Around the world, from children to teenagers and even among adults, inline skating, commonly known as rollerblading, is a popular activity of leisure. Lalmonirhat's schoolgirls are likewise lacing up inline skates these days, but not solely because it's healthy and fun.

"We hope learning to skate can help the girls to be self-confident, and independent in their daily lives," says district sports association coordinator Mohammad Qamruzzaman. "Ours is the first training programme of its kind in Lalmonirhat. Many of the girls had never seen inline skates before." The training takes place on the deputy commissioner's tennis court.

"I got afraid on the first day when our coaches were preparing us for training," says Labonya Lucky, a class-eight student of Kobi Shaikh Fazlul Karim Girls' High School in Lalmonirhat town. "But now I feel comfortable. It's become easy."

"I want to inline skate from home to school," says Jannatul Ferdous, 13, who studies in class seven of Collectorate Collegiate School, also in the town. "I will never have to wait for a rickshaw or other form of public transport again!"

Hasnath Ali, 48 of BDR Road in the town sends his daughter to inline skating training. "It's very much helpful for building her self-confidence," he says. "It's a good activity, especially for the girls."

According to the sports association, 70 girls aged between 13-16 years from various schools have enrolled in the training, with ten being trained at a time. There are plans to select the best inline skater in mid-November for national level training.

The coach of the national-level inline skating federation, Sohag Shikder notes this is the first training to be provided at a district level and he is impressed by the level of enthusiasm among the schoolgirl participants. "The difficult we face," he says, "is not having a larger, more suitable place for the training."

Trainee and class-eight student Tahamina Khatun, 14, agrees. "If we had a better place to practice inline skating, it would help us develop our skills," she says.