(WSVN) – A South Florida group helps troubled teenagers, and so they’re actually on a roll. Karen Hensel introduces us to the man behind Paradise Skating in tonight’s 7 Spotlight.
It’s time to lace up these skates.
CJ Morrison: “It’s just different styles, the culture.”
CJ Morrison began rollerskating two years in the past. He says if he hadn’t picked up this new passion, his life would have turned out very in a different way.
CJ Morrison: “I honestly feel like I would not be here. It’s just life can be so overwhelming.”
But that was earlier than he met Jeff Sylla, the founding father of Paradise Skating in Miami Gardens.
Jeff Sylla: “So what I teach is just balance, rhythm.”
Jeff has been skating since he was 19. He’s now 44.
Three years in the past, he realized his expertise on skates would be a focus for teenagers and younger adults. He noticed a lot of them going by means of powerful occasions.
Jeff Sylla: “They’re in an environment that’s not really healthy, and they tend to join gangs. I encourage those youth, say, ‘Hey, why don’t you join a skate crew?’”
Jeff’s strategy labored, and he began instructing others how to skate.
Those classes taught college students to skate with type and helped them change their lives.
Jeff Sylla: “It starts building that confidence, and then we just get higher and higher and higher and higher.”
CJ agrees.
The skating expertise he has realized over time with Jeff has turned his life round.
CJ Morrison: “So I am truly humbled and grateful to be in the presence and an acquaintance of Jeff because he’s shown me a lot on and off the wood floor.”
Genae Pearson joined Paradise Skating after an opportunity assembly at a skating occasion in Orlando.
At the time, she says she was going by means of a darkish second in life.
Genae Pearson: “My grandmother, she had just passed away, and I was just working and going home. I wasn’t doing anything else, and I almost felt like I was just drowning.”
Even although Genae doesn’t dwell in South Florida, she knew she had to be part of the crew, even when she had to drive from Orlando to Miami Gardens to do it.
Genae Pearson: “He let me in, and I got to practice with them almost every week. I just met amazing people, amazing friends.”
The Paradise Skating workforce travels to completely different cities and states to carry out at skate events. It’s a chance for them to exhibit their expertise and meet somebody who may want a mentor.
Jeff Sylla: “They’ll come up and say, ‘Hey, can I join? How do I learn?’”
According to Jeff, all they need is an open mind, a willingness to work hard and the determination to change their lives.
Jeff Sylla: “And I think the ultimate goal is for every one of these kids and young adults to know is you have a purpose.”
With a little guidance from Jeff and a pair of skates, they can roll into a more positive future.
Karen Hensel, 7News.
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