Focus

Skate park ramps up plans

By Jude Alefounder (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-09 08:12

A skateboarder prepares to ride the ramp at Camp Woodward Beijing in Daxing district. [Photos provided to China Daily]

Huge venue on board to become center of action sports in Beijing, despite small skating community

An oasis of wood and concrete awaits Beijing's skateboarders in Daxing district. It is a place devoid of white-collar nonsense, eminating a touch of American street culture that calls to young minds across the city with twitchy feet.

"Camp Woodward is more than a park, it's a youth culture epicenter and training ground," said Eli Xislevitz, brand manager at Camp Woodward Beijing.

For those unfamiliar with this extreme sports empire, Camp Woodward has large action sports parks all around America that allow youth culture to develop, as well as provide a place for amateurs and professionals to hone their skills. Xislevitz's job is to make sure the brand integrity of Woodward is realized in the Beijing venture, allowing Woodward to become the focal point of the skateboarding and action sports community in China.

This is certainly a tough task, given that the community here is still extremely small. There are pro teams sponsored by the likes of VANS, but this is a community still very much in the early stages of development.

But it hasn't stopped Woodward Beijing thinking big, with the park being a truly awesome collection of facilities designed by the best action sports designers and teams in the world. There is a huge indoor/outdoor complex with every type of kicker, ramp, pit or architecture that a skateboarder, BMX rider or inline skater could ever need.

Currently, the focus is on developing the action sports side of the business and growing interest in these facilities, before, as Xislevitz noted, "moving into digital media courses, gymnastics camps and cheerleading courses."

"We hope to have the first of these up and running in the next few months, with more rolling out next year. We will have professionals in action sports and other athletes and experts to help mentor young people during these camps and courses."

This is an ambitious plan, and one that has already had some delays. Even large brands like Woodward can find the Chinese market tough to crack and it is unclear how this extremely American brand will transpose itself successfully into China.

Xislevitz himself admits that the park being in Daxing district, an hour or two from the center of the city, could be seen "as a drawback". However, he goes on to add that this is "in line with the Camp Woodward brand, as we want people to come out of their normal environment and come into the Woodward environment". For those without a car though, the two-and-a-half-hour bus ride each way may be a problem.

There is also the problem of the fees, which some skaters have commented are quite high at 68 yuan for entry - prices are reduced for groups of 10 or more. This is a reasonable amount for facilities in the West, but the question remains whether Beijing has enough upwardly mobile youths interested in action sports to justify the expense.

Overall though, the park has been well received by those in the community. Andrew Guan is one of the leading figures in the local skate scene and is a skater, photographer, skateboard filmmaker and creator of the popular Chinese skating site www.kickerclub.com.

Guan said the opening of Woodward in Beijing is a "dream come true", as he never thought there would be such a park in China. It is clearly the best of its kind in this country, but Guan has seen such parks come and go before.

"There was SMP, a world-class skate park, in Shanghai, but it completely failed. No one knew how to run a skate park in China," he said. Guan does believe that Woodward will be different though, since it has a real brand force behind it.

Such action sports communities usually grow independent of big brands though, which means trying to push the "American way" in China might not be enough to spark real growth in the skating community. However, for those that do love to skate, Camp Woodward really is a savior and is likely to give action sports enthusiasts a reason to come to Beijing.

China Daily

A concrete jungle awaits skaters outside.

Camp Woodward also caters to BMX riders and inline skaters.

(China Daily 08/09/2010)