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WHY JOIN THE ROLLER SPORTS WEB ?
First, let me tell you the purpose of the RS Web
The primary goal of the RS Web is to promote roller skating in all forms around the world and to raise the awareness of our sport to the General Public, as well as to raise the awareness of each Individuals importance to roller skating, whether Competition, Recreational, Social, etc.
We have absolutely No desire to become a Governing Body. There are already many National, Regional, State & Local Governing Bodies throughout the world, and they are doing a good job supporting skaters in their area(s).
We are quite content to leave the Rules Making to those governing bodies.
We are strictly a Non-Profit organization and are staffed solely by volunteers who set up web sites about Roller Skating on the Internet - WWW at their own expense, to support the sport they love.
It's our dream to bring all roller sports people together (whether competitors or not), in a Centralized, Coherent and Structured place to promote our sport. We envision that "place" as the Roller Sports Web.
(WHY A "STRUCTURED" ORGANIZATION WITH RULES ABOUT POSTING LOGOS, ETC.)?
Football teams wear the same uniform, as do Basketball, Track, etc.
Even Dance and Freestyle teams wear the same color & style outfits.
Why? Because the "sameness" shows the world that they are a TEAM, more than One person working TOGETHER with a common goal!
Without rules & conditions, there would be no Team atmosphere between members. The rule about posting the RS Web logo on the Homepage (and the reminder that the Main Hub of the RS Web, here, ONLY links to the page where the member does post the logo) is to try to get sites and individuals to be proud of their RS Web, and to show the world a Unified presentation of what roller skating is Really all about.
Without having your RS Web logo posting rule being required of all members, we would simply be a bunch of skate sites, each with no real identity, and without the look of an Organized TEAM.
Without true organization, people would use search engines and get over 26,000 independent, non-linked sites to sift through.
Your independent local site would have little chance of being found by someone who was not yet into skating, and was just looking for someplace where they could get the most information about the sport.
It is obvious that the above "someone who was not yet into skating, and was just looking for someplace where they could get the most information about the sport" are the exact ones we MUST get interested in our sport if it is to grow!.
When some independent skating site claims to get 100,000, 200,000 or 300,000 unique hits per month, ask why their site is not in the "Top 10 Roller Skating Sites on the Internet"! (Your RS web IS)!
How many times have you clicked on a sites link, only to find that they are no longer in existance?
All too many skating sites are closing down simply because they do not get enough users to justify the expenses and time of running a site, or because the skating club doesn't have enough members to warrant even having a site on the Internet!
The vast majority of such sites are Independent sites without any real interconnection between them and the rest of the skating world.
They are in the bottom area of any skating listing from Search Engines and just don't get the exposure or promotion they deserve. The RSWEB posts your site on the same pages as everyone elses site.
We provide an interconnection between all skating site members and get new visitors to your site. Not only those who are already skating, but others who may just be surfing the web and become interested in skating through the vast facilities of Your RS Web International Organization!
When they see your site, they May become skaters, and may join Your Club!
The rules about logo posting, etc. are there to insure that we remain a coherent, tightly knit "majority" with the power to reach not only the present Competitive and Social skaters, but other people who are not yet into our sport. There are some sites that will not join us because they are afraid that they will no longer be the "big honcho" in their area, or be able to present themselves as "the" roller skating information source of the Internet & World Wide Web.
The result is posting of information on so many sites (much of which is out of date or simply Wrong) and no uniform connectivity between the sites.
As seperate entities, the sites can never effectively serve the very people they are trying to reach. The RS Web changed some of that by bringing us all together in a common effort to promote our sport around the world.
Yes, I am the Founder, President, Webmaster, etc. of the RS Web, but I AM NOT THE RS WEB!
The Skaters (YOU) Are the RS Web! Not me, not any one person.
(WHY WAS THE RS WEB FOUNDED AND WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE?)?
I started the RS Web (with only the Eastern Region site as the entire RS Web) on January 11, 1997 (my birthday).
I saw a large number of skating sites that had almost no real connection between them. Everyone of them were trying to help roller skating and roller skaters in the way that they thought best, but everyone had Different ideas of what was "best".
I simply thought that by linking as many sites as possible together, on a World-Wide basis, we could all reach so many More people who might then become interested in our sport.
My idea was not unique, and I am sure that Many others thought about the same thing.
The only difference was that I did something about it!
I have tried very hard to insure that the RS Web doesn't become "bossy" and attempt to order sites to make changes based soley on my opinion.
(HOW MUCH REAL SUCCESS HAVE WE HAD)?
We now have RS Web Regional Sites in all 9 USARS Regions of the United States. Some are Regional Artistic, Hockey, or Speed sites. We also have members and sites in Over 80 Countries around the World!
The USARS National site has our Regional Image Map posted on their site and asks their visitors to also visit us. The USA Hockey In-Line National Governing Body has joined the RS Web and has their RS Web logo prominently posted on the Homepage of their site.
Other forward-looking Governing Bodies such as the Eastern Counties Roller Hockey Association (ECRHA), the British Artistic Roller Skating (BARS), in the United Kingdom and the East Coast Hockey Organization have their RS Web logo posted on their homepages, as does the Osterreichischer Rollsport und Inline Skate Verband (ORSV), the AssociaÇao De Patinagem Do Minho (Spain) and the Comitato Italiano Freestyle & Skating, (CIFS) (Italy).
Other National Governing Bodies around the world have also expressed interest in joning us as "Class A" full National Governing Body Associate sites.
(WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?)?
First, I have to ask that all of our sites, Individual, Local, State, Regional, National & International try to get other sites to join us in our effort. I ask that you don't just link to other skating sites simply to fill your links page, but actually make an effort to get them to join your RS Web.
Also IMPORTANT No matter how mad or frustrated you get with your National Governing Body, please DO NOT criticise them on the Internet! That can ONLY hurt roller skatings image throughout the World!
Write or call your National office and tell THEM about the problem.
Are we all individually important? Well we are the Skaters, the Competitors the "Governed"! Without US who would the Governing Bodies GOVERN?
The Official adopted slogan of the RS Web is - OF the Skaters, FOR the Skaters, BY the Skaters
Only with the help of all our members can we get new sites to join us in promoting Roller Sports around the world.
Why not click on the link provided here and JOIN The RS Web in our common venture?
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I will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and to receive your opinions, suggestions, etc. regarding the RS Web. Only with your emails do I know what direction You want Your RS Web to go!
Click on any of the email links on the main hib site here to send me email.
Thank you for your time reading this.
Dave
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