SEBRING — Half pipes, hubbas and pole jams will replace double faults and lobs at Camp Sparta. And Josh "Oreo" Jones, 14, of Sebring won't miss the tennis court. He lives within walking distance of the camp. Jones has been working and skateboarding evenings after school and on weekends for two months to convert the 6,000-square-foot tennis court into a skate park. The Camp Sparta skate park is just one of many. The area is packed with professional quality skate ramps and rails made by amateurs. Many are professional quality. Frank Branca III owns Gatorboard Skate Shop in Sebring and said local skaters are building off-street places to skate, rather than riding curbs and railings on public property. ...more

May 23, 2008

With the snow already falling up North (and especially after last year's disappointing accumulations), Floridians have begun their treks to the slopes. ...more

January 2, 2008

AVON PARK — Brad Cain said he teaches some of his friends their skateboarding tricks, but neither he nor his friends bother with the skateboard park near the middle school. Instead, Cain and his posse go out on the parking lots, grinding along the curbs by the First Baptist Church, moving down the sidewalks on Main Street and, until one of his friends got arrested for it, taking the covered lot of Audio Options. Why not the park? "It's crap. We need a different one," he said. "It's better for bicycles." As he and his friends hit the parking lot, the skateboard park lies in near-abandon. The concrete half-pipes, the rail and the ramps are cracked and covered in graffiti. Near one of the ramps, a loose set of concrete blocks form a makeshift set of steps. Scattered, shattered concrete littered the half-pipe Thursday afternoon. This park, Avon Park Police Department Comdr. Michael Rowan said, is the one his officers tell the skateboarders to go to when they're caught trespassing on the downtown parking lots. Public Works Coordinator Ted Long could not be reached Thursday for comment. ...more

November 12, 2007