I grew up in Clamart, a small suburban town in the south of Paris.
When I started skating in 2008, there was no proper infrastructure in the city, and the local skaters (scene was about 10 daily skaters) would meet on street plaza such as the “Trosy”, in front of the theater and right underneath housing buildings…
Pretty easy to predict this would not work well: residents were complaining, the police was called and would have to come quick us out everyday, and we would only have flatground and a few stairs to have fun on.
The local scene started to take action around 2010 by trying to gather signatures to show the local town hall that there would be people truly interested in a skatepark infrastructure.
Fast forward to 2012, the sport & youth departement of the town hall contacted me (15 years old at the time) to tell me that a budget was being voted for new infrastructures, and that a skatepark could be one. As this became serious I decided to structure the local action.
Clamart skate assosciation was born in late 2012 first as a “Junior Association” (youth npo) then as a “Loi 1901” (regular npo) with the help of my over 18 friend Jonathan Jourde. We actively took part in the steering committee, discussing regularly with the deputies, suggesting skatepark designing agencies, visiting some other skateparks such as Bois le rois to show what we wanted…
After working along Jean Baptiste Picot from Hall 04 agency, the design of the skatepark was confirmed and construction started in summer 2013. Official opening was held on the 14th of December 2013, an opening during which Clamart skate assoc played a primary role by organizing iniation, talking with residents and organizing a small contest. This would transition the NPO in its new core purpose: organizing events and making the park a key structure in the local scene.
Throught the existence of Clamart skate assoc, from the opening of the skatepark in 2013 to the end of the NPO in 2017, I took care of many aspects of the everyday life of the skatepark. This included giving skate lessons, reporting problems on the structure as well as a making sure that everything went smooth on the park, diplomacy wise.
But most of all, it was through the organization of the multiple contest and events that I learned a lot, through the tasks of:
- Working with the local authorities and town hall, as well as aknowledging and respecting legal aspect of sport event organization
- Contacting shops and brands to support the event. Partners for Clamart Rampage have included: Globe shoes, Vegas Skateshop, Haze wheels…
- Listing all needed assets so that the event went smoothly, and collaborating with the town hall and stadium close to the park to make sure the contestant needs and expectation were met.
Clamart skate assoc came to an end in my second year of university during my double degree in Economics and English, as I was already focusing on Balargue skateshop, but it sure was a great first experience in the skate world, a way to go beyong just skateboarding.