By: Mitch Smitten
Youth today are fortunate to have groups and communities for everyone to fit in to. A place some would see as concrete, some would call home. A town’s local skatepark can be a massive influence on the physical activity of youth and can be a major benefit to developing social skills. I spoke to local action sports enthusiast Jacob Pearcey on how having a local skatepark has impacted his social life, physical and mental health along with his career path.
Jacob is a professional scooter rider who has had over 10 years of going to the skatepark under his belt, attempting every action sport from skateboarding, rollerblading to now scooter riding.
*Jacob Pearcey, professional scooter rider and action sports enthusiast*
“It’s given me something to work towards” says enthusiast Jacob Pearcey. Not only has having a local skate park given Jacob the opportunity to have goals to work towards, it helped build relationships through businesses & friendships within the action sports community as he stated “It’s given me a sense of community that I was searching a long time for.” & “A lot of the relationships I’ve built since a child have been through the skatepark.”. With years of learning the ins and outs of how the action sports business is run, Jacob has taken it upon himself to set the goal of creating an indoor skatepark facility for all action sports. “Being lucky enough to live in Newmarket, we have a city funded indoor facility. I think it’s great for youth and I think that having a supervised, drop-off facility for parents to leave their kids at for under ten dollars is awesome for the community. I think they’re powerful places. There is a lot of opportunity for youth programming, athlete development and a resource for kids to attend besides just hanging out outside.”.
When we look back to our childhood, all our parents ever wanted is for us to be happy and healthy. Local Newmarket resident Kim Robertson gave us some insight on how the local skatepark has effected her son’s mental health and her perspective on the impact it’s made in his life. “It built his confidence into the outgoing man he is today” stated Kim when asked about what the local skatepark has done for her son’s physical and mental health. Something a local skatepark provides is life lessons, one of them being to try and try again.
We spoke to professional scooter rider Cameron McRobbie about how going to his local skatepark has impacted his life, goals and outlook on life. “Enjoying the little things and the process of trying hard for something and the whole idea of progression. Things take time, you have to work towards things and put in the effort” & “You learn to fall down and get back up again and it teaches you the roots of trial and error because life has scenario’s like that all the time” are just a few of the strong statements McRobbie elaborated on. The trial and error of learning to have to dust yourself off when things aren’t going to plan is what put Cameron in the position he is in today; traveling the world, competing on a professional level and earning himself sponsorships to keep him on his feet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rozciBdQZU&ab_channel=NorthScooters Here is just a sliver of what Cameron’s abilities are that he’s worked on while having a local skatepark.
At the end of the day, everyone needs a community and a place to escape. The local skatepark has not only opened the doors for many people who may not fall into the typical path that the average citizen would do, but also opens up opportunities for potential careers within action sports and professional sporting overall. So take a chance, drop in and see what happens. The action sports community is for everyone and a local skatepark can be the start of something incredible for your physical and mental health in the long run.
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