Exeter Skate Aid

Working Towards An Indoor Skatepark In Exeter

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Exeter Indoor Skatepark

Exeter Skate Aid is an organisation with past success in Exeter. The first skatepark at Exeter Arena was created as a result of their work in 1998. It was a temporary set up, that demonstrated the value the park could offer. This resulted in the land that Exeter Arena now sits on being offered to the community, providing they supply the ramps. With many riders having trade skills, this was easily achieved. To see the history of skating and BMXing in Exeter click here. The specific section regarding Exeter Arena is at 11mins and 10 secs. The group was set up by the original Boarding House Shop. It has now been revived, to achieve an indoor park.

Exeter Skate Aid Go Mission

Exeter Skate Aid are performing this pursuit to help initiate the build, maintenance, and running of an indoor skatepark. For years, the value of an indoor park has been discussed by the community using the outdoor parks. In the winter, wet weather can have a big impact on what we do, meaning we need to skate or BMX in car parks with shelter, which then causes issues with security. Further to this, with more women taking up the sport, and younger people a main demographic, it gives them a safe space to perform year round.

Skating and BMXing is a good thing for people of all ages and abilities to do. This fun form of exercise is beneficial for keeping an active community. Skating and BMXing also have deep cultural value, with music and art being a big part of it. Over time we would like to develop the park to be a hub for the wider community outside of purely skating and BMXing. Offering a place to develop skills, create meaningful connections, and have an enjoyable space to practice what they do.

Our sport is sometimes debated if it's just that. With some actually preferring to call it an art, a lifestyle, or creative outlet. While competition is a route to go down, for most riders, we simply go out and have "expression sessions". Where we creatively intemperate an obstacle based on our favourite moves and style. This means what we do is available to a diverse range of people, offering a solid community through everyones individuality being promoted. Other aspects ESA would like to promote within the centre include:

Positive mental health
Accessible riding for disabled individuals
Improved exercise opportunities for locals of all ages
A safe space for all riders
Allow for continued community progression by supporting good values and causes

Who Is It For?

Dr Paul O'Connor

Mental Health, Wellbeing, Inclusion and Community Engagement Rationale for Indoor Skatepark in Exeter.

Context

The growth in skateparks in the UK has in large part been propelled by the wide recognition of the broad health determinants of skateboarding. Research from a variety of fields attest to the impact of skateboarding, much of which will be surveyed below. However, a large oversight in the approach to skatepark construction throughout the UK is the caprices of the weather, and the lack of diversity in skatepark provisions.

First the issue of weather means that the health benefits of skateboarding are reduced and

obstructed by large periods of inclement weather. Exeter is in one the regions that

experiences the highest rainfall in the UK (MET Office 2023). A further component of these

weather conditions is that they unduly contribute to health and wellbeing indices, lack of

sunlight, and accordingly obstructed opportunity for social and communal engagement.

Key Points

Skateboarding has distinct and tested positive impacts on health and wellbeing.

Exeter has skateparks that are largely unused during sustained months of rain and inclement winter weather.

Skateboarders and other skatepark users face health and wellbeing impacts during these months.

Broader issues of gender, age, ethnicity, and sexuality are also captured in the

wellbeing discourse that highlight additional need (safety and community) afforded

by indoor skatepark provision.

Exeter needs an indoor skatepark as both a recreation and health and wellbeing provision.

Mental Health & Amp; Wellbeing

A variety of research has demonstrated the broad impact of skateboarding and other

lifestyle sports to indices of wellbeing. Looking at skatepark construction in the USA (Atencioet al. 2018) highlights community involvement, obesity mitigation, and community

stimulation. A wide scope 2 year national study in the USA also identified that young

skateboarders were richly invested in community friendships, had diverse multicultural

networks, and experienced more gender inclusivity in their skateboarding scene (Corwin et

al. 2019). All of these aspects are also relevant to adult and ‘older’ skateboarders who are able to both sustain and generate friendships through skateboarding in later life (O'Connor 2021, 2017, Willing et al. 2018). Many older skateboarders report the sport helps them bond with their children, overcome work and relationship stress, and deal with substance abuse issues. The informal nature of skateboarding contrasts starkly here with team sports that require a temporal and institutional commitment i.e. as people get older team sports are more difficult for them to schedule, access, and find peers at equal skill level, while skateboarding has fewer barriers to these considerations. A further progressive element of skateboarding relates to issue of suicide prevention where skateboarders have been engaged in their own grassroots community activism. The

powerful impact of 28-year-old, British professional skateboarder Ben Raemers’s death by

suicide in 2019 ignited vocal discussion on this topic. The Ben Raemers Foundation

advocates for knowledge transfer and debate in this area (The Ben Raemers Foundation

2023). There is an additional local connection in the enterprise of professional skateboarder and Exeter local, Barney Page, skateboarding from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise awareness of Mental Health in Skateboarding (Morris 2023). The NHS has even promoted skateboarding as part of its discussion on wellbeing and mental health in adult men (NHS Choices 2016).

Gender, Inclusion, Diversity

A further important component of skatepark provision is the necessity of safe places for

female, and other potentially vulnerable participants. Indoor skateparks provide both oversight and provision and known safe spaces for a range of participants. These needs are especially acute in winter months when streets are dark early and concerns of physical safety become acute. A broad range of contemporary research attests to the dynamic way skateboarding has provided young women with agency, community, and self-confidence (Sayers 2023, Schwamberger and Stiff 2023, Costa, Kochanek, and Erickson 2022, Abulhawa 2020,

Backstrom 2013, Jepsen 2012, Kelly, Pomerantz, and Currie 2006, Kelly, Pomerantz, and

Currie 2007). These findings build on an amplify the more general findings of skateboarding and wellbeing indices.

Recent research has also captured the ways in which skateboarding has been one of the

most inclusive sports for being receptive and inclusive of ethnic difference, gender, and

sexual diversity (Willing and Pappalardo 2023, Geckle and Shaw 2020, McDuie-Ra 2023,

Williams 2020). Clearly the internal cultural dynamics of skateboarding are doing the self-starting work that youth clubs, health centres, and community groups hope to achieve. In an era of austerity, the potential of skateboarding to build and strengthen communities should not be ignored.

Conclusion

The depth and scope of research (of which we include only a sample) which identifies the

manifold and diverse positive implication of skateboarding highlights the need for indoor

community provision. The clear health and wellbeing impacts are worthy of extended

reflection and action by community, health, and City Council stakeholders.

Abulhawa, Dani. 2020. Skateboarding and Femininity _ Gender, Space-making and

Expressive Movement. London: Routledge.

Atencio, Matthew, Becky Beal, Missy E. Wright, and McClain ZáNean. 2018. Moving

Boarders: Skateboarding and the Changing Landscape of Urban Youth Sports, Sport,

Culture and Society. Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press.

Backstrom, A. 2013. "Gender Manoeuvring in Swedish Skateboarding: Negotiations of

Femininities and the Hierarchical Gender Structure." Young 21 (1):29-53. doi:

10.1177/1103308812467670.

Corwin, Zoë B. , Tattiya Maruco, Neftalie Williams, Robert Reichardt, Maria Romero-

Morales, Christine Rocha, and Constanza Astiazaran. 2019. Beyond the Board:

Findings from the field. Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern

California.

Costa, Guilherme H., Jill Kochanek, and Karl Erickson. 2022. "“What does skateboarding

mean to you?” An exploratory study of Brazilian skateboarders’ developmental

experiences." Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health:1-18. doi:

10.1080/2159676x.2022.2161608.

Geckle, Bethany, and Sally Shaw. 2020. "Failure and Futurity: The Transformative Potential

of Queer Skateboarding." Young 30 (2):132-148. doi: 10.1177/1103308820945100.

Jepsen, Tara. 2012. "I'm an Adult Lady Skateboarder." Last Modified 11 September.

http://www.xojane.com/fun/female-skateboarders.

Kelly, Deirde M., Shauna Pomerantz, and Dawn H. Currie. 2007. " “Your can break so many

more rules”: The identity work and play of becoming skater girls." In Youth culture

and sport, edited by Michael D. Giardina and Michelle K. Donnelly, 113-125. London:

Routledge.

Kelly, Deirdre M., Shauna Pomerantz, and Dawn Currie. 2006. "Skater girlhood and

emphasized femininity: ‘you can't land an ollie properly in heels’." Gender and

Education 17 (3):229-248. doi: 10.1080/09540250500145163.

McDuie-Ra, Duncan. 2023. "Racial diversity in skateboarding: destabilising whiteness,

decentring heartlands." Sport in Society:1-18. doi:

10.1080/17430437.2023.2208079.

MET Office. 2023. "How much does it rain in the UK?".

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-

weather/rain/how-much-does-it-rain-in-the-uk.

Morris, Steven. 2023. "Skateboarding film wins plaudits for focus on mental health."

accessed 22 October 2023.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/oct/22/skateboarding-film-plaudits-

mental-health-john-ogroats-lands-end.

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skateboarders through temporal capital." International Review for the Sociology of

Sport 53 (8):924-943. doi: 10.1177/1012690217691780.

O'Connor, Paul. 2021. "Identity and Wellbeing in Older Skateboarders." In Lifestyle Sports

and Identities: Subcultural Careers Through the Life Course, edited by Tyler Dupont

and Becky Beal, 120-150. London: Routledge.

Sayers, Esther. 2023. "Skateboarding, Time and Ethics: An Auto Ethnographic Adventure of

Motherhood and Risk." Sport, Ethics and Philosophy:1-21. doi:

10.1080/17511321.2023.2180533.

Schwamberger, Benjamin, and Mallory Stiff. 2023. "Skateboarding: Relevant, Exciting and

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‘Tired Generation’: Ageing in Youth Cultures and Lifestyle Sports." Sociology. doi:

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