Confidence, Creativity, & Skateboarding: New Warminster Camp

WARMINSTER, PA — Skate The Foundry, a rapidly growing skateboarding company based in Pennsylvania, will run a half-day camp in Warminster for the first time this summer. For owner Brett Williams, hosting a camp in Warminster is an exciting chance to return to a skatepark he enjoyed as a kid — this time, as a teacher.

“Whenever an older kid had their parents’ car, we would go to Warminster,” he recalled. “When we went back … it really brought back some great memories.”

The Warminster summer camp will run the week of July 5 - 9, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. It’s open to kids of all ages.

“We’re excited to meet some local skaters there, and tell them how we’re trying to do camps in their communities so that everyone will learn safely and learn about skate park etiquette,” Yui Williams, who manages administration and scheduling for Skate The Foundry, said.

While their company teaches people to skateboard, Yui says learning tricks is “a tool.” Skateboarding helps kids — and adults — build meaningful relationships with others, and develop skills that are necessary in all areas of life.

“It’s really about connecting people through skateboarding: getting to know one another [and] developing their ‘skate crew’ of friends that skateboard, that they can meet up with outside of the program,” Brett said. “We’re also really teaching self confidence, creativity, persistence — when you fall, getting right back up — and also comradery — cheering for each other when we fall.”

Both emphasized the critical role adult skaters in the towns play in supporting the skateboarding students. Since all instructors are, of course, skaters themselves, they teach kids how to share the park. Watching experienced skaters often inspires their students.

“Almost every single time, the local adult skaters are so happy,” Brett said. “They’re clapping for the kids. They can see the beginner kids that we’re teaching really trying to go outside their comfort zone and learn something new. It’s really magical.”

Many adult skaters never had an intentional community like this one — or a place to take classes.

“Unfortunately, skateboarding wasn’t that mainstream awhile ago,” Yui said. “They didn’t have an opportunity to learn tricks from someone else or have a chance to meet someone new because of joining a program, like a travel basketball team. Local skaters see [our program] in a very positive way most of the time.”

Since skateboarding became an Olympic sport in 2016, its cultural acclaim has grown. Still, Yui and Brett explained that while many towns have multiple soccer fields or tennis courts, few have a skatepark and almost none have more than one.

“Skateboarding is a real sport, and we want people to see it as a sport,” Brett said. “And of course it’s a fun activity, but now that it’s in the Olympics it’s going to be seen as a real public sport people sign up for, just like when they sign up for soccer season.”

They hope this will mean more skateparks, too. Since Skate The Foundry’s inception five years ago, they’ve already seen a sea change of greater interest in the sport.

Further, while parents used to mostly enroll boys in their camps and classes, girls have recently dominated in the skate park.

“We grew so much that we have a program designated for girl skaters, and almost once a month we do a skate session to welcome girls and nonbinary children to skate together,” Yui said. “They’re a big hit, because there are just so many girls and nonbinary kids skateboarding."

“A lot of the girls learn much quicker than the boys as well,” Brett added.

Skate The Foundry hosts skateboarding classes and events of all kinds at multiple locations throughout Pennsylvania and in New Jersey. Brett says they aim to “really just spread skateboarding throughout the world.”

The Warminster Half-Day Camp will take place at Munro Skatepark, 1270 Newtown Rd. To read more about camps, classes, and private lessons, visit Skate The Foundry’s website at the link. Click here to register for the Warminster camp before Friday, July 2.