VOA标准英语2013--Burmese Skateboarders Lobby for Official Recognition

（单词翻译）

Burmese Skateboarders Lobby for Official Recognition

The Speed Ring Skate Club, comprise of 20 young Burmese with a passion for skateboarding in a country where skateboards are rare.

The skaters first learned their tricks at this park. But four years ago it was destroyed, for reasons that are not entirely² clear. Now, these skaters have a choice of perfecting their skills on poorly paved and crowded streets or making a five hour journey to the remote capital, Naypyitaw, where Japanese donors³ built a skate park hundreds of kilometers from the nearest skaters.

Akar Bo says the distance means he rarely visits. "We need a good place to skateboard. They should have built this in Rangoon," he added.

The group has taken matters into their own hands, making a film about their cause that they hope will win over officials - and draw more aspiring⁴ skaters to their ranks. 

Filmmaker Ali Drummond, a skateboarder from Britain who was saddened by the loss of the Rangoon skate park, says the film has helped them believe their goal is achievable.

"This is Myanmar [Burma]. No one is going to sponsor us as skateboarders. And, in the past, no one has shown any interest in them. In fact, they'd actually just shown hostility⁵ toward them as a group of people," Drummond said. "So they had no belief in themselves that anyone was going to help them from Myanmar. So I think this film essentially⁶ changed that to a certain extent."

To get approval to build a new skate park, the skaters must become an officially recognized sporting federation⁷ by the sports ministry⁸.

Former sports ministry director general Aung Din¹ is already a supporter of their cause. "Of course skateboarding needs a park, so they can exercise and participate and become in fellowship and meet each other. But, first of all we need the blessing⁹ from the sports ministry so they can help us out," explained Aung Din.

The skaters hope to win permission for at least a temporary park when Burma hosts the Southeast Asian Games in December. There, the exposure could help persuade officials and introduce a new generation of Burmese to the sport.