The Wichita City Skate Park is helping build the local community.
When Wichita Didn’t Have Skate Parks
I spent most of my youth in Derby, KS during the 80s and 90s.
To the best of my knowledge, there were no public skate parks anywhere in Sedgwick County at that time.
I played lots of sports throughout grade school and middle school, but the activities I enjoyed the most were riding bikes and skate boards, which had very little support within the community.
The only options for jumping our bikes were on dirt jumps that we built at Crane and Woodlawn parks in Derby. On special occasions my parents might take the family to the BMX race track at Emery Park in South Wichita.
Basically, there were very few options for BMX, and no places to legally skate.
Proud Of Wichita!
I am so proud of Wichita for dedicating the space and resources for a public skate park.
Not only does this provide a positive environment for kids and adults to progress and share their passion. It also allows for a place where they are not causing any problems by doing what they love.
This video was shot and edited by a Youtube user who is not associated with Elite Staffing Solutions or the author of this article.
Beware, there are a few bad words in the soundtrack they used. Still, I am super happy to see a Wichita Skate Park video on Youtube!
Although the skate park has been around for a while, I will always be grateful that our city has embraced activities and cultures outside of mainstream sports. Maybe someday skateboard and BMX park will be high school sports.
If skateboarding and BMX were looked at with a positive light during my youth, I’m confident I would have gotten in a lot less trouble.
I hope that every person who visits the Wichita City skate park appreciates it and takes care of this special city-provided space.
Article by Mike Gamache
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