Based out of Miami, Florida, the Skateboard Supercross Academy or SBSX Academy is where you go to learn how to shred and where you go to ride pumptracks. Founded by Jonathan Strauss and Alon Karpman, SBSX Academy is the educational side of skateboarding, where all wheel sports come together. You are familiar with soccer, basketball, football, tennis and swimming lessons; well, what about skateboard lessons?
One problem: There has been no progressive learning curriculum – until now. Everyone assumes you should be able to jump on a skateboard and ride and that’s all there is to it. Wrong. Just like other sports, skateboarding must be practiced, learned and trained to grow from beginner level to elite or pro level, and SBSX Academy makes this possible and attainable for any community. Just like the ski slopes, SBSX Academy has built five training levels; Green (beginner), Yellow, Red, Blue and Black (elite/pro). Similar to the way karate belts are accomplished, SBSX Academy advances you to the next level when you graduate the previous one with all the appropriate exit skills learned and mastered.
No one said the open format of skateparks is bad, but doesn’t it get a little boring without direction? The Academies change that. Tricks are awesome, but first we learn to be strong skateboarders. Pushing, carving, foot-planting, bailing, riding switch, goofy, regular: all are learned in the Academies. Sending your child off to a skatepark can be dangerous and often distracting to other skateboarders if they lack “skatepark etiquette.” At the Academies we teach this, as well as good sportsmanship, which are commonly learned in other team/curriculum sports.
Good sportsmanship is crucial in skateboarding and all sports. Sports and fitness, after all, are about feeling good, staying healthy and fit and gaining self-respect. The practice of treating others as you would like to be treated, as mom and dad taught us, applies. We teach skateboarding etiquette like yelling, “Board up!” if your board rolls away from you so that all others nearby will avoid getting hit in the ankles. Another good example is the way we take turns and keep a flow or rhythm, aka sharing! Sharing is essential to good sportsmanship. Just like in other sports,no one likes a ball hog or a showoff.
Skateboard Supercross Academy is about so much more than just skateboard lessons. It is a sport, to be practiced and perfected, to keep healthy, happy and just have fun. Skateboarding is like learning to ride a bike. At age 4 or 5 our mom or dad buys us a bike and we learn how to ride; it’s a custom we have. What if we did the same with skateboarding? Parents are as excited as kids to get them into the latest trending sport or activity. Skateboarding is a great way to strengthen our balance, hand-eye coordination and reflexes. Skateboarding is also a great way to commute through the neighborhood and get over to a friend’s house or get around a college campus. It is a skill that can apply in everyday life and be beneficial to everyone.
The structure of our classes consists of 40 minutes. Starting with a warm-up run and stretches, we then move on to learning two drills of the week. After learning the drills, we practice them on flat ground and then apply the skills to the pumptrack. What is a pumptrack? Velosolutions and SBSX have teamed up to build permanent and semi-permanent pumptracks out of asphalt, concrete or fiberglass. They can easily be built into the landscape, similarly to a bicycle path. So not only are the tracks fun, they’re also aesthetically pleasing, unlike skateparks, which often are just metal rails and ramps that get rusty and are placed haphazardly. There is a little more thought in the presentation of a pumptrack to be a shared space and not deteriorate the landscape and community surrounding it.
Each week has a specific, progressive lesson plan. Each level is about 18 weeks, or the full length of a semester of school. Parents love this after-school format, as it fits perfectly in a family’s busy schedule: school, skateboarding, dinner, bed, repeat.
Our students start at age 5 and go up to 13+. The students are enthusiastic to learn and come to us already passionate about skateboarding. With positive exposure to the advancement of the sport, it is not uncommon for kids to see skateboarding on ESPN, video tutorials and even in Hollywood films. We provide skateboards and scooters, but all wheeled sports, including bicycles and inline skates, are welcome on our tracks. The skills we teach apply to all wheels, not just to skateboarding.
Thanks to Michael Brooke of Concrete Wave Magazine
Words and Photos by Sarah Rassieur