About SCSS
Nothing lasts over 70 years unless you LOVE what you do! And we LOVE what we do!
We’re a family of skaters, for 4 generations we’ve been ushering people into the skating community and loving every minute of it. My great grandparents owned rinks, my grandparents owned rinks, and now my mom and I run the store!
To the side, you’ll see Grandma Dorso. Back in the ’40s and 50’s she would play the pipe organ for the skating sessions. She also taught lessons for a long time before retiring from skating.
She inherited the Rollercade skating rink from her parents when her older brother could no longer run it and moved her family to Toledo, Ohio. This decision led to the continuation of this family legacy.
The Rollercade was torn down for I-75 in 1970 and the Dorso family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to buy a newly opened rink. They would eventually own 3 in the area.
My grandfather was very active in the rink and the National skating association and was their current President when he suddenly passed away from a heart attack in 1981. This happened just hours after he had presented the awards for the Ohio State skating Championships. Grandma Dorso sold off the rinks over the next few years.
She always said she wanted to retire in Tampa (specifically Tampa), and ironically enough here we are, all these years later helping her memory live on in the place she wanted to spend her golden years.
Those skates she’s wearing now hang in our store. Lovingly updated so that my mom can skate on them. If you come by the store you’ll be able to see them and maybe we can tell you a little more about her!!
Skate Mom Linda
Often referred to as “Skate Mom” around the shop, Linda has been continuously involved in skating either competitively or coaching for over fifty years with both her grandparents and parents having owned skating rinks.
She started as a competitive artistic skater but quickly learned that she had a need for speed and was a very successful speed skater earning titles on National and International levels for both banked and flat tracks.
After being injured at the World Championships, she began coaching speed skaters with a coaching record so successful that Linda was inducted into the Speed Coaches Hall of Fame. She not only trained many National and International Champions but had the honor to be a part of several Olympic Speed Skaters journeys.
Linda is passionate about every form of the sport of roller skating, and many moons ago (after playing for a season), she found a new passion – coaching roller derby. Coach Shirley N Sane (as she was known in the derby world) was born and founded Roller Derby University and taught skating and coaching clinics in the United States and Internationally for RDU and Blood and Thunder.
She has written skating specific training articles for many magazines including Blood and Thunder and US Roller Sports. She played and then Coached both Travel and League for 10 years with the Tampa Tantrums.
Linda also helps direct a youth roller hockey league so to say she is knowledgeable in ALL aspects of skating is an understatement!
Linda has the rare ability to help skaters with unique foot shapes or old injury issues to find their best options. She is dedicated to helping you find the skate that is best suited for your foot shape, skating goals and budget!
Skate Medic, Christina
Christina has been involved in skating since the day she was born being the daughter of a family very active in competitive skating. She liked to dabble in Artistic skating and Speed skating when she was younger (and won some trophies) but really enjoyed playing roller hockey. Years later she discovered her passion was more for outdoor trail skating and Skate Park ramp challenges. She is a Free Spirit that loves to be outside skating in all of the amazing places she visits across the country.
Christina has been an active part of Skaters Choice Skate Shop for over 15 years and is our General Manager. You will see her on social media posting fun and informative videos. You will want to follow her for all updates in the industry and Flash sales we might have.
Having grown up in the industry at such a high level of involvement, Christina is extremely knowledgeable on all types of skates and brands available. She knows how to build, repair and check your skates to keep you rolling. If you are looking to do a Custom skate build Christina is your girl to help you figure it out!
She loves helping to bring “newbies” into our sport as well as helping advanced skaters find their forever skate. When she is outside skating on a trail, if Christina sees a skater struggling, she’s the first one to ask if she can check out their skates to see if she can help them to enjoy their experience to the fullest.
She has also earned a great reputation with our International customers that come for Holiday and want to be able to bring skates back home with them. They will contact her beforehand by email with their wish list and fully trust her to suggest the right size and skate for their needs.