Free skateboard lessons offered in Castlegar through Summer in the Skatepark
By Contributor
Summer at the Skatepark is in its second year. Kootenay Family Place,Castlegar’s non-profit society celebrating their 40th year, initiated this program in 2011 with funding from a BC Gaming grant.
Summer at the Skatepark is a free service providing skateboarding instruction for all ages and abilities. The program operates Monday to Friday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and continues through the months of July and August, finishing on Sept. 3. Boards, helmets and safety gear are available free to use.
The teaching methodology and skill progression is centred on the Drop In To Skateboarding curriculum guidelines developed by Ben Wixon in association with Skaters for Public Skateparks.
The three experienced skateboard instructors assess the participant’s ability and then work one-to-one with skaters. For those new to the activity an instructor will start with the foundation skills necessary to safely skateboard including warm up, falling properly, stance, pushing and rolling, stopping, turning and carving on the flat, skatepark etiquette and more.
As skaters gain confidence on their board, they learn fundamental skills including, skatepark flow, pumping transitions, kick turns on banks, carving, ollies, dropping into small banks, increased speeds through the park obstacles and basic grinds.
At the highest level, the skaters are learning how to use the entire skatepark features, street and bowl, incorporating grinds, airs, slides, plants and other technical tricks.
The Summer at the Skatepark program is 25 days old with 127+ people from Castlegar, Nelson, Rossland, Trail, Montrose, Slocan Park and Calgary enjoying the fun of this free service. The Summer at the Skatepark program continues right through the months of July and August finishing on Sept. 3rd.
Skull Skates, S-One Helmets along with local supporters Castlegar and Regional District Community Complex, Mountainfm.net, Central City Shoes, Friends of the Castlegar Skatepark, Spectrum Skatepark Creations, sk8shoes4kids.org and Drop in to Skateboarding are all supporters of this unique Kootenay Skateboard program.
For more information check out: facebook.com/FriendsOfTheCastlegarSkatepark or contact Kootenay Family Place lynnene.kfp@telus.net
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