It is wild to think that we have already completed four of our eight skateboarding classes! We hope that you guys have enjoyed the first half of our winter session and that you are ready to keep rolling onwards. 

As Coach Trevor mentioned on Thursday, we are planning a super fun event for the last day of class. Our eighth lesson is Demo Day, which gives us a chance to share what we have learned on our skateboards! Each skater gets to select a song and take several minutes to demonstrate whatever tricks they learned during previous seven weeks. Do not forget that your coaches are always there to help if you want a little more support!

Our Trick Tip this week focused on flatground skating, the foundation for all other tricks. Once we learn these basics, we can apply them to different obstacles in the skatepark or on the streets. Perhaps one of the simplest tricks, and one that we practiced together, is the pancake flip. This is a great trick to help us gain confidence in jumping, allowing the board to flip halfway, and staying balanced when we land. Other flatground tricks include ollies, kickflips, and pop-shuvits. These fundamentals include countless variations; there are so many I cannot even list them all!

This week we spent some time discussing the importance of practice and self-improvement. Let us remember that there are neither winners nor losers in skateboarding. The only people that we are competing with are ourselves. As long as we are pushing our own limits, that is the ultimate goal. Sometimes, this can be scary; what we need to realize is that fear is something we create in our minds. The more we practice and learn from our mistakes, the stronger we will become as skaters and as individuals. In closing, keep up the great work. Happy skating!

-Coach Elliot