Group Skating: Pacelines, Passing and Calls

Small-group skating on an oval cone track, with a helmet and full pads, to learn how to share space: skating in line, calling out stops and obstacles and passing safely. It prepares students for shared paths and skate parks.

How to play

1. Set up an oval cone track about 40 m around and set one direction of travel (3 min).
2. Train of three: skate in line 6 feet apart; the leader sets the pace and calls "Stopping" with a raised hand before slowing down (6 min).
3. Passing: the last skater passes on the left calling "On your left," and the skater being passed holds their line (7 min).
4. The leader rotates every lap, and the teacher lays cones on their side as obstacles that the leader must point out by arm and voice (6 min).
5. Reflection: which calls worked and what caused close calls (3 min).

Rules

• Helmet, wrist guards, elbow pads and knee pads required.
• One direction of travel and never more than three trains on the track at once.
• Pass only on the left, after a spoken warning.
• Keep at least 6 feet between skaters in a train; nobody holds on to the skater ahead.

Variations

Adaptations

• Hearing impairment: calls are always made with an arm signal as well as the voice, and their train knows it.
• Limited mobility: acts as track marshal, placing obstacles and checking spacing.
• Autism: always keeps the same spot in the train with partners chosen in advance.

Learning goals

• Share space safely with other skaters.
• Communicate stops, obstacles and passes with voice and gestures.
• Take on both leader and follower roles in a group.

Equipment for a class of 25

• inline skates: 15
• helmets: 15
• knee pads: 15
• elbow pads: 15
• wrist guards: 15
• cones: 20

Teacher tip

If the school has no skates or pads, borrow them from a local skating club, the city recreation department or another school, or let students bring their own with a signed parent permission form. If not everyone can skate, students without skates do the same train and calling work power walking on an inner track.

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