COVER STORY

Skating in St. Louis
Interview with Bryant K. Morris
2002 Adrenalin Award Lifetime Achievement Award Nominee

The average citizen walking down the streets of St. Louis may not notice anything particular about Bryant Morris in passing, but for those of us who know him in the skate world, he is legendary. Forty-Four year old, 5'8" Morris is a family man, twice married with five children all of whom he is very proud of. In fact, his daughter, Angel Morris, a student at Iowa Weselyan recently made the Deans List.

Morris works as a detective at the Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, MO. He began skating at the age of ten in his parent's driveway and like many of us; he caught the skating fever from his family. To this day, everyone, including his parents are skaters. In 1982, he and his first wife were married on skates at Skate King Roller Skating Rink. That was the "icing on the cake" for his skating career. Although his current wife, Winona Morris, has not yet fully joined the skate family, we will probably be seeing her soon. She has expressed an interest in her husband's passion. She told Morris that she would like to learn and start going with him to experience the enjoyment he gets out of skating. I'm sure she will be amazed.

Once Morris mastered skating on a concrete driveway, he took it to the wood at Thunderbird Roll Rink in East St. Louis, IL. Improving with each visit, he went to the indoor floor at the Martin Luther King Memorial Rink, now known as Skate King. "I can remember several times, when Mr. Foggy, the rink owner/operator, came to open the rink, Morris said. As he put the key in the door, I was there to turn the knob." Skate King was founded in 1970 and on the 20th Anniversary, Ms. Coretta Scott King attended the ceremony to cut the ribbon.

Bryant Morris is known as one of the most outstanding performers in Disco Roller Skating and one of the most praised skaters in the Midwest and the nation. Morris' skating career features some great accomplishments. He is the founder of the "Nasty Boys", a charity organization of Police Roller Skaters based in St. Louis. This group held fundraisers to raise money for worthy causes. On a competitive level he has won several skate competitions, taking first place in all but one, the Coca Cola Skate Competition in California, where he placed second in the region.

He was the first African-American skater to be sponsored by a major corporation for skating. In 1985, he placed second in a US Skate Nationals Competition for Disco Roller Skating in Anaheim, CA taking home a $10,000 prize and held that title for eight years. Competing is no longer his thing. His days of competitive skating are over so now he enjoys sitting back and watching the younger skaters come out and do their thing. "When they get carried away, I become excited, energized and ready to go out and show them what I got", Morris expressed. "It's hard to just sit there watching someone else do what you love to do yourself. You can't help it when you get that urge and there is nothing standing in your way physically that will prevent you from getting out there on eight wheels and letting the music guide your feet. I get pleasure out of skating, being in my own little world. I also enjoy performing for others."

To skaters, he is known as one of the pioneers of the craft. Mr. Morris was one of the first skaters to spin on the front two wheels and to spin through a whole song. He taught fellow skaters Jeron Land, Leo White, as well as others, some of the moves we see them doing today. I asked Morris what his favorite skate moves were. Morris answered, "My favorite moves would be spinning and splitting. The way I started was by spinning two turns at a time and then went to four turns. A person must first have good balance to learn to spin." Morris has never stopped skating and plans to continue until he can't walk. He has kept in shape through skating and constantly playing with his 12-year old son.

When asked to compare skating today with the past, Morris stated, "Skating today is just like it was in the past, the only difference is the rollers. Everyone has his or her own style. I will not knock what we did in the past, because it is the same now. Everything just came back around. As for the future, I would like to see us in more movies, commercials and soap operas." Today, you won't find Morris competing in any competitions, but you will see him at Skate King or Saints, skating, for the love of the sport.

Written by: Desi