Local skateboarders have mixed feelings about a recommendation
to close the county-operated skate park, believing the sport has
been misunderstood.
Grayson Younce watches skaters
at the local park Sunday afternoon. Photo by Scott
Nicholson
Sunday afternoon, about a half-dozen skaters were using the park,
which is located in the Watauga County Parks & Recreation
Complex in Boone.
The skaters, most of whom weren’t wearing helmets or pads,
said they understood the risks of their chosen sport and felt
there had not been a real effort to make skateboarding a welcome
part of the county’s recreation programs.
Grayson Younce, 13, said he had been planning to spend most of
his summer days at the park and that he didn’t like organized
sports such as football and basketball.
He said he’d been a regular user of the park until the county
hired a security guard to monitor it, and then he stayed away
until the county hired Mason Jones, a peer skateboarder, to monitor
it.
“If they take this away, I won’t have anywhere to skate,”
he said.
“We’ll be back on the streets.”
Jones said the county had not followed through on its commitments,
including agreeing to install a water fountain near the park because
water bottles weren’t allowed in the facility.
Jones, who was hired part-time for a month to monitor the park
last October, said attendance had picked back up but no one with
the county had ever asked him what was working and what wasn’t.
He also acknowledged that skaters weren’t following the posted
rules when the park was unsupervised.
“It’s a failure on everyone’s part,” Jones
said.
“There was a failure of the kids not wearing helmets and
(Watauga County) Parks and Recreation (Department) not knowing
enough about what they were doing to make a good go of it.”
Attendance dwindled last summer when the county hired a security
firm to monitor the park, requiring helmets and mandating that
all skaters sign a waiver form acknowledging the risks and releasing
the county from liability. The rules are also posted on a sign
at the park.
“You can’t say ‘Skate at your own risk’ and
then have a bunch of rules and a waiver,” Jones said. “That’s
redundant. I don’t know who set that up, because they’ve
obviously never skated.”
Anthony Farnham said he was a regular user of the park except
when the security guard was on duty, and he favored a private
park even if it meant he’d have to pay a small fee. “People
don’t have a good understanding (of the sport) at public
parks,” Farnham said. “I wish they’d shut it down
and open a private park. Pads are expensive and you can’t
skate with them. They’re obstructive.”
Jones said pads decreased flexibility and that it was “an
absurd expectation,” believing skateboarders knew the risks
they were taking. He said he’d not witnessed any injuries
at the park more serious than scraped skin.
“You can’t step on a skateboard without learning the
risks,” Jones said. “Within 30 seconds of being on a
skateboard, you’re fully aware of the risks.”
He said most skating injuries occurred among new skaters, and
said wrist pads were probably the only ones that helped, though
he didn’t think they should be required. “I’d suggest
them, but not make them mandatory,” he said.
Younce said he believed skaters accepted those risks and if they
were injured, the skaters were at fault. He once suffered a foot
fracture in a skateboard accident, but said pads wouldn’t
have helped that time.
“If you fall, it’s your fault,” he said. “It
happens in every sport. This is a sport, too.”
Younce felt some discrimination against his chosen sport because
it wasn’t given the same respect as organized team sports.
“If I didn’t want a baseball field, I’d still have
consideration for other people’s passions,” he said.
“If you’re not good at football or baseball, this is
all you have.”
Jones said skaters got a bad rap because the activity is a blend
of sport, art and “free-flowing expression.” “It’s
not considered a legitimate sport because there are no rules,
no organization and no coaches,” he said.
“It’s not an extreme sport or aggressive. It’s
just boarding. People who are into their skating don’t have
time to get into trouble.”
Julien Passajou, 11, said he spent most of the daylight hours
last summer at the park. He wears his helmet and said it wasn’t
fair the park was being closed because others weren’t wearing
helmets.
“I wear a helmet because it doesn’t get in the way that
much,” Passajou said. “But with pads, you can’t
bend your arms and legs.”
Younce and Jones both said skaters would keep on with the sport
if the park were closed, but they would be more at risk.
“Ninety-six percent of skateboard deaths are from collisions
with vehicles,” Jones said. “Unless you want little
skateboarders splattered all over the ground, you better have
a place for them to go.”
The Watauga County Parks and Recreation Commission voted last
month to recommend closing the park, with the county commissioners
having the final say in the park’s future.
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