Why are Skateparks beneficial to Local Communities?

The answer is very simple… !

Skateparks provide a place for kids who aren’t usually interested in traditional team sports. They are a place kids can go and express themselves in an individual, personal healthy and athletic manner.

Getting the kids, and in particularly the ‘at-risk kids’, involved in a personal and self-confidence building activity like BMX and skate boarding helps them to build the confidence that they need in order to do well in all other aspects of their lives.

The vast majority of BMXers and skaters are currently riding on the streets, in parks and inside run down derelict factories. Skateparks, even the more challenging ones, therefore have to be, a much safer option when compared to having the kids riding and skating through today’s busy streets.

When a skatepark is built correctly: with local rider/skater knowledge and input, and involvement throughout the whole process of building a park. These kids, end up with:

· A great sense of ownership and pride.

· The fact that the very existence of their new skate park is the result of their hard work.

· The fact that they have had the opportunity to work with local Councilors, MP’s and local business leaders on the varying design elements within the skate park.

These previously demoralized outcast BMXers and skaters, who once used to run from the police, will now find themselves working in conjunction with the police along with the community as a whole.

One of the fascinating things about BMX, Scooter, skating and skateboarding, is how it helps bring members of the community closer together. On any given day, at a well-run, fully functioning and community supported skatepark you will see all people of all age groups.

You will find the 4 year old being supervised by their parent. You will see the groups of teenagers having their own shredding or skate session. You will also see the older guys and girls there too, who still carry a burning passion for BMX or skating.

What benefits the skatepark and the community around it the most, is a few dedicated BMXers, skateboarders etc who use the skatepark, to take part in delivering the programs that are available inside. In every area of the community there is at least one BMXer, skater, Scooter rider or skateboarder who wants to share their undying love of their sport. These people are usually the ones who tend to make the best BMX coaches, skateboard coaches and marshalls.

Offering local riders and skaters more responsibility, and allowing them to coach children and young people as they aspire to reach their maximum potential, brings even more families and skate park users together.

A professionally designed and constructed Indoor Skatepark will…

• Provide a safe challenging place for BMXers, skaters, scooter riders and skateboarders allowing the participants the opportunity to develop themselves as athletes

• Provide an exciting alternative to team sports and to assist in not only the development but also the improvement of human motor skills & balance. Nowadays there seems to be plenty of choice when it comes to offering very young children places to go and things to do. When it comes to teenagers for example, there is very little, if not nothing for them to do.

• They attract visitors, skatepark enthusiasts & skatepark spectators who enjoy bmxing, skateboarding, Skating or scooting. When people visit they spend money! This has a knock on effect that flows into the community bringing more money into the area to encourage local businesses to set up and flourish.

• Make the community a much more youth-friendly place to be. This itself sends a message to the teenagers that they are accepted by people and valued as members of the community. This is achieved by giving them a place to call their own and offering them a creative place where they are allowed to express themselves in their own way.

• It encourages young people to become healthier and fitter. This in turn assists in discouraging the problems associated with youth inactivity and drug abuse.

According to Local Drug awareness Projects, the most common reason given by young people for drug abuse is boredom… FACT

• Provide fantastic opportunities to host what are known as ‘jams’. It’s just another name for a competition. Allowing bmxing and skating to be publicly viewed allows more people to fully understand the skills that are involved.

BMX and Skateboarding is an awesome spectator sport… !

“Bmx and Skateboarding reaches the ‘most at risk’ youth, like no other sport… !

However the majority of people today are completely out of touch with what is happening in the younger world, and they just want to get these annoying riders and skaters out of their hair. The only thing that the children and young people end up thinking is that they are 2nd class citizens in society. A skatepark changes this misconception by educating the community into realising that bmx/skating is not a crime! Skateparks can reduce the divide between the young and old even further, by welcoming the public through its doors to see the positives and the health benefits that the people using it are gaining.

Source by Rich Donlevy