Camper Samuel Roth with Tom Woodrow at the Hopewell Township Recreation Department skateboarding camp in 2014.
By Meagan Douches
Though many kids are happy to have the typical summer camp experience swimming and exploring, others seek a more thrilling environment. For those interested in action sports, the Hopewell Township Recreation Department offers a summer skateboarding camp.
Most camps are run with a strict itinerary of activities for campers to follow, however, Hopewell’s skate camp offers participants more liberty to have fun and practice their skateboarding skills on their own.
The camp is run by Morristown resident Tom Woodrow and his nephew, Alex York, from Hamilton.
“With other camps everything is always structured,” said York. “We have that, but then we’ll have a 45 minute block of time for freeskate and the campers really like that. It draws a lot of them to come back year after year.”
Woodrow was previously an owner of Xtreme Funktion skate shop in Hamilton, where he worked alongside his sister selling skateboards and athletic gear. He ran the shop for seven years before closing it in 2008.
When the Hopewell Skate Park was built in 2004, former recreation director Michael Hritz approached Woodrow about the idea of creating a skate camp. Woodrow was excited by the idea and happily agreed to manage the camp. This will be his ninth year as director.
York began teaching at the camp two years ago and he is happy to return each summer. He has been skateboarding for the past 15 years and was once a sponsored competitor. York is very passionate about the sport and enjoys sharing that with the campers.
“[Skateboarding is] a lot of fun,” he said. “I like the individuality aspect of it. There’s no coach telling you what to do, you don’t have to be a certain way. You can just do what you want.”
A typical day at the camp is made up of three or four segments of structured drills followed by time for the students to free skate. Students can expect to learn how to Ollie, manual, drop in, slalom, kick turn and more.
“The kids like it because it’s kind of like recess at school,” Woodrow said. “They have the freedom to practice, have fun and do what they want.”
Woodrow and York enjoy being able observe the students progress throughout the week-long camp.
“When a camper struggles to perform a trick or skill for the first time and then finally does it, it’s very gratifying to see,” said Woodrow. “It’s almost as gratifying for me as for the camper.”
York said that the amount of progress the campers achieve depends on their motivation to learn.
“Some campers just like the camaraderie aspect and want to have fun with their friends,” he said.
The majority of campers make remarkable improvement to their skating said Woodrow and York. Though, they believe that beginners usually make the most progress as some of the more advanced skills take more time to learn.
Beginners can expect to learn how to skate on flat ground, stop, steer, roll down small flat ramps and stand-still ollie. More advanced skaters are able to learn how to drop in on a ramp or half pipe as well as master kickflips, heelflips and other tricks.
The camp is open to beginner through intermediate skaters ages 7 to 15. All students must bring their own skateboard as well as helmet, elbow and knee pads. The park will be closed to the public during camp hours to ensure safety and practice time.
Camp sessions are scheduled for the week of July 6 through 10 and July 13 through 17 from 8:30 to 11 a.m. In order to provide individual attention, registration is limited to 12 students per session.
The camp will be held at the Hopewell Township Skate Park located at 201 Washington Crossing-Pennington Road in Titusville. Enrollment fees are $140 per session for Hopewell Township residents and $160 for non-residents.
Skate Camp is just one of many different youth camp options that the Hopewell Recreation Department will sponsor this summer. Other camp options include Arts in the Park, a fine-arts camp where children are able to experiment with painting, photography, sculpture and more.
The Recreation Department will also offer sports camps for basketball, baseball, field hockey, golf, tennis and multi-sport as well as junior and teen travel camps. Go online to hopewelltwp.org to find registration forms and additional information.
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