The roller rink is a familiar haunt for many.

The deeply worn carpeting features a variety of neon colors, and the smells of the snack bar and the nostalgic click and whir of skates hitting the rink are a reminder of birthday parties and weekends wasted away with family and friends.

Weber's Skate World in Milton has many of the familiar sights and sounds, but one look at the group of spandex-draped skaters and speeding around the rink in synchronized movements let you know there's something different here.

For this group, skating is more than fun and games. It's about competition, self improvement, personal growth — and yes, there's still room for fun.

David Weber is the coach of the Emerald Coast Speed Team, an inline skate racing team based out of the Milton facility.

"I'm a dreamer. I just always felt like this would happen. I didn't know when, nobody knows when. But it just started clicking," Weber said.

Weber has built a core group of talent — across a wide range of age groups — in an effort to place Milton on the map for speed skating. His team features about 100 skaters, and he has put on a large-scale racing event, the Emerald Coast Inline Challenge, at the facility for nearly a decade now, drawing in about 400 competitors and 2,500 visitors to the Santa Rosa County city.

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He told the News Journal that Milton has a nuanced relationship with hosting the event, recognizing that the area lacks the necessary hotel capacity as the event continues to expand. But he also recognized that "the town's growing," and this year, the challenge will play out at as a four-day event for the first time ever.

The season typically runs from October to July, featuring several major events, as well as a number of smaller, internal events to keep competition fresh amongst his skaters.

At practice, heats are partitioned by age and speed. Weber keeps the dialogue open with each and every one of his skaters, giving personalized instruction to each of the dozens of people on the Emerald Coast Speed team.

Weber also recognized that skating has been on the decline, citing the fact that kids typically lose interest — even when they are talented — in favor of more popular sports. He said he knows that in order to reach the highest level, he has to get to kids in the program as young as possible and keep them engaged.

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"So, the bottom line is, until we have people skating that are young again, you're not going to get (the top 1% of skaters). So, this (program) has been my dream my entire life," Weber said.

Parents and skaters alike credited Weber in creating a welcoming, yet competitive and demanding atmosphere.

"It's like a family. From the little ones all the way to the big ones," said parent Chantel McClarnen. She emphasized she is at the rink almost every day of the week, and Weber is training the team almost every afternoon.

Weber was 20 years old when he was introduced to inline speed skating. It was a hole-in-the-wall rink where he was getting outpaced by kids less than half his age. 

He recalls getting persuaded to attend a midnight speed practice in Fort Walton Beach that featured about 100 kids. From then, he was hooked.

"It was a lot of people back then. More than now. I still get my hair standing up (thinking) about it," Weber said.

About four decades later, he came to own the facility in Milton, fully renovating it in 2018.

In all, Weber has coached about 40 national champions — in their respective age bracket — in inline speed skating. In the last two years alone, his skaters earned 18 national titles.

"I have some of the fastest in the country right here," Weber said, nodding his head back toward his team as chit-chatted prior to practice.

There was a friendly candor to the atmosphere of the team. Weber sporadically conversed with his skaters off to the side while others ran through drills. Out on the track, he sometimes pulled his athletes aside for one-on-one discussions about their performance. In another instance, he called across the rink, commenting on the fact one of his national champions was not training up to standard.

Weber also stressed he knows how to get the most out of them as competitors.

"If you've got discipline in your program, you will be successful, and I truly believe that. I have discipline here. I have my goals," Weber said.

The younger kids coached by Weber take pride in competing, and improving, in a sport that is seen by most to be niche.

"Well, I just think skating is better than any other sport that I do," said 9-year-old Jaxon, McClarnen's son.

In July, the county greenlit an outdoor addition to Weber's operation that proposes a track site, a spectator area and parking spaces. 

Weber refers to the outdoor component as phase 2 of his operation and expects to later build a phase 3 as an outdoor road course.

With the additional track, the goal is to bring an international speed event to Milton though World Skate within the next three years. World Skate is the international governing body for sports performed on skating wheels.

"This is kind of the new mecca and (Weber) is kind of making it even more so with that new track," said Milton City Councilman Jeff Snow. "… Then, they will be working on bringing the world championships to this area."

Snow added that "we want something for everyone" in Milton.

As Weber watched his team train, he made his goal explicit: He wants Milton to be the capital for this sport.

"If you've got a facility for them to train on, they're going to get better," Weber said. "And we'll have one."