Nine-year old Avery practices her tricks on some new equipment that was made thanks to the work of Volunteers (Tiffanu Goodwein CHATNewsToday)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Medicine Hat Skateboard Association builds community and teaches skills thanks to new equipment

Nov 22, 2021 | 5:00 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB– With a push of a foot, and a glide on wheels, kids are hard at work at skate school, at Bay 3 in the city’s industrial district, learning all the tricks of the trade for skateboarding.

The Medicine Hat Skateboard Association’s skate school takes place on Sundays, and kids of all ages and abilities take part.

Nine-year-old Avery has been skateboarding for two years, and every week she is skating with the boys. But that doesn’t intimidate her one bit. The nine-year-old already manages do kick-turns with ease, and she wants other girls to give the sport a go.

“I feel like most girls feel like they are not strong enough because you fall a lot but that’s just a part of Skateboarding,”

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By her side is her coach and mentor Mary McNabb who only started skating a year and a half ago, after watching her brother take part in Medicine Hat Skateboard Association programs. Similar to Nine-year-old Avery, seeing women on skateboards in the city was hard to find. But oddly enough a group of women all signed up for lessons at the same time, and they have been encouraging each other ever since.

Now that she is in a coaching role, she said the position is very rewarding especially when she gets to mentor the kids, some of whom are disadvantaged.

“ We help them out, we give boards away and stuff if a kid doesn’t have a good board. Lots of kids see us skating and stuff, and then they come to skate school and you can actually form a relationship and help them out,”

Now, thanks to the help of one volunteer Paul Norbo, the kids have some new and improved equipment to skate on at Bay 3.

“For skating, you need a good flow. Now the park is way more open and there is stuff for every skill set and every age level. So it is really good for our skate school kids, and every skill set now.”

Bay 3 opened in early 2020 and was made possible through the Medicine Hat Skateboard Associations’ sponsors, Tim Hortons and Eagle’s Nest Ranch.