On board for fitness trial

A FORMER pupil has donated 25 innovative Vigo skateboards to Kaskenmoor School and, in the words of head teacher John Alder, they were so popular “we struggled to get the pupils back into lessons”.

Glyn Adams, a businessman from Oldham but now living in Spain, imports the Vigo-boards through his Hong Kong-based business LA Holdings Ltd.

The boards, similar to traditional skateboards but with only two wheels, which can rotate through 360 degrees, have a steel-sprung torsion bar which enables the rider to create propulsion.

Speaking from his Oldham base in Hollinwood, Mr Adams said: “To ride a Vigo board you need balance and technique, plus lots of concentration.

“Riders use all the core muscles so they are excellent for helping maintain fitness. In this age when there is an ongoing debate about obesity in children, and when only 35 per cent of pupils opt for physical education in schools, the Vigo-boards can be an important part of getting our schoolchildren fit again.”

LA Holdings also donated 25 sets of safety pads and helmets to be used in the school’s activities programme.

Mr Alder said the boards would become an important addition to the school’s physical education curriculum, alongside the fitness studio and dance lessons which complement the more traditional sports available in schools.

He added: “We offer a variety of sporting activities and the Vigo boards will be added to the list — definitely. They were amazingly well received.

“We need to talk to parents and look at the health and safety implications, but the pupils are very enthusiastic.

“The first pupils to try them soon mastered the skills and we had a real struggle to get them into lessons.”




Other schools wanting details of the Vigoboards can visit www.laboardroom. net to get details.