Indigo Skate Camp's current news for 2009

The most delightful progression is that of our skaters. Their numbers have grown while their start up age has shrunk. We now see 5 year olds dropping down the 11 ft vert ramp while Zulu girls take to riding our ramps on the regular. For the older skaters, many of them are now fully employed coaches and caretakers of our skate park.

Everyone is enjoying our place more than ever. Two of our coaches, Thabane and Sihle are dedicated and planning on taking residence at Indigo Skate Camp. During this period children have been streaming into the camp each day for our feeding and life skills programs. This comes at a good time as we receive our first full time volunteer from Germany. Simon is from Bremen, a sister city to Durban. We have established a youth exchange program between our cities.

The highlight for our coaches this year was when we traveled as a Durban delegation to Germany during July. There we visited other Laureus affiliated projects and attended tournaments presented by the Kick Fair Soccer Association in Stuttgart. There we learnt fun activities, which participants can play together to encourage social interaction beyond language barriers. We have since adopted what we experienced in Germany into our programs and events.

Much of our recent successes, specifically the employment opportunities opening up within the community, are attributed to our partnership with the Laureus Sport For Good Foundation. As the first skateboarding initiative in the international Laureus portfolio, we have been recognized as utilizing sport for social change. The Laureus Sport For Good Foundation is enabling us to expand our efforts to lift the spirits and goals of our daily participants.

Tony Hawk visited us in August to launch our Laureus partnership. Another big occasion was hosting Brian Schaeffer from Tamp Skate Park in April. Coming up in October we will be visited by a group of Element and Tom’s Shoes peeps who are to travel with Indigo Youth Movement throughout SA to distribute over 30 000 pairs of shoes to vulnerable children.

On the grounds of Indigo Skate Camp we have built vegetable gardens on and around our ramp structure. All the major element are in place and its now time to enjoy and see where skateboarding may take us. One thing for sure is that every time anyone ever arrives at the skate camp, they will be welcomed by the sound of wheels rolling on our ramps and the laughter from our children.