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On Tuesday, Christian Keesler will board a jet bound for Europe, where over the course of a week he will compete in a series of in-line speedskating races in various French cities, racing against skaters from all over the world.
Keesler will be a target, says his father, Chris. In Europe, beating an American at anything is a big deal, he said.
If Keesler manages to win, though, it could mean a lot. He won’t collect a red cent in prize money, but coming home with a championship from what is called the France World Tour could attract sponsors who would help with equipment and other expenses involved in racing.
That would be particularly handy for Keesler, who hasn’t even figured out how he’s going to pay for this trip. He has collected some money from a couple of small projects and some donations from friends.
In one last-ditch attempt to help pay his way, there will be a benefit skating party from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Bell’s Roller Skating Rink, 7009 Lincoln Highway E. in New Haven, where Keesler is a member of the racing team. Admission is $5, and the proceeds will go to help pay for Keesler’s trip.
That’s the way it is in the in-line speedskating business.
“It’s a rich-kid’s sport,” said Keesler’s mother, Christa. People with money are the only ones who can afford to travel to cities that have the sort of tracks that speedskaters race on and practice. “But we’re not rich,” she said.
Instead, practically every spare dollar the family has goes for travel expenses, entry fees and equipment – especially those racing skates, which cost $600 for the boots, $150 for the frames and $130 per set for several sets of wheels, depending on the surface Keesler is racing on.
Meanwhile, Keesler spends his time practicing at Bell’s and skating around the track at Kekionga Middle School, where he’s in eighth grade.
Learning to speedskate on the relatively small, flat local skating rinks has actually given Keesler a bit of an advantage. He has learned to take sharp turns at high speed. Put him on a larger track with more sweeping turns and he has an edge.
In the six years since Keesler stumbled into the sport – he got involved after his father got a job at a local roller rink – he has racked up a series of impressive showings. His first year in competition, he finished second in the nationals racing quads (those are the square-frame four-wheeled skates), and he placed first his second year in his age group.
He has since graduated to in-line skates and has done well enough to catch the attention of a coach from Detroit who was once a world-class skater himself. That’s who will accompany him and a team of skaters to Europe next week.
For a time, Keesler held some hope that someday he might be able to compete in the Olympics, but in-line speedskating, one of five proposed new events for the Olympics, didn’t get chosen.
Ideally, Keesler’s father hopes Christian can become a professional racer. One of the top professional in-line speedskaters, Joey Mantia, makes $70,000 a year, he said.
Ice, though, holds a lure for Keesler, too, and he might try that sort of speedskating, though he has never done it. Ice holds advantages.
“You don’t have to worry about buying wheels and bearings,” Christian Keesler said.
But first, he’s going to try to conquer Europe.
