MAINE, USA — The Maine Skateboard Association has been hosting Skate Jams across the state of Maine, which began early this year.
In May, the association hosted “Bash at the Bay” at the Portland Skatepark. This was the first of five planned Skatepark Jams and contests.
These gatherings invited skateboarders from all over the state to show off what they can do and get the chance to win a “homemade” trophy and a cash prize.
“The Maine Skateboard Association is the brainchild of a gentleman named Josh Bankhead who owns a local skateboard company," Board Chair of the Maine Skateboard Association Tobias Parkhurst said. "He kind of put some feelers out to get some people involved with the hope of doing, one, a contest series, and also, give some skaters a little bit of opportunity to get together and stretch their volunteer wings."
In June, organizers say jams began growing once one was hosted in Lewison titled “Clash of the Crust."
“So, the first one we did in Portland dragged all the kids from Portland to Lewiston,” Parkhurst said. “In a sport that lacks a lot of organization and competitiveness, I think we have managed to strike a balance between having something that is a competition, but also really supportive.”
Each Jam is divided into three divisions, 12 and under, 13 to 17, and 18 and over. Each division has a first, second, and third place, and their own cash prize.
After Lewiston, a “Capitol City Jam” was held in Augusta. The most recent Jam was held in Bangor where organizers say the crowd grew to its biggest size yet.
“People who came to the first one in Portland came to the last one in Bangor," Andrew Lohman, who does public relations for the Maine Skateboard Association, said. "We have a smaller skate community here just because of the nature of our state and to bring everybody together is really awesome.”
With its growing popularity, Skate Jams are being used to raise money for skateparks in different cities. Members of the association are also using their knowledge of the sport to help cities construct their new skateparks.
“For the Bangor Skatepark at least, we leveraged the Olympics for fundraising efforts to help get this skatepark here to try to help people that don’t necessarily know about skateboarding, to get them interested in the project," Lohman said.
“It’s one of the fastest growing sports in the country and worldwide, and you see other countries putting a lot of money behind a sport that has become not only a worldwide phenomenon, but also an Olympic sport,” Parkhurst said.
Parkhurst grew up skateboarding in Waterville and says he would have been amazed if Waterville had a skatepark like what cities in Maine have now. He also says that cities should think about skateparks more when redesigning city parks.
“We’re going to have to see, in our generation, towns admitting that this is a thing that they have to do and when they start checking the boxes for playgrounds, basketball courts, and baseball fields — a skatepark has to be on the list too," Parkhurst said. "We can’t ask ourselves how we get our kids to play the sports that we wanted to play. We have to ask our kids what sports they want to play, and this is what they want to do.”
The 5th Skate Jam held by the Maine Skateboard Association has yet to find a skatepark home. Details for that event will be posted on the association’s Facebook page.
The association encourages anyone who may have any questions about the Jams or is interested in more information, to reach out to them through the Facebook page.