BNHC - The place with the Wooden Nickel

Here is a great article from today’s Sudbury Star.  I grew up in Sudbury, and 11 years ago when I was 16, we were still trying to get the city to listen to us.  Back then, we were trying to get a skate park installed at the Exhibition Centre.  Then it was somewhere else (I can’t remember), then it was just letting us leave our ramps in a hockey rink in the summer.  The city came one night and took our ramps away, even thought they were bought and paid for privately.  The city would never allow their insurance to cover a skate park and probably never will, It’s a shame too, because Sudbury is haemorrhaging young people, and this one of the reasons why – they don’t care about them at all.  Let the kids have a place to skate, to play punk (some of the best bands I know have most if not all members that started out in Sudbury), and to stay out of trouble.  Big Nickel Hardcore, R.I.P.

Corey Teskey practised a few runs on the skateboarding street course, while live punk music blared from a nearby stage. The activities were part of the Youth Action Day organized by the youth driven group HYPE (Helping Young People Everyday) at the Exhibition Centre on Saturday. Attending youth hope the event will generate awareness of what Greater Sudbury needs to do in order to keep its young people.
Teskey, 16, placed 10th out of 94 teens across Canada in the DC National Skateboard Championship recently held in Vancouver.

On the board for the last five years, the Sudbury teen has quickly risen to the top of Canadian skateboarders. He will be competing with some of the best at the Canadian open championship in Mississauga at the end of the month. To practice though, Teskey says he has to go to the "real deal" -- Toronto's Common Ground Skate Park. Teskey along with many of the teens wonder why it's taken so many years to build a skateboard park and many don't see it developing any time soon. "I'll believe it when I see it," said Teskey.

Plans to build a skate park next to the Carmichael Arena in Minnow Lake have been revised and the design scaled down. Teens are disappointed another summer has past without the park being developed -- or started. Teskey, though, is determined to go professional -- and he hopes he could get all the practise he needs in his hometown.

Dan Dyer, 16, hopes the event has raised more awareness about the need for an indoor skateboard park. Sudbury winters occupy more than six months out oft he year. Dyer wonders whether an indoor park would make more sense. The park could serve as a youth recreational facility, hold concerts, dances and provide local bands with a space to jam.

Teens want to see more events organized with them in mind. "We have stuff like the Garlic Festival, but nothing really for youth," said Shawn Martel, a guitarist for a local punk band. The first annual Youth Action Day was promoted as a full day of youth orientated events -- a public skateboarding area, an open stage, auto show and all night dance party.

HYPE describes itself as a non-profit organization that strives to provide "a real voice for positive young
people" in Greater Sudbury. HYPE's youth strategy co-ordinator said the event was planned with the city's financial support in mind. Kevin Griese said city representatives told him the city would pay for the cost of the venue and other expenses. The city, however, denied making such a promise, indicating there were a lot of unanswered questions about the event and as a result didn't come through with the funding. Griese had said the event was going ahead anyway.

But on Saturday, Griese realized HYPE "was not able to meet its financial obligation." Consequently, the event was cut short at 7 p.m. instead of 8:30 p.m. and the all-night dance party was cancelled. "But we were able to fulfill our mandate and have a voice for our youth," said Griese. "We were able to present the inaugural Youth Action Day in Sudbury. We kept our word and didn't keep the young people down."
Griese, a former DJ, said he heard the youth's "cry for a voice in the community" 15 years ago. Throughout the years, little has changed," he said. "The value of our teenage population is under utilized." Griece said HYPE would like to build a co-operative relationship with the mayor to address those concerns. Despite its financial shortfall, HYPE will continue to be a "positive voice" for the city's youth, said Griese. By Saturday evening, though, HYPE's website, www.thehyperlink.com, was offline. A statement indicated the website was suspended until payment was received.