Donaldo Salvador and the skating that sets free
The first verse of the song Mil Coisas, by the Brazilian rapper Emicida, says that “it is necessary to reside in a dream.” The song reached the public’s ears in 2019, but it seems that Donaldo Salvador, 34, born in Quelimane, has been living this verse since he came into the world.
He started skating when he was 15 years old, thanks to a neighbour who had a pair of skates and decided to share the equipment with him. It was during that period that the seed that would germinate an unconditional love for the sport was sown. A year later, he managed to buy his own pair of skates, which allowed him to improve his technique and stability. But nothing lasts forever and the skates got damaged, but he was offered a new pair by a friend.
And the love for the sport grew, as well as the number of practitioners. In 2003, he was already part of a group of 20 skaters. In 2005, he attended the World Skate Hockey World Cup, where Mozambique was Goup B champion. From there, Donaldo was sure that he could also conquer the world, be part of the group of champions and be proud of himself for taking the path of a winner.
It was by dreaming big that, in 2006, he contacted the Mozambican Federation of Skating to ask for instructions to create a roller hockey team. The association sent books and manuals. Donaldo, along with his colleagues, studied and persisted so much that they even used tennis balls to practice hockey. The Federation was moved by the initiative and went to Zambézia to visit the teenagers, offered 20 pairs of skates, balls, knee pads, gloves, among other equipment, as well as providing a coach to guide them.
In 2007, Donaldo Salvador led the process of establishing the Quelimane Skating Association. He worked on the massification of the sport in the province, but Zambézia became too small. In 2009, he moved to the country’s capital and joined Clube Maxaquene and continued to evolve.
In 2015, he tried in-line skating and the marriage worked out. He participated in local championships, won several competitions at a regional level, won titles and felt he was prepared for other challenges. He missed the 2017 world competition, but in 2018 he was in the world marathon, in Berlin, Germany. It was a disaster. He had the worst time. “The temperature didn’t help me,” he says. But given his willpower, he is on his way to the next world marathon, also in Berlin.
In 2018, he took in-line skating to Quelimane and the Island of Mozambique. He travelled around the country studying possibilities to create associations and schools for the sport. The project has so far been successful in Vilanculos, but the Covid-19 pandemic stopped everything.
Donaldo is on his way to the next world marathon.
A man of challenges, on 2nd June, 2021 he left Quelimane for Maputo. The idea was to arrive in the country’s capital on Independence Day and he honoured the commitment. It was 1640 kilometres of skating and carrying messages of hope and awareness about several diseases that afflict Mozambicans.
This year, he wants to run the unity marathon. The party will start in Cabo Delgado, on 10th May and the aim is for it to end in Ponta de Ouro, on 25th June. “We want it to bear the name of peace and unity.”
However, with many years of practice, he still feels that the sport is being forgotten, but he is fighting to make it more popular. He has a training school at Académica, at UEM, where he teaches people from the age of two. He gives private lessons and has a degree in Physical Education. He believes that sport is a science and must be studied in all aspects. And he declares: “skating, in addition to making dreams come true, stimulating intelligence and health, frees people. Above all, skating is being human.”
Issue 71 Jan/Feb | Download.
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