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About
The Friends of Milford Skate Park is a non-profit/501(c)(3) citizens organization, working in partnership with the Village and Township Parks and Recreation Committees, to create a permanent world-class FREE skatepark for the skateboarders in Milford, Michigan. We see the need for a safe and legal place for all of these extremely talented skateboarders in our area to ride.

Recent News articles:
11/04/04 Milford Times

2/24/05 Milford Times

5/19/05 Milford Times

9-22-05 Milford Times

9-22-05 Oakland Press

9-29-05 Milford Times

October 2005 Volume 2, Issue 2 Smalltown Lowdown

Mission
To raise awareness of the need of a public skateboard park for the township of Milford, Michigan. We aim to raise the money needed through fundraisers and contributions.

Skateboarding helps kids get better grades! It's the truth! Scientists say it is!!

Fact Sheet
Playgrounds long accepted in parks help develop neuro-motor skills in young children and aid their early development but little is provided for older children and adolescents to support their development outside organized team sports which may not be very beneficial due to a strong emphasis on winning and many lose interest in these activities at adolescence. Some statistics show physical activity drops off at this age more for girls perhaps going some way to explain the male gender bias in skating although more girls are taking it up.

Researchers tell us young people have far more stress to deal with than previous generations and that they are also less active than their forebears.

Recreation has long been recognized as a tonic for many social ills, it can provide meaning, satisfaction and a sense of belonging, help develop social skills and self esteem, relieve stress, anxiety and aggression and generally promote both physiological and psychological well being.

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There have been more public skateparks built in the last three years than in the previous twenty. Surveys report an estimated 50-100 users at any park on any given day, weekdays and weekends, at any time. Compare this to a baseball field that usually lays unused, and at over three times the size of a large skatepark, can only accommodate 16 players when used. Also, two tennis courts roughly the size of a small skatepark, can only be used by eight people maximum at one time, and are usually used by only four.

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Skateboarding has exploded into one of the most popular sports in the U.S. Today, an estimated 12-million Americans own and ride skateboards, with more than a million new kids picking up the sport every year. Yet despite this phenomenal growth, there are only about 1,000 skateparks nationwide where skaters can legally ride.

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Are kids at skateparks exposed to drug use and other negative influences like foul language?

General observations are that skaters need to be focused and alert, particularly in a skatepark setting, to maintain their balance and to perform the maneuvers they do. Skateboarding, by its very nature, is an anti-drug. So it's safe to say that a skatepark full of kids is a skatepark full of kids not getting stoned.

An outdoor, open, highly visible location - as most skateparks are - is not the place to bully kids, use drugs, or be a nuisance. Skaters are there for a reason, and are very good at policing each other about behavior that interferes with their enjoying the park.

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Will there be an admission fee?

No. The vast majority of communities are managing to build public skateparks that do not charge fees.

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What about safety? What is your view on the use of safety equipment? Will safety equipment be enforced at the skatepark?

The issue of safety in skateboarding is one that each community that opens a park deals with based on their own customs and tolerances. Those decisions are often based on state and local laws.

We encourage safe skateboarding. Skaters themselves generally know their own limitations, and they know best what safety equipment they'll need. We encourage them to allow skaters maximum freedom and flexibility within the limitations of established local laws.

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The best research which quantifies risk of skateboarding comes from the Journal of Trauma, Oct. 2002, and is written by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. They determined the number of skateboarding injuries per active skateboarder and compared those numbers to in-line skating and basketball. Skateboarding had an injury rate of 8.9 per 1,000 participants. In-line skating was 3.9/1,000 and basketball produced 21.2 ER-treated injuries per 1,000 players. Statistically, skateboarding is safer than playing basketball.

• Number of injuries from skateboards in 1986 in U.S. (a " high point" year in skating)- 13,500
  
• Number of injuries that same year from roller skates- 65,000
  
• Number of injuries that same year from small toys- 102,000
  
• Number of injuries that same year from bicycles- 385,000
  
• source: National Electronic Injury Surveillance System; based on emergency room visit reports
  
  
• Estimated number of skateboard-related injuries for 1990 in U.S.- 62,428
  
• Estimated number of baseball-related cases that same year- 432,799
  
• Estimated number of basketball-related cases that same year- 640,519

source: National Electronic Injury Surveillance System; based on emergency room visit reports

• Estimated number of skateboard-related injuries for 1996 in U.S.- 35,788
  
• Estimated number of in-line-related cases that same year- 102,911
  
• Estimated number of roller skating-related cases that same year- 59,450
  
• Estimated number of soccer-related cases that same year- 156,681
  
• Estimated number of basketball-related cases that same year- 653,676
  
• Estimated number of football-related cases that same year- 363,921
  
• Estimated number of swimming pool-related cases that same year- 72,933
  
• Estimated number of trampoline-related cases that same year- 83,399
  

source: National Electronic Injury Surveillance System; based on emergency room visit reports

In 1993 there were 7,576,000 male and 2, 495,000 female skateboarders. This ranks it as the sixth largest participant sport in the US, and the third largest for participants between ages 6-18. The average age of skateboarders is 14. The vast majority of skaters are "ordinary, energetic youth who engage in wholesome activities and are good students." Skateboarding is one of the fastest growing sports in the US, with the average skater skating 50.8 days a year. (We all know it's higher than that!) source: Skateboard park feasibility study for Phoenix, AZ

Baseball, softball, and tee-ball are the most popular team sports for children. Three to four children die each year in these games. Baseball-related deaths from 1973 to 1994 for people of all ages totaled 250. One third of these were children ages 5-14. Most of the children's deaths resulted from impact by baseballs. In-line skating- 25 deaths during January 1992-June 1995. 80% involved motor vehicles. Bicycling- about 100 deaths annually. 90% involved motor vehicles. No death information was given for skateboarding, presumably because the numbers are too small to rate nationally.

source: US Consumer Product Safety Commission January 1998 report

Who will supervise the park?

Skaters are generally good at policing themselves and deciding if a park is too crowded to skate, and we feel that a skatepark should be as free and open as any other sports or recreational facility a community offers, like ball fields and courts. Supervising skateparks also creates an ongoing financial burden for tax payers, or for the skaters if the city then charges admission to the park to pay for the supervision.

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