Physical wellness through roller-skating a novel initiative at seawall esplanade

Who would have thought that the key to fun and fitness could be found on four wheels? But not just any four wheels, rather – roller skates.
This exciting and unique way to exercise and enjoy the outdoors was brought to life by 23-year-old Marlisa Osborne.
She transformed her passion for physical wellness into a vibrant new business: Glide, offering roller-skating experiences for visitors along the popular seawall esplanade in Georgetown.
This publication had the opportunity to speak with Osborne, who shared the idea behind Glide, which kicked off on the seawall last Sunday, and is set to run every first and last Sunday of the month.

Osborne explained that the initiative aims to expose the local community to a new form of physical activity.
She relayed that it all started in 2024 when she decided that she wanted to learn to roller skate, and after she started learning, she thought to herself that maybe other people would enjoy this similarly.
According to her, the goal is to create a community around roller skating from this initiative.
“So ideally, I intend on forming a really big community of roller skaters in Guyana. We’re going to do workshops and so on, and as we’re standing here on the esplanade, it’s only right for me to mention that, as of last Sunday, we’ve kicked off open skating on the esplanade. With this, persons can come out, get a pair of skates, and learn to roller skate. That will be happening on the first and last Sunday of every month throughout the year, unless otherwise announced. But that’s where we are right now.”

She added that the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with people of all ages coming out to try skating on the seawall esplanade.
“It has been really good. And I must say, before we get to the younger children, I thought maybe the young adults in their 20s and early 30s wouldn’t be interested. Some people might think, ‘Oh, I’m too old, I don’t want to fall,’ but the response from the older age group has been amazing. Everybody’s so enthusiastic about it. People come out and want to learn to skate. You can catch us on a Sunday to see what I’m talking about— to get a first hand look at how much people come out here.”
Further lending her perspective to the younger kids, she added that once children see roller skating, their eyes light up, and they’re eager to learn.
In fact, she shared that, “I always reflect on that first event every time anyone asks me how it was. That event saw more than 200 people actually come out. Initially, I wondered if people would be interested, but a lot of people did show up. Another thing I always mention about that event specifically is the number of men who came out. In my head, I thought maybe a lot of men wouldn’t come, but they did. The best part was that it was a retro disco-themed event. You had to dress in retro disco outfits, and a lot of people participated in that. Everyone stuck to the theme, came out, had a great time, and it turned out to be a really successful event.”
One standout feature of this initiative, as Marlisa explained, is the introduction of dance skating.
With the help of skilled Trinidadian instructors, Osborne is teaching individuals, even those who have never skated before, the fundamentals of dance skating.
“Truth be told, I’m not an official dance skater, and I wouldn’t say I’m the perfect dance skater right now. However, I started learning dance skating, and that was something I thought others would also want to learn. I have a group of really great guys from Trinidad who work with me on the dance skating because they’re more advanced than I am. That’s essentially how it works.”
So far, the public has responded enthusiastically to the initiative, with skating sessions starting as low as $1500.