Algonquin College is Building the Action Sports Culture!

Posted on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who are into action sports and those who aren’t. Extreme sports such as snowboarding, BMX riding, skateboarding and mountain biking have been around for years, but the idea of action sports really started to gain notoriety in the 1990s with the inception of the X Games.

The Ottawa Valley is rooted in the world of action sports as a result of the dynamic and adventurous landscape that surrounds our community. The City of Pembroke is nestled between the Ottawa River and Algonquin Park. The Ottawa River, recently designated as a Canadian Heritage River, boasts some of the most extreme whitewater rapids in the world and Algonquin Park offers an abundance of rugged terrain for outdoor enthusiasts to explore. As a result, the region is a destination for those seeking extreme adventures.

It’s not surprising the new Algonquin College Action Sports Park Development program was the brainchild of avid action sports adventurer, Jeff Jackson. Jackson, Coordinator of the Outdoor Adventure program at the Pembroke Waterfront Campus, identified a gap in skilled professionals who had the knowledge and hands-on experience to build action sports parks. He recognized an opportunity for the Pembroke Campus to be at the forefront of developing a specialized program that teaches technical construction skills related to where these sports happen, helping to meet the needs of the rapidly growing action sports industry.

Action sports parks, such as ski and snowboard terrain parks, skateparks, BMX parks and mountain bike terrain parks, are everywhere. In 2016, in Canada alone, there were 650 skateparks, 250 ski resort terrain parks, 100 mountain bike parks, and 75 BMX race tracks. All of these specialized parks require teams of skilled professionals who can not only maintain the facilities but also work to improve and create new and more extreme features, keeping safety at the forefront of the design principles they implement.

It wasn’t hard to build some excitement about this new program because there are numerous action sports park trailblazers right in our backyard including Josh Brose and his family at The Brose Farm. This farm and its farmers are unlike any you’ve ever met. Josh is a renowned BMX rider and event manager that works with brands like Red Bull to create and organize action sports events at the property. The Brose Farm is a beautiful plot of multi-generational field and forest that in the last decade has evolved into something quite distinctive. “Over the years we piled the dirt and framed structures that have resulted in a top-notch BMX / Mountain Bike dirt course, which includes dirt jumps, pump tracks, wall rides, quarter pipes, drop-ins, and mini ramp,” says Josh.

Josh and his friend/co-worker Steve Moreau were tapped to teach our first cohort of Action Sports Park Development students the art of dirt jump building. And it is an art! The structural awareness and understanding of materials is paramount to noteworthy facilities such as The Brose Farm and The Construction Yards in Petawawa, ON.

Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus is no stranger to creating college-level programs that raise eyebrows. Our small waterfront campus is known as a leader in outdoor training, and our new Action Sports Park Development program is pushing our reputation to new heights. This eight-month certificate program acknowledges that action sports is an emerging industry and a career pathway for anyone who is a passionate extreme sports enthusiast.


Comments

Comments are closed.