On a recent Saturday morning, Corwin Weik walked the sidelines at the Skate Park of Athens with his bullhorn, preaching to the faithful at a Back-to-School Skate Jam.
Weik is president of the Athens Skatepark Project, a nonprofit group dedicated to expanding recreational resources for young people across Athens-Clarke County. “We want a skate park in every neighborhood and every part of town. We want them easily accessible. We want skate parks that are small. We want skate parks that are big,” he explained.
Beyond athletic fields and basketball courts, Weik said skate parks are a place of belonging for kids who might not fit into team sports. Skate parks don’t require a lot of planning or scheduling by parents, and they get kids outside and exercising on their boards, bikes and scooters. “This space provides something totally intangible that soccer fields and team sports can’t really do. There’s an individualism here that is incomparable to any other sports facility,” he said.
Tiffany Samuels, who attended the Back-to-School Skate Jam with 8-year-old son Grelyn, said she’s seen a remarkable change in the boy since he started skating a little over two months ago and participating in the coaching sessions Weik runs. It’s expanded his horizons. He now has goals and is so enthusiastic about the sport that she can use it as a lever to get him to do things like his homework if he wants to come out and skate, she said.
“I feel for the psychosocial emotional aspect of a child’s development, that it is highly important for a child to be able to come out and express themselves on many different levels,” Samuels said. “Everybody’s on their own level. Everybody respects one another, and it shows, you know, respect. It shows community, and it also gets the kids off the screen time. And that is something that our nation has really had a difficult time with in these past years.”
For Grelyn, the reasons are even simpler. “I just like how it calms me down and how you like, get wind on your face, and it keeps you from, like, getting hot and stuff,” he said.
While Athens has a premier skate park facility on the Eastside, Weik said it can be a little too premier for kids just getting started. “We’ve got 14,000 square feet of mostly vertically oriented concrete, concrete that hangs over itself and is super intimidating to look at. It’s not a good starter park,” he said.
Partially built in 2000 and completed in 2016, the existing skate park was initially funded by SPLOST 2000 after local skateboarders lobbied the Athens-Clarke County Commission for such a facility. The sales-tax funding was supplemented by local donations and a grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation. Today, it’s popular among children and adults of the 56-year-old Hawk’s generation alike. Something on display at the Back-to-School Skate Jam was a high level of mentorship as older skaters worked with younger ones on their skills.
“It helps the younger skaters be better. It builds their confidence, and then 10 years from now, they’re passing that same thing on to skaters younger than them,” said Athens Skatepark Project volunteer Eric Frey.
The Athens Skate Park Project’s immediate goal is to expand the current facility inside Southeast Clarke Park with a new section of smaller ramps and obstacles that’ll cater to beginners. Then, they’d like to do projects like pocket parks that integrate skating with current greenways, such as the Firefly Trail.
“Beyond that, we’re putting skate parks all over Athens. I want a skate park in Winterville. I want a skate park at the Rock Springs Community Center. I want a skate park at the East Athens Community Center. I want skate parks within a half mile of any low-income neighborhood in Athens,” Weik said.
Mentoring younger skaters would be enhanced with expanded facilities. The Athens Skatepark Project hopes to achieve the goal of adding to the park located inside Southeast Clarke Park by the 20th anniversary of the building of the Skatepark of Athens in April 2025. Anyone who wants to donate or help out can learn more at athensskateparkproject.org.
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