About Us

The USARSA was a member of the U.S. Olympic Association, Amateur Athletic Union. Federation Inter-Nationale de Roller Skating, and was affiliated with the U.S. Figure Skating Association, the Amateur Skating Union of the U.S. International Olympic Committee, and the International Skating Union. The USARSA was made up of state and sectional associations, each with local skating clubs.

Coincident with the existence of the USARSA was the RSROA (Roller Skating Rinks Operators Association). Around 1972, the two organizations merged under one name, the USARS (USA Roller Sports). A group of USARSA skaters opposed the merger and went to court over the issue. They broke away from the newly - combined organization and established themselves as the National Amateur Roller Skating Association (NARSA). This small organization still exists, but with fewer rinks they have struggled with fewer competitors over the years, yet were able to have their 33rd Annual Nationals at Kendall Park, N.J. in July 2005.

Although the old USARSA and our state organization (NJARSA) have long since dissolved, those of us who were members back then will never forget the wonderful sport we engaged in and the great champions we produced.

This site is dedicated to all those who participated and in no way claim to be still an active association. Hopefully this site will be always be on line for reference and the sheer joy of remembering.

Since ice skating and roller skating had the same competitive disciplines, and many of the skaters performed both on blades and on wheels, governing bodies at first tried to cover both sports. The National Skating Association of Great Britain was founded in 1879 to govern ice skating and added roller skating during the 1880s. Similarly, the US. National Amateur Skating Association (USNASA) was established as an ice skating body in 1886, but took on roller skating shortly afterward.

In 1891, the International Skating Union of America (ISUA) was founded to govern both ice and roller skating in the United States and Canada. However, the U.S. Figure Skating Association, founded in 1921, was concerned only with ice skating. When the ISUA folded in 1927, roller skating was left without a national governing body.

The Arena Gardens Roller Skating Rink in Detroit held the first U.S. roller speed skating championships April 2-4, 1937. Seventeen rink owners who attended met afterwards to found the Roller Skating Rink Operators Association (RSROA).

The Amateur Athletic Union which controlled most American amateur sports at the time, wasn’t happy with the RSROA, because its membership included rink owners and professional skaters. As a result, the United States Amateur Roller Skating Association (USARSA) was founded in 1939 and immediately became affiliated with the AAU.

The two rival groups held separate national championships until 1972, when the RSROA amateur skaters, the USARSA, and the U.S. Federation of Amateur Roller Skaters merged to form the U.S.A. Confederation of Roller Skating (USAC/RS), now known as USA Rollersports.

The New Jersey State Amateur Roller Skating Association was a well organized group of people dedicated to roller skating. Under the great leadership of Mr. Jay Brown and his staff, the skaters had intra-club meets both for artistic and speed every other week. Jay is a gentleman and it appears in the following pictures he was being acknowledged in some form. These pictures were given to me by Irene Koehler Johnston Robertson and I only remember the part she told me about Gerry King writing a song for Jay. In one of the pictures you will see the choral group singing "JAY WE LOVE YOU". I recognize many faces and know these date back a good many years. If you can add any information, let me know and I will add it in. Thanks !

Here is the update from Dawn Brown Kungl. On Saturday, June 27, 1964 a Testimonial Dinner Dance was held at the Hotel Essex House in Newark, N.J. for Jay Brown. He was honored for his outstanding work as President of the New Jersey State Amateur Roller Skating Association for many years. Gerry King produced a program for Jay "This Is Your Life". Mr. Brown also was the manager of Capitol Arena, Trenton and the 1St manager for Kendall Park Rink, N.J. As of this writing April 2nd, 2006 Jay is enjoying retirement in N.J.