Skating his way to glory

After bankers close shop for the day in the Diplomatic Area, Mohamed Salman glides onto the empty streets to try a few new tricks to perfect his skating skills.

Bahraini Mohamed, 23, has been hopping from street to street to master the techniques of street skating which he hopes will one day win him the acclaimed World Rolling Series in Skating and bring extreme sporting glory to the kingdom.

As there are no dedicated skating parks in Bahrain, Mohamed, an aircraft engineering student at the BAS Aircraft Engineering Institute, has been locating make-shift practice areas across the island taking in Adliya, Sanabis, Juffair as well as the Diplomatic Area in preparation for a series of competitions to be held in Asia later this year.

He said: “I practice at different locations in order to handle different obstacles. The more obstacles you are able to manoeuvre over, the better.”

Mohamed, who lives in Galali, is gearing up to participate in the Indonesia Open X-Sports Championship and the Mettle Games 2011 in Singapore, to be held in October. Prior to these events, he will be attending practice sessions in Kuwait and Malaysia. 

He hopes to eventually compete in the Asian X Games claimed to be one of the biggest worldwide competitions where athletes and extreme sports enthusiasts will compete in various activities such as skateboarding, sports climbing and bicycle stunts. It is associated to the US-based X Games, a commercial annual sports event, controlled and arranged by sports broadcaster ESPN, which focuses on action sports.

Mohamed’s tryst with skating started eight years ago in Abu Dhabi. The Bahrain-born youngster moved to the emirate when his father, Salman Mohammed, a geologist, took up a job there.

He was introduced to the world of extreme sports and skating by a friend. He said: “I was curious about it and tried it out and within a couple of days managed to master quite a few tricks.

“Eventually, I found myself improving. It actually changed my personality and my lifestyle. As a child it is easy to get exposed to a lot of trouble such as alcohol, drugs and fights. Skating kept me away from all that and helped me to learn about discipline – put me in my own bubble.”

A serious injury during a practice session put a break on his skating a couple of years ago but when he moved back to Bahrain to pursue a degree in aircraft engineering he picked up the reins once again and was soon flying around the streets of Manama.

He said: “Two years ago I saw a bunch of boys skating around Al Jazira supermarket in Juffair. I went up to them and introduced myself. I was able to exchange some of my ideas with them and we soon got acquainted.”

The friendship led Mohamed to travel with the Bahrain BBoys, a group of young break-dancers, to Qatar, for a talent competition. The boys returned home from Doha having taken third place and it proved to be all the push that he needed to take up extreme sports more seriously.

His practice sessions continued until one day a friend mentioned about an X-sport competition in Korea last September. Mohamed said: “It was fantastic. There were so many skaters from so many countries – Japan, Malaysia, China, Singapore, Philippines … and I was the only Arab! There were also skaters of different ages – I shared a room with a 40-year-old enthusiast! The venue was massive, like a football stadium. It was so incredible!

“In Korea, I took 26th position and I’m now determined to do even better.

“I plan to take part in several competitions around the world and want to be able to win the World Rolling Series and become a professional skater in the future.”

Through the sport, Mohamed also aims to act as a mentor to other young people in the community and help steer them away from trouble.

He said: “I hope to guide and encourage youngsters into focusing their energies into something positive, like skating. I believe it is a sport which can provide discipline and help divert attention away from trouble which teenagers can so easily stray into without suitable direction or a sporting desire.”