Features

Title: St Ouen Ramp

	St Ouen Ramp
Film maker:	Ryan Morrison
Length:	01:22
Date:	Saturday 10 November 2007
Subject:	skateboarding, extreme, sports, bmx

Imagine spending five years campaigning for something that is widely available across the world, only to be sent round and round in circles rarely achieving anything.

Well that’s what the Channel Island Skateboard Association say have been happening to them for the past half decade.

You probably remember the news stories and the debate that inevitably follows. All options seem to have been covered - from the lower end of People’s Park to the Lower Park, from the Weighbridge to the Waterfront Car Park.

Well, with that in mind and the latest ‘skatepark’ announcement to roll of the production line – I decided to spend the day with boarders, riders and skaters to see what they want.

Going to St Ouen

So on Saturday 10 November 2007 I packed my bag full of camera equipment and got in a cab to St Ouen Youth Club – the hosts of the only official skatepark in the island.

Obviously I’ve seen skate parks before, everywhere from the middle of a community park in Northern Portugal to big out of town facilities in England but I didn’t know what this one would be like.

Not very big

When I arrived I was shocked at how small it was and how little room there was around the ramp. The facility is basically a single ramp in a cage with another caged area of tarmac behind it – there was JUST enough room to get all the way around the ramp itself.

I’d arranged to meet Jake Hipwell, Chairman of the CI Skateboard Association at 12:00 but I got there a little early to get a feel for the area.

He told me “I’d say every day it is used from the hours of daylight basically; there are always some kids up here.”

A little while later Jake arrived and started talking about the ramp, years of campaigning, going around in circles and hope for the future.

The latest hope is for an outdoor skatepark on the Glass Lift area of the Waterfront, on top of the Waterfront Car Park and behind Aquasplash.

This brings me on to the next stop of our journey – well almost the next stop anyway – the plan was to go the Hautee Valle school, a favourite place for skateboarders in Jersey but there was an event happening – so we moved to The Glass Lift.

Bad press and the law

Skateboarders in Jersey get a bad press, people complain about them damaging property, breaking street furniture and making the place look unsightly – but with only one official place to practice there sport, a place that is in constant use – the only option is to find ‘somewhere’ to go.

Jake Hipwell told me about a young skater who had been pulled up by the police and told to stop skating outside a school and was told by the officer to go to St Ouen to skate – this was in St Helier at the time.

So with only one official facility in St Ouen and an increasing group of people taking up the sport, now seems to be the time for a skatepark to be built.

A number of the teenagers going around with us told me they didn’t need much – just a place they could skate, be left alone to practice, improve and try new tricks.

They just want somewhere that comes under the same rules as any public park, football pitch or outdoor park.

Alistair Mitchell is a parent of skateboarders and he mentioned several places in the UK where the Councils have consider skateboarders when planning the town.

I started the day unsure of what to expect, half thinking I’d be confronted by a group of hoodie wearing, anti-social, happy slapping ASBO dodging lads – I ended the day having met a group of passionate, sporty lads just looking for somewhere to practice their sport.

More to come

Of course this is just a brief overview of the day – there is still a lot more to say. I spent five hours with Jersey’s skateboarders and BMX riders – going from ramp to jumps to the street.

I’ll be uploading a series of video features, clips and interviews from the day over the next week or so – here on bbc.co.uk/jersey and on our You Tube channel at youtube.com/bbcjersey.