a special license". (It has
something
to do with its scarcity and concerns about it being logged illegally on Native
lands in Canada and Alaska?!)
We are working with the US Department of Commerce and our congressional representative to expedite things.
Hopefully, some cedar logs will be traveling across the Atlantic soon
and
French children will be log
rolling (trunc du tournez?) by August.
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The Avon Rec Center gave two thumbs up to World Champion Lizzie
Hoeschler when she asked to put a big cedar log in their indoor swimming pool. As the
ski mountains closed down for the year, kids who had just put away
their skis, came flocking to the pool like the salmon of Capistrano (or
was it swallows).
Lizzie reports that kids in Vail are just like kids
everywhere: crazy (for log rolling!). Avon has a nice outdoor
pond that she is working to get permission for a summer
program.
The Rocky Mountains are fertile ground for log rolling
programs; everyone is sports-crazed and oriented toward off-beat
activities. I predict that in a few years there could be some major
cedar-spinning happening at 10,000 feet.
Here's a link to an article from the Vail Daily: http://vaildaily.com/article/20060420/SPORTS/104200063
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| Steamboat Springs Health and Rec Center has approved log rolling classes for its 2006 Spring Session! The ILRF has been working with Aquatics Director Rachael Rangel to gain approval and we're psyched its come to fruition.
Yesterday we had a snowy Sunday afternoon log rolling session in the hot pool (102°) with local kids and ski tourists. One boy climbed on the log and I could see that he was familiar with standing on a log. He told me he was from, where else, Wisconsin, and that he had tried log rolling at a summer camp. Within an hour, he and a boy from Steamboat were showing everyone in the pool how quickly kids can get hooked. People who began by expressing amusement at a log rollingl, ended by inquiring where to sign up for classes.
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I was recently contacted by a camp director in Miami, Florida who is adding log rolling to his summer day camp. (http://swimgym.net/camp/aquaticcamp.php
): he is looking for experienced instructors. This is a small but
important step in the development of youth log rolling. Imagine
kids in Miami, with its year-round warm climate, getting hooked on log
rolling!
I have long expressed my belief that the future of log rolling is
in the aquatic sports sector and not in the lumberjack sports sector.
While the roots and history of the sport is in the forests of North
America, the future is in swimming pools around the
world; YMCAs, City Park and Recreation Centers, and Jewish
Community Centers are all pursuing log rolling classes for their
aquatics programs. I believe this is the tip of the
iceberg. The reasons that log rolling will continue to grow
nationally and internationally are:
- It's inexpensive: program equipment (logs) and athlete equipment (shoes) are cheap.
- It's fun to do; put a log in the water with kids, it's like bees to honey.
- It's easy to teach: there's a front step, a back step, and the
important "transition" between the two! Even non-log rollers can
teach beginners.
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It's safe: no head injuries, spinal cord injuries, or knee
"blow-outs". (In fact it's been proven to be good rehab for ACL
reconstructions.
- It's generates new income for aquatic and recreation program.
- It's easy to produce events compared with many other sports. Have
you ever organized a ski race or mountain bike race? Yikes, talk about
work.
- Television
loves log rolling because its thrilling, has strong ratings, and
is easy to produce: athletes stay in one place.
- It has all the pros of boxing: excitement, aggression, suspense;
without the cons: violence and injury. Sports writers could have a
heyday with this sport once they learn more about it.
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Denise Marquardt, a great champion and enthusiastic supporter of youth
development, received a much deserved honor when she was selected to be
a part of the Newark (N.J.) YMCA Sports Legends Program. Besides the
work she did training young athletes for many years, Denise was also
instrumental in keeping the International Log Rolling Association on
track as Secretary/Treasurer. Read more Denise:
http://www.haywardwi.com/record/index.php?sect_rank=8&story_id=215270
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While brainstorming a simple way to introduce log rolling
internationally, I came up with an idea... to use the numerous Sister-City
International relationships that have developed in La Crosse, WI (also
a leader in youth log rolling programming). I called Dianne Seyler, the friendly president of the La
Crosse/Epinal, France Sister-City club; her enthusiastic response,
along with her powerful translation skills, got the log rolling.
The ILRF's first major project was born: the "La Crosse
Sister-City Log Rolling Project" will work to introduce log rolling in
La Crosse's six Sister-Cities. The Sister-City network is ideal for
introducing log
rolling to communities because there are already
many relationships developed, so the access to decision makers and
financial support has already been established.
In December, a La Crosse delegation traveled to Épinal, France (35,000 pop.)
where we had very fruitful meetings with the Deputy
Mayor of Sports, Jean Claude Cravoisy. (He and his assistant
approved the concept before we were finished
with our presentation!)
Here's a picture of Jean Claude: note his US Log Rolling hat.
I had an opportunity to meet with a group of
children and their parents, to show them videos and
photographs of log rolling; they all expressed great
enthusiasm for learning, what they called "le
nouveau sport" or "the new sport". They have no idea
how old it actually is!
We will ship logs and begin training instructors in
May. Épinal has one Olympic indoor pool and four
outdoor pools; the mayor expressed a desire to have
log rolling at each pool. Our goal is to have log rolling exchanges and competition taking place
We also met with the mayors of
cities in England, Belgium, Germany, and Italy ...
all Sister-Cities of Épinal. (Do you see the
possibilities for growth?!) They all expressed
excitement about the sport and we agreed to work to
develop programs in each city. They have exchanges
of all kinds with Épinal: business, music, sports,
education, etc. Log rolling will be something new
and exciting to "exchange". Most of these cities
are within a four-hour drive of Épinal.
The Mayor of Loughborough, England (below); his wife; and
his assistant loved the idea of log rolling in their town! Loughborough is
adjacent to Nottingham Forest: Robin Hood meets the Lumberjacks?
Epinal is a medieval city situated in the Moselle River valley,
surrounded by large pine forests. While visiting Epinal's historic
museum, I saw a painting of the old walled city, created in the
1600's. Clearly visible on the river, were two men on log rafts,
floating down the river. I had been told that Epinal was an old
logging town; I didn't know just how old!
Today Epinal is a vibrant small city: very family-oriented and
sports-minded. An old channel of the Moselle has been turned into a
world-class kayaking course, right in the middle of the downtown. Here
are a few photos of the city and people:
Family Fun Run for St. Nicholas fest: future log rollers!
St. Nicholas appears in the village market.
The French drink wine at every opportunity. God bless them!
One of Epinal's most famous wood carvers and designer of beautiful
historical wood block posters for important events; maybe someday a poster for a log rolling event?!
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