Need for Speed: Evanston's Speed Skating Club

Sometimes it's just more fun to go fast. That's the mantra of the Evanston Speed Skating Club (ESSC). Faster is better, but having fun while going fast is important, too.

The club meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:45 p.m. at the Robert Crown Center in Evanston.  Skaters take to the ice to sharpen their skills and compete, but some say the club is also a place where they can turn for support.

"We're a family," skater Stefan "Fatt" Babicz said. "The more advanced skaters may be working on different things than the novices, but there's still a bond between all the members."

The club's founder, Sanders Hicks, said he began the ESSC in 1966 as a way for children to channel their energy into something positive, rather than joining a gang, doing drugs or other harmful activities.

"It's a beautiful sport for kids," Hicks said. "It helps give them confidence. They don't have to win championships. They just have to skate well, and this helps them achieve that."

"Kids will come up and say, 'You don't remember me, but I was in your club five, 10, 15 years ago,'" Hicks said. "They may have just been novices, but they really enjoyed it.

"You get what you put into it," he added. "It depends on your effort, but it's great to hear kids come up and say that."

The club is not just for the young, as participants range from toddlers to college graduates. It's that diversity that appeals to Michael Walsh, a junior at Northwestern University.

"You have kids just starting out practicing with the topnotch skaters," Walsh said. In other sports, you're competing with other people in your age group, but this mix of ages and skill level is unique to skating."

Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis got his start at the Robert Crown Center. He even comes back to visit when he is not racing or leaving talk show hosts in the dust.

"He's great with the kids," Walsh said. "It really puts who he is into perspective. He's just a normal guy that loves to skate."

Walsh began skating after he watched the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake  City, UT. He hopes people such as Davis and Apolo Ohno, another Olympic speed-skating medalist, can make the sport more popular.

"It's so fun to watch, and so fun to do," Walsh said. "I would love to see it grow. It's low contact, all age groups can participate, and it's something you can do forever."