I am a skate coach.
Kinda.
Before you hit that kook button (or after, it doesn’t matter) hear my story.
Was skating with my daughter in a public park here in Japan (a regular one, not a skatepark-there aren’t any in my town), when this dad approaches me, speaking English. He’s asian-American, raised in LA, and asks me if I can teach his kid.
Of course I balk at the suggestion, but he’s really insistent. He says he knows another family with a kid who wants to learn how to skate.
I go home and think about it. I’ve actually been teaching snowboarding for 20 years, so I have a good basis in breaking it down for a beginner, but I could hear Grosso growling in my ear.
I decided to do it, but on a few conditions.
It’s free. I don’t want to start a business and deal with permits and liability.
I also want it to be open to everyone, no financial barrier to entry.
It’s on my own time, when I’m free. That turns out to be Saturday mornings, for an hour and a half.
And the kids have to wear helmets. I’m not taking chances. I was too loose once on a downhill clinic I did, and I’ll never forget seeing a dude lying motionless on the pavement with blood coming out of his head. That guy survived, but I never want to deal with that again. Sorry, kids.
It started with 2 kids, and word has been getting around. Now it’s up to 13 (with 3 or 4 parents) and getting a bit hectic. One of the dads helps a bit, but Im gonna have to start thinking about how I’m gonna do this.
The nice thing is some of the parents give a little tip (started by the American dad, Japanese people don’t tip) which helps me out a bunch.
Everyone are straight beginners, so it’s pushing -> tic-tac -> turning -> rolling off a curb -> turning on a mellow bank -> and putting the board on the grass to learn body varial, jumping on, keeping feet over the bolts, and now an intro to ollieing.
The kids are making friends, I don’t feel like I’m exploiting anyone, but providing a kinda structure for them to learn the basics together and just have fun.
So yeah, I guess I’m a skate coach.