Biking, Skating and other Extreme Sports... the new Golf?
Why do we need a skate park and ride park in Roxbury?
You could ask the same question about why we need tennis courts, or baseball fields, or swimming pools or hiking trails... or even (gasp!) golf courses.
These are all community assets that provide people (both kids and adults) with exercise and fun and a way to learn many of the important values we believe in – things like the value of hard work and practice, the importance of supporting people and causes, or that participation is often the greatest reward.
Skate parks and ride parks are no different - BMX and skateboarding have become mainstream activities both for kids and adults in the area. Franklin County supports at least five shops that cater to the local extreme sports community in one way or another. A recent nationally-recognized survey organization found that there are 12.4 million skateboarders in the United States, meaning that 4.3% of Americans are skateboarders. The number of kids involved in BMX is estimated even higher, and growing. (Thank you Olympics)
Applying that to Franklin County would mean that there are over 5,560 skateboarders in Franklin County... and how many people do you know that DON'T ride a bike?
Skateboarding, because of its heritage and old image as an “outlaw” activity, has at times been associated with a “rebel” image. To assume that all skateboarders are miscreant youths because of this stereotype is no more fair than assuming that all youth baseball players are using steroids because some professionals do! The vast majority of skateboarders and BMXer's are not intentional lawbreakers or high risk-takers. They are riding on streets or on private property currently because there are few alternatives.
Skaters range in age from 3 to at least 50, with many local skaters using it as a family activity. At a recent public meetings to help design York’s skate park, fully half of the skateboarders in attendance were over the age of 25. It is true that the skaters we see hanging out at the local mall or skating at the local school tend to be kids – but that is because that is who hangs out at the local mall during the day regardless of whether or not they skate. The adults are at work!
Skateboarding and BMX is no longer a sideshow – for many kids it has become their main event, in the same way that for other kids, soccer or swimming or basketball is their thing. Roxtreme's ride and skate parks will finally give the skateboarders in Franklin County a place for THEIR sport and passions that is every bit as valid as the fields and gyms and pools we build for those other sports.
Skateboarding and Golf?
Fritz Read, the leader of a design team for a York skate park,
created a wonderful presentation showing the parallels between the
evolution of golf - an established "mainstream" sport - and
skateboarding.
If you need to convince the "mainstream" that skateboarding is a
real sport that needs to be taken real seriously - show them this!
Click HERE to see his presentation... coming soon!
Go to the Why page to get a perspective that is more about our mission and less about the sports/facility side of things.