Worlds 2022 for Matthew & Team Kate’s

I’m Nekoe Buckner, Coach of Team Kate’s of Lowell, NC. We are an Artistic Roller Skating Team that has existed since I was a child. I am organizing this fundraiser to help my Skater, Matthew Heilig, fund his trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina to compete in the 2022 World Skate Games and to raise funds for our Team’s future World Endeavors.

On July 4th, 2022, Matthew competed in Lincoln, Nebraska at the US Artistic Roller Skating National Championships. He won the Gold Medal in the World Skate Junior Men Free Skating Event. This means that Matthew qualified for the Junior World Team and will travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina as part of Team USA to compete in the World Skate Games 2022.

Matthew started skating in 2018. He spends at least 3 to 4 hours a day training. Matthew has his double jumps and is starting to learn triple jumps. He has won 7 National Gold medals, 1 silver, and 1 Bronze at Nationals in 2021 and 2022.

Matthew will be the first skater from Team Kate’s to represent his team at the world level. To say Matthew has been consumed by his goal of earning a spot on Team USA before high school is an understatement. His drive and ambition is all-consuming. I never have to ask him to practice more or harder. He chooses to skate over social events and vacations. Skating is his world and I have seen him evolve into a strong athlete and beautiful artist while he skates.

Further, our Team had 8 additional skaters that qualified in Senior Small Show Group to compete in the 2022 World Skate Games, but unfortunately the team was unable to make the initial up-front deposit necessary to commit to competition this Fall. Sadly, this is the 3rd time that our team has qualified for Worlds and was unable to go due to a lack of funding. We have excellent and committed skaters. Their dedication and drive is amazing. As a Team we have 10 National Gold Medals in the past 4 years.

Qualifying at Nationals for this World Competition is truly an honor. It means being the best in the Nation and being capable of representing the US on an International level. This is TEAM USA! However, each skater on Team USA is responsible for ALL funding which includes: Airfare, hotel, entry fees, Team USA attire, transportation within the country, coaching fees, a Passport and much more. These extensive costs have prohibited our team from participating in the past. We do not want this to happen again! The World Skate Games is the highest level of competition in artistic roller skating and we know Matthew will represent the US and Team Kate’s well this year, but we want to have the opportunity to let all of our talented skaters represent the US in the future! Any help to make our Team dream come true is greatly appreciated! Your donations will be used to get Matthew to Worlds this year. Funds in excess of those needs will carry over to our World Endeavors for 2023. We know we have dreamed it, we know we have achieved it, the only thing holding back our BIG DREAM is funding! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and considering a donation so that we can MAKE IT HAPPEN for our entire TEAM!