The SPARC Of Flint Mission statement:
SPARC INC (Skate Park Recreation Committee of Flint) is a citizens group that was formed to bring awareness to the
community about the need for a public skateboard park in Flint, Michigan.
Although it has been outlawed in Flint and other surrounding areas for many
years, there continues to be a lack of facilities in the local area to
accommodate the ever growing number of skateboarders. Skateboarding is one
of the fastest growing sports in the nation. SPARC is a non profit (501c3)
formed in order to raise funds to build a skateboarding park that will
attract both visitors and professionals. Our goal is to build a destination
skateboard park that will give local kids an area to improve their skills
while attracting visitors from around the globe. To build a destination
skateboard park it will need to be in an area that provides good
visibility, easy access, and in a park that has other activities to offer.
The ideal skateboard park would be built from concrete, and approximately
40,000 sq ft. This would provide ample room for both beginners and
experts to enjoy their sport. Currently we have a temporary skateboard park
built in Swartz Creek Golf Course in Flint Michigan. This facility will help
us to raise awareness for the need of a permanent concrete skateboard park
in Flint Michigan.
Sparc of Flint meeting notes:
September 18th 2008 S.P.A.R.C. of Flint meeting: Thanks to everyone for coming out tonight. Things we talked about were the upcoming mini ramp contest (A week from this Saturday at 3pm), What was going on at the School Of Skate and how it can be better the next time (we will be having more of these starting next spring.), and we have decided to have one last contest this year so on Saturday October 25th we will be having a Halloween themed full park contest. Registeration starts at 10am and the contest begins at 11am. More info later on this, but skaters will get extra points for skating in costume. We also talked about resurfacing the two gray quarter pipes at the park with either metal or the armorlite that is on the big ramps. If anyone out there works with metal and could help us cover these ramps locally please contact us here. Thanks. Jeff
September 4th 2008 S.P.A.R.C. of Flint meeting: Another Sparc board only planning meeting for this Saturdays School of Skate day from 10am to 2pm. Besides talking about the School Of Skate, we also talked about the upcoming Mini Ramp only contest a week from this Friday at 5pm. The plan is to have 4 man, 5 minute jams. You skate your turn for up to a minute, or until you fall. Then it's the next guys turn. All this will depend on how many people show up to skate that night. It will cost $8 to skate in the contest. $4 going to the Sparc Of Flint concrete skatepark fund, and $4 going into the contest prize fund. The first three places get $$ and the will be a prize for best trick and best slam. The more people that skate, the more $$ you can win. Come on out this Saturday to either learn new tricks or help us out.. Thanks. Jeff
August 28th 2008 S.P.A.R.C. of Flint meeting: Another Sparc board only planning meeting for this Saturdays skate contest. Who's bringing what, who's doing that, who's Judging what, etc. etc. etc.. I think we're in good shape for the contest. If you want to help get things ready early on come on out by 9am or so. Or just come on out and skate the contest on Saturday. We are gonna have a good time.
Next Thursday at 6pm we are meeting at the White Horse in Flint to plan who's doing what for the "Kiddie Skatecamp" or "School Of Skate" from 10am to 2pm on September 6th. If you are interested in helping out that day, either showing the new skaters what to do, learning how to skate (We will hold your hand and try to keep you from falling..), or just helping get things going, come on out to the meeting. The Friday after this is the mini ramp contest. We're still talking rules for the contest. Nothing is set yet but we'll figure it out depending on how many skaters are involved. If you have any ideas for this contest please e-mail me. Should we sell hot dogs and drinks for this? etc..Thanks! Jeff.
August 21st 2008 S.P.A.R.C. of Flint meeting: Last nights Sparc meeting was a board only meeting. We discussed this Saturdays Mott Park event. What needs to be done for it and when etc.. We got in a new supply of FSP.com stickers. (Come out to Mott Park and get some, or you can get them at Captive Sports). Help spread the word on this site. We talked about how the September 6th "Kiddie skatecamp" or "School Of Skate" is going to happen. If you plan on coming to this and helping out please bring any extra pads, helmets, or skateboards that you could share with the kids that might not have them. It's gonna be a lot of fun.
We also discussed this site and it's relationship with the SPARC OF Flint. For anyone that is confused, the Sparc Of Flint (Skate Park Recreation Committee of Flint) owns the web address "flintskatepark.com" and the FSP.com logo. Flintskatepark.com is the Sparc Of Flint's website. Back in 2004 when we started this. We discussed a website name. We could have went with sparcofflint.net or sparcofflint.org etc etc.. We chose flintskatepark.com because the goal of Sparc of Flint is to raise money to get a concrete skatepark built in Flint Michigan. A skatepark that people from all over Michigan, the USA, and the world would want to come and skate.
August 7th 2008 S.P.A.R.C. of Flint meeting: Tonight was just a meeting of the Sparc of Flint board. We talked about buying some tents so we won't have to borrow them anymore. The new PA system we're going to be using for the events from now on. Buying more FSP.com stickers, (Come into Captive Sports and get some of them to help spread the word..) and the rules for the mini ramp contest on September 12th. We're going to have intermediate, and advanced only for this contest. To enter will only cost $8.00. Half going to Sparc of Flint and the concrete skatepark fund, and half going back to the skaters as prizes. We also added a event we'll be doing on August 23rd as part of a Mott Park group. We'll have ramps set up for skating and a tent etc.. More info on this later. We also talked about the Skatecamp for beginner skaters on September 6th. (There will be plenty of skaters out there to help out, come on out and learn to skate) We also talked about other ways to raise money and awareness of the concrete skatepark we want to build.. Car washes, bottle drives etc etc.. Got any ideas out there? Let us know! Thanks to everyone for coming out..
July 31st 2008 S.P.A.R.C. of Flint meeting: Thanks to everyone for coming out tonight. We firmed up our dates for the beginners skate camp, and the mini ramp only contest.
Saturday September 6th from 10am to 2pm The Sparc of Flint, along with Captive Sports and their skate team will be out at the park to show the young skaters how to do things the right way. We'll cover how to ollie, dropping in, and other tricks.. This would also be a great time for any parents out there that would like to learn to skate too. Helmets and pads are recommended for everyone getting on a skateboard. We'll also have extra boards there so even if you don't have a skateboard come on out.
We're also having a mini ramp only contest on Friday night September 12th starting at 5pm. This will be a quick no frills contest with music, skating, and probably food and drinks for sale with all profits going into the concrete skatepark fund. We still need to firm up rules for this and how much it will cost to enter. The talk has been for $20 to enter with $10 of that going towards prize money for the first three places and the other $10 going to the skatepark fund. The date is firm. More on this later..
We can always use donations of food and drinks we can sell for all three events we have planned for August and September. If you can help us there please e-mail me here. We have a couple of people getting us some extra tents for our events but if you have a EZ Up Tent that you don't use please donate it to the cause. Thanks..
July 24th 2008 S.P.A.R.C. of Flint meeting: Thanks to everyone for coming out to the last meeting. The majority of the meeting was based on the upcoming August 30th event. We decided that the event will cost $15.00 to enter and each skater will get a ticket for a hot dog and a drink. There will be three seperate divisions. Beginner, intermediate, and advanced. The format will be different from the Flint Vehicle City Cup. The intent is to have the event not last as long as the Cup. Kim from Captive will have a form available at the store for those who need it to show companies interested in making donations to the concrete skatepark fund. S.P.A.R.C. would like to have a kidcamp for a day and a mini ramp contest before the end of the summer. We will be discussing that at the next meeting. Come on out next Thursday and share your ideas with us.
July 17th 2008 S.P.A.R.C. of Flint meeting: Thanks to everyone that was at the meeting last Thursday. We decided that the next Sparc of Flint contest will be on Saturday August 30th. This will be a full park contest like the last one. We will be tweaking the rules of who skates against who, and other things at the next meeting. We want to move things along a bit faster and add a best trick contest too. We talked about charging a fee to enter with part of it going to Sparc and every skater getting a t-shirt out of the deal etc.. There was also talk of a mini ramp only contest at the park for early September. I'm hoping we can nail down a date for this next meeting.
We're also talking about putting on a skateboarding camp for kids just starting out. If you have a kid that would be into doing this, or interested in helping out please e-mail me here..
We're also looking for sponsors to help pay for the shirts we will be using for the next couple of months. If you own a business and would like to help us out we'll put your logo on the back of the shirts..
If you have skate photos from the park you'd like to share, or questions about anything send an e-mail to smakutus1@comcast.net
