2023 TOP STORIES: Round and round: National Roller Sports Championships

Eric Poole, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
·2 min read

Dec. 25—EDITOR'S NOTE — This is the first in a five-part series focusing on the top five stories in Mercer County this year. The series will run through Saturday.

For one month in 2023, Hermitage occupied the center of the sports world — or at least one aspect of it.

A cooperative effort involving Olympic Fun Center, the city of Hermitage, area hotels, the Shenango Valley Mall, and the VisitMercerCountyPA tourism promotion agency successfully staged the U.S. National Roller Sports championship event.

Speed roller skating competitions took place in mid-June, followed by artistic roller skating — the equivalent of figure skating on ice — from June 26 to July 1 after a one-week hiatus.

"In my 47-plus years being involved in roller skating and taking conventions and sporting events around the country, your little town just rocked it," Jim McMahon, executive director of Roller Skating Association International, said on The Herald's New Generation podcast. "You knocked it out of the park."

The Shenango Valley had to overcome one concern on the part of event organizers. The nearest airport, Pittsburgh International, is about an hour away. However, the flip side — Hermitage's proximity to Interstates 80, 79 and 376, which runs directly to the Pittsburgh airport — gave the area an offsetting accessibility advantage.

But the event's MVPs were Joe and Dawn Smith, owners of Olympic Fun Center on East State Street in Hermitage. The pair invested heavily in the skating rink to bring it up to national championship standards, and their efforts did not go unrecognized by the event organizers.

Competitors, spectators and families packed area hotels and campgrounds for the month-long series of events.

Local hotels reported booking more than 750 overnight stays, with some lodging providers reporting 100% occupancy throughout the event.

McMahon, who has been involved with promoting roller skating sports for roughly a half century, said the reception his organization received in Hermitage, "was probably the best I ever observed."