British ColumbiaElder skateboarders and parents in and around Salmon Arm, B.C., are making sure today’s youth have have access to the sport that helped them grow. Salmon Arm hosts first skateboarding competition since COVID-19Jeremy Taylor was the oldest competitor at Salmon Arm’s SkateFest on Sept. 6. (Jacqueline Gelineau / CBC)Todd Here remembers the era before skate parks when skateboard wheels were small and pants were huge. His formative years in the 1980s were spent riding with the few other skateboarders in Salmon Arm, B.C., often getting chased away by police from the best places to ride. “It was an outlet. It still allowed us to be kind of bad-ass as well, but it kept us not with such idle hands and idle feet,” he said. Back in the day, Here and his friends raised money for the construction of Salmon Arm’s first ever skate park. Now, after many years of hard falls on concrete, Here is taking a step back from riding and is focusing on encouraging the next generation of riders.WATCH | Skateboarding in Salmon Arm: Youth-focused skateboard festival aims to revive Salmon Arm, B.C., skate sceneSkate parks in small cities and towns across the country are places where people who feel like they don’t fit in can find friends and build confidence. A group of older skaters and dads have resurrected the skateboard competition scene in Salmon Arm, B.C., to give the next generation an opportunity to express themselves. CBC’s Jacqueline Gelineau spoke to skaters at Salmon Arm’s first ever SkateFest this weekend. He’s part of a group of elder skateboarders and parents in the region — who know what it feels like to not fit in — who are making sure today’s youth have have access to the sport that helped them grow. ‘Express your creativity’ On Sept. 6, Here volunteered as a judge at SkateFest, Salmon Arm’s inaugural skateboard festival featuring local DJs, bands and vendors. It was the city’s first skate competition since COVID-19.Hundreds of people converged at Salmon Arm’s Blackburn Skate Pack to compete, cheer and enjoy the scene. Riders of all ages were welcomed, from young rippers still in diapers trying out a skateboard for the first time to crushers competing in the 50-plus category throwing some of the best tricks of the day.”[Skateboarding] is a chance to express your creativity in a way that is unique. It’s not necessarily about just strength or winning, even. It’s more about, like, you on the street and how you can, like, shape your body to ride the world, you know?” said Here, who also performed at the festival with his punk rock band Best Friend Review.Skaters at SkateFest tested out new tricks and encouraged each other to try new things. (Jacqueline Gelineau / CBC)Open-minded communityGavin Donald drove in from Vernon to compete at SkateFest. He said he’s found skate parks to be a place where people who feel like outsiders can find community in a small city. “It allows the people that don’t fit in regular society to make their own community the way they want it. And with the freedom to do it how they want,” he said.Whether you are hitting a huge trick or dropping in for the first time, Donald said skaters will cheer each other equally as loud. “Skateboarding kind of attracts people that don’t have a sense of community. People that don’t fit in. So to have a place that lets them fit in, with people that are open-minded, is kind of what skating’s become.”Gavin Donald took one of the hardest crashes of the day at SkateFest, but got up and continued to impress the crowd. (Jacqueline Gelineau / CBC)SkateFest was organized by Launch! Salmon Arm, an organization that aims to create employment opportunities and remove barriers to success for teenagers and young adults.David Colombe of Launch! started hanging at the skate park recently after his daughters became interested in the sport. Colombe, whose bruised shins show his dedication to the unforgiving sport, said he is thankful to others who have stepped up to help his daughters learn. “We found the community was very open and welcoming even for two little girls that, quite often, more got in the way in this skate park … And the older kids will teach them tricks and show them how to do stuff and teach them the rules of the park,” he said.David Colombe with Launch! Salmon Arm organized SkateFest 2025, which was held on Sept. 6. (Jacqueline Gelineau / CBC)Colombe said he recognizes the importance of having community and a goal to work toward, particularly for young people in small communities where options can be limited. ‘It felt like a purpose’After witnessing firsthand the welcoming skate community in Salmon Arm, Colombe and Launch! were inspired to revive SkateFest. From the sound technicians to the set-up crew, the event was primarily staffed by youth employed by Launch!, with prizes and freebies donated by local store Ashes Skateboards and Snowboards.Shop owner Brandon Desjardin said it means everything to him to be able to give back to the community that made him who he is. Desjardin said as a kid his family couldn’t afford to enrol him in sports like hockey, and he wasn’t inspired by academics. That left him with a lot of free time and the potential to get into trouble. “When I was growing up a lot of kids in my community veered toward drugs or vandalism, but I always stayed away from it because I always had my board,” he said.”I just focused on skateboarding. I did it every day, all day … It felt like a purpose for me.”Skaters cheered each other on at SkateFest in Salmon Arm on Sept. 6 (Jacqueline Gelineau / CBC)Desjardin said it was at the park and on his board that he found his community, developed an unrelenting work ethic and likely a high pain tolerance after breaking 18 bones during his time on four wheels. Now he loves to build boards, help kids get comfortable at the skate park and watch them make friends.”The kids are always helping each other learn new tricks. They’re always hyping each other up. It’s a great community,” he said.ABOUT THE AUTHORJacqueline Gelineau is a CBC journalist based in Salmon Arm. She can be reached at jacqueline.gelineau@cbc.ca.
Skate park veterans help next generation of small-town B.C. skateboarders find community
