The three-day mobile Germaican Skate Tour ended on Sunday at Kingston Creative car park on Water Lane in downtown Kingston on a successful note, with children and adults from across the Corporate Area and neighbouring parishes getting a taste of the sport of skateboarding.

Spectators were also treated to demonstrations from the Eduskateme team of accomplished skaters.

Many of the children who showed up came from Southside, Waltham Park, Trench Town, and Tivoli Gardens as well as other inner-city communities.

The Germaican Skate Tour was organised by the Jamaica Skate Culture Foundation (JSCF), headed by Remy Walter. Financing came from the German Embassy, while the French Embassy funded the manufacture of the mobile skate park.

The other main partner, the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica has been home to the mobile park since August. UTech is also home to the only skateboard club in the Corporate Area.

German Ambassador Jan Hendrik van Thiel attended Sunday’s final day as well as Friday’s opening session.

He skateboarded on both days and was glowingly in support of the event.

“It’s a wonderful project in many respects. First of all, because it’s for the kids. It’s kids from areas that don’t have so much opportunity to express themselves and skateboard is something that is international. It’s French, it’s German, it’s whatever country you name, but it’s not yet enough Jamaican. You have Jamaican skateboarders, but you don’t have enough.

“It’s a universal thing, like art is a universal thing. It’s now an Olympic sport so [it gives] a chance to young Jamaicans from areas which are not advantaged, perhaps disadvantaged even, to be part of the big family of skateboarders worldwide,” he said.

“I wanted to be in contact with the kids and so I came on Friday. I got a teacher who is 50 years younger than me, he showed me a few tricks and it was fantastic. I saw the kids, how they were drawing their stuff, how they were skating, it was great fun. I really loved it, and it really convinced me that we have done the right thing in supporting this project,” van Thiel continued.

French Ambassador Marianne Ziss spoke about her country’s support for the Jamaica Skate Culture Foundation.

“The reason we support Jamaica’s Skate Culture is that in 2024 Paris hosted the Olympic Games and we decided that skateboard be an Olympic sport. So we wanted to follow up on that and we wanted to maintain the Olympic spirit, so we funded Jamaica’s Skate Culture. We supported them with the creation of a mobile skate park, and also we funded the training of 15 coaches,” Ziss said.

Two members of the Eduskateme team spoke about their love for the sport.

Twelve-year old Jaiquan Dillon, who has been skateboarding for the past four years, said: “Skateboarding, from my perspective, is more than a sport, it’s like a hobby.”

He encouraged others to take up the sport.

“You can make it big in life with skateboarding,” Dillon noted.

Ramese Wright, 13, has been on the skateboard for five years and sees it as a lifeline. He is looking to go all the way to the Olympics as a skateboarder.

“My skateboarding is about fun, being happy. I promise I will go to the Olympics,” he asserted.

Walter said the JSCF is to schedule Germaican Skate Tour in Portmore, Ocho Rios, Mandeville, Montego Bay, and Negril in 2026.

He added: “The Germaican Skate Tour is going to depend also on the budget that we could get from Germany. They’re still waiting for the motherland to say how much can be given in such and such, but the German ambassador has been a real supporter since day one. He’s also a skateboarder so, yeah, we’re in good hands.”

The Jamaica Skate Culture Foundation, a registered charity, was founded in 2020. It seeks to use skateboarding and urban culture as tools for youth development, education, inclusion, and violence prevention.

Remy Walter, (right), founder of Jamaica Skate Culture Foundation, introduces German Ambassador Jan Hendrik van Thiel (second right), the German ambassador’s wife Mrs van Thiel (third right), and French Ambassador Marianne Ziss (fourth right) to the team of skateboarders at Kingston Creative car park on Water Lane on Sunday.

Ramese Wright skateboards at the Kingston Creative car park.