For a town its size, Jasper offers a surprising number of recreational opportunities to its youth.
To name just a few, the community has a six-a-side football team, a swim team, volleyball teams, hockey teams, rugby teams and ski teams. And beyond that, there鈥檚 a pool, a fitness centre, an arena, a ski hill and all of the activities that follow along with them.
There鈥檚 also gymnastics, dance and kickboxing, among many other things.
But, despite all of these opportunities, Jasper is lacking in one important area鈥攊t鈥檚 lacking activities that are free.
For a kid to play hockey, first their parents have to buy gear: skates, pads, sticks, jerseys, the works. Then there鈥檚 a registration fee and travel to games and tournaments out of town. It鈥檚 not a cheap endeavour, and the same goes for the football team and the ski teams.
Of course, visiting the pool or the fitness centre doesn鈥檛 compare in cost to an equipment-heavy team sport, but again there鈥檚 still a cost to enter the facility and for some, that might be enough to keep them away.
It can be easy in Jasper to forget that there are people who can鈥檛 afford these luxuries. Surrounded by the beauty of this place and the idealism of calling a national park home, we can sometimes lose track of reality.
But all it takes is a quick reminder that Jasper has a well-used food bank, as well as an annual campaign that helps more than 50 families each Christmas with hampers and gifts, and a highly trafficked Community Outreach Services office to snap us back to reality.
With those things in mind, it was with great excitement that we heard of Jasper鈥檚 youth working together to propose a new and improved, permanent, free skate park for the community.
Skate culture often get a bad rap. People imagine skate parks as havens for criminal activity and skateboarders as social outlaws, with little respect for authority.
But, these days, that misconception is being turned on its head in some of the countries most progressive cities. For instance, in Winnipeg, Man., a prime piece of real estate in the city鈥檚 downtown core was given up to be developed as a skate park and public space. It now sees millions of visitors each year. And, whether you鈥檙e on a skateboard, scooter or BMX, or you鈥檙e just there to hang out, it doesn鈥檛 cost a dime.
Although skateboarding isn鈥檛 a traditional sport, accepted by the masses, like hockey or football, it is one that has captured the interest of a large number of Jasper鈥檚 youth, and it鈥檚 one that they can do for free. Of course, there is the requirement of a board, a bike or a scooter, but if you hang out in the park, you鈥檒l see that the kids who use it are more than happy to share their equipment, passing their bikes and boards around to their friends and busting tricks all day long.
Although it will likely be an expensive undertaking鈥攗pwards of $450,000鈥攖o revamp the skate park, we look forward to seeing the proposal created by Jasper鈥檚 youth and we hope that they鈥檒l stick with the project, fundraising and applying for grants, to make it a reality.
