How to Start a Skateboard Club in your Community
Community skateboard clubs are casual and social, usually open to anyone, and offer a great place and time for skaters to come together. They can make friends, challenge each other and learn new tricks, all in a safe environment.
I would recommend partnering with a legitimate organization to start your skateboard club. Having the backing of a company or group can be very helpful in getting seen, and legitimizing what you are doing in the eyes of parents.
Churches, YMCAs, youth organizations like Campus Life are all great places to start looking. Skate shops can be good to talk to as well - even if you don't want to help run the club, they might be able to help promote it, or they might know of other people who might be interested in helping you out. Just call around or stop by, and see what people think.
The hardest part will be finding a place for the club, and getting the ramps and obstacles to make it a fun place to skate. If you've teamed up with a YMCA, a church or some other youth organization, they might have a parking lot that you could use once or twice a week (or more!). Otherwise, you might need to ask around and try and make some connections to get a good place for the club to meet. The more visible the spot, the better.
The two main organizations that I have seen build groups like this are churches or youth ministries, and the YMCA. There are a LOT of Christian skate clubs around the country – one here in Portland Oregon where I live is HUGE, and has been running for over a decade (almost 2 decades now, I think).
It’s called "Skatechurch". I know that Christian youth organizations like Youth for Christ sometimes build clubs like this, too. I have a friend who ran one in Southern Oregon for around 7 years. And I know a guy in Texas who works for the YMCA, and he runs a skate club through them.
What these look like can vary quite a bit. The one in Southern Oregon I mentioned meets once a week after school, and they skate for maybe 5 or 6 hours. My friend got permission to use a huge church parking lot for the events, and he got people to help build some ramps and rails and funboxes. Every Monday, he goes and sets everything up, and has a cooler full of pop, and around half way through the skate time he have a short Bible lesson (you could of course skip this part, if you aren’t building a church ministry! But everything else should work with any kind of skate club).
For the ramps, you will probably need to build them yourself. If you have other skaters interested, then you can get them to help. Try to get parents and local business to chip in. Maybe a lumber company would be willing to donate, or even sponsor some ramps (you can stencil spray their name and logo on the ramps when they're done if they want). Again, your local skateboard shops are great places to ask for help at, and to ask if they know of anyone who could help with building the obstacles.
The ramps and obstacles need to be well built. There are websites with free ramp building plans online, there are books, and you can even hire people to build the ramps for you, if you have the money and want to make sure they are the best quality. If you have skaters already interested, I think having them all team together to help build the park is a great way for them to feel invested in it, and to respect it more when it's completed.
It can be good to have some adults around, too, to encourage the kids and to keep fights from breaking out. It’s important though that the adults don’t try to be anything they are not. If they aren’t skaters, then that’s actually OK – but they should appreciate skateboarding. If they DO skate, then just make sure they don’t brag about it.
If you want to charge, then keep it cheap (just a few bucks at the most, I think, unless you have a GREAT facility). The money should go to cover the costs, not into your pocket. It's also a good idea to have some kind of waiver form ready for parents to sign for minors.
Finally, the key to making it a good experience that kids WANT to go to, is keeping it "cool". I've been told that it's a good idea to not call it a "club". There’s some good wisdom in that. Also, don’t get too wrapped up in how it looks – skaters often enjoy the rough, unfinished look. Focus more on keeping it relaxed, easy going, and functional. The main point should be for skaters to be able to have fun with other skaters.
I would recommend partnering with a legitimate organization to start your skateboard club. Having the backing of a company or group can be very helpful in getting seen, and legitimizing what you are doing in the eyes of parents.
Churches, YMCAs, youth organizations like Campus Life are all great places to start looking. Skate shops can be good to talk to as well - even if you don't want to help run the club, they might be able to help promote it, or they might know of other people who might be interested in helping you out. Just call around or stop by, and see what people think.
The hardest part will be finding a place for the club, and getting the ramps and obstacles to make it a fun place to skate. If you've teamed up with a YMCA, a church or some other youth organization, they might have a parking lot that you could use once or twice a week (or more!). Otherwise, you might need to ask around and try and make some connections to get a good place for the club to meet. The more visible the spot, the better.
The two main organizations that I have seen build groups like this are churches or youth ministries, and the YMCA. There are a LOT of Christian skate clubs around the country – one here in Portland Oregon where I live is HUGE, and has been running for over a decade (almost 2 decades now, I think).
It’s called "Skatechurch". I know that Christian youth organizations like Youth for Christ sometimes build clubs like this, too. I have a friend who ran one in Southern Oregon for around 7 years. And I know a guy in Texas who works for the YMCA, and he runs a skate club through them.
What these look like can vary quite a bit. The one in Southern Oregon I mentioned meets once a week after school, and they skate for maybe 5 or 6 hours. My friend got permission to use a huge church parking lot for the events, and he got people to help build some ramps and rails and funboxes. Every Monday, he goes and sets everything up, and has a cooler full of pop, and around half way through the skate time he have a short Bible lesson (you could of course skip this part, if you aren’t building a church ministry! But everything else should work with any kind of skate club).
For the ramps, you will probably need to build them yourself. If you have other skaters interested, then you can get them to help. Try to get parents and local business to chip in. Maybe a lumber company would be willing to donate, or even sponsor some ramps (you can stencil spray their name and logo on the ramps when they're done if they want). Again, your local skateboard shops are great places to ask for help at, and to ask if they know of anyone who could help with building the obstacles.
The ramps and obstacles need to be well built. There are websites with free ramp building plans online, there are books, and you can even hire people to build the ramps for you, if you have the money and want to make sure they are the best quality. If you have skaters already interested, I think having them all team together to help build the park is a great way for them to feel invested in it, and to respect it more when it's completed.
It can be good to have some adults around, too, to encourage the kids and to keep fights from breaking out. It’s important though that the adults don’t try to be anything they are not. If they aren’t skaters, then that’s actually OK – but they should appreciate skateboarding. If they DO skate, then just make sure they don’t brag about it.
If you want to charge, then keep it cheap (just a few bucks at the most, I think, unless you have a GREAT facility). The money should go to cover the costs, not into your pocket. It's also a good idea to have some kind of waiver form ready for parents to sign for minors.
Finally, the key to making it a good experience that kids WANT to go to, is keeping it "cool". I've been told that it's a good idea to not call it a "club". There’s some good wisdom in that. Also, don’t get too wrapped up in how it looks – skaters often enjoy the rough, unfinished look. Focus more on keeping it relaxed, easy going, and functional. The main point should be for skaters to be able to have fun with other skaters.
Source...