November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 15
Free public skate parks provide a place for all levels
of skaters, from beginner to advanced level.
children in the United States. According to the Mayo
Clinic, " Childhood obesity is...particularly troubling because
the extra pounds often start children on the path to
health problems that were once considered adult problems
- diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Childhood obesity also can lead to poor self-esteem
and depression. " Skate parks help to provide diverse
programming that provides youth who may not be interested
in traditional sports new ways to be active.
Diverse Features for Diverse Users
Bowls and snake runs are elements of skate parks that
are easy on the knees, and including them in the design
of these spaces can allow older skaters and very young
riders to utilize the park. For children under 12 years
old, it can be difficult to manage a street course. Thus,
by including these features, you open up your park to
many more users.
Grassroots Competitions
Grassroots competitions can bring the community together,
especially children and their parents. Some cities
bring in bands, food trucks, face painting and more
to elevate the event into a festival day. Others focus on
the competition. Either way, such events garner participants
and even spectators who ideally can turn into
park users.
The Olympics
With skateboarding and BMX being featured in the
2020, 2024 and 2028 Olympics, we are seeing cities
eager to build better parks, or even their first park. At
this time, Freestyle BMX is an official Olympic sport.
However, skateboarding is still on the invite list through
2028, meaning not all countries can send a team and
the International Olympic Committee can't fund it.
Some cities have been approached by organizations
to get their park " certified, " with fees ranging from
$25,000 up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you
work with a qualified designer or builder, there is no
need for public parks to pay certification fees. These
kinds of certified training facilities might be best left to
private enterprise and not public parks and recreation
and parks programs.
Public parks should encourage participation from
people of all ages and all levels of development, with
an emphasis on beginners. A well-designed and built
skate park has and will continue to do this.
COMPLETE CATALOG
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Heidi Lemmon is Executive Director of Skate Park Association
International (heidi@skateparkassociation.org).
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November 2022 - Parks & Recreation
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2022 - Parks & Recreation
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Intro
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover1
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover2
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 1
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 2
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 3
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 4
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 5
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November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 20
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 21
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November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 45
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 46
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 47
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 48
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 49
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 50
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 51
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November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 53
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 54
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 55
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 56
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover3
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover4
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https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2023
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https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2021
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