June 29, 2009
Skateboarders will move to new level
JEFF DUCHARME
Noel Chenier/Telegraph-Journal
Tyson Preshyon gives youngsters Dawson Metcalfe, left, and Marley Dunham instruction as they watch Matt McFarlane do tricks off a pyramid at the skate park, where there will be a series of one-week summer camps, starting July 1.
SAINT JOHN - There's more to skateboarding than standing on the lip of a half pipe, jumping on a board and hurtling yourself toward the ground. At least that's what the instructor at this summer's inaugural skateboard camp is hoping to prove to his students.
"I see it far too often," Tyson Preshyon said. "A kid doesn't really have fear."
Preshyon, 23, began competitive skating 10 years ago at about the same time he discovered that rocks and skateboard wheels don't mix. Even a small pebble in the path of a skateboard can bring it to a to a grinding halt, cause the rider to become airborne and quickly find themselves at gravity's mercy.
"Before I knew it I was sitting on the ground and half my face was scratched off," Tyson said of his brief flight. "I learned to watch out for rocks."
By explaining the mechanics of the skateboard, the equipment and the basics such as pushing, falling, proper foot placement, posture and finding balance, he will enable the campers to advance quicker and stay safer.
"My goal is to get these kids to a different level of confidence."
The camp is being run by the Fundy Skateboarding Association and is being held at Station 1 skateboard park. Registration for each week-long camp is $250 and will be split up into three age classes - 5-8, 9-12, 13 and over - and then repeated.
Here is a rundown on the dates for the camps:
July 6-10 (ages 5-8).
July 13-17 (ages 9-12).
July 20-24 (ages 13 and up).
July 27-31 (ages 5-8).
Aug. 3-7 (ages 9-12).
Aug. 10-14 (ages 13 and up).
To register, visit www.skatesj.ca.
Jason MacLean of the association said there is a lot of interest from parents. Parents teaching their kids to ride a bike was one thing, but skateboarding is a different animal altogether.
"It's a more structured environment and a safer way of teaching them how to skateboard," MacLean said.
Recently, the Canadian Tire Jump Start program gave the association $5,000 to buy boards and safety gear.
"We're also going to be able to offer up kids that can't afford skateboards the option of signing skateboards out," MacLean said.
If a child wants to be part of the summer camp and can't afford the registration cost, he said there are funding agencies such as PRO Kids that can help.
"We'll do everything we can to get kids that can't afford to skateboard out to skateboard."
The camps will run 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and staff at the park are all trained in first aid and CPR.
The campers will also be instructed on how to interact with other skaters. They will learn how to be cool with other kids, MacLean said.
While the uninitiated may go to the park and think it's a free-for-all, MacLean said there is a flow to the lines that skaters follow. That's one of the skills - skateboard etiquette - that will also be taught.
These are "basic things that I think are going to improve the sport in the city because there is going to be more kids that know how to skateboard properly."
On rainy days, the skateboarders will go indoors and learn such things as the art of making a skateboarding film, instructional videos and the physics of skateboarding.
"It's far greater than dropping your kids off and letting them skate around," MacLean said. "It's definitely much more structured than that."