Skateboarding might have started with a wooden board and roller skate wheels in 1950s Southern California, but despite carving out its own identity, the sport still resists definition. The 1970s cast skaters as rebellious troublemakers. The ‘80s skate culture merged closer to punk rock. The late ‘90s into the 2000s took skateboarding mainstream with the launch of the X Games and eventual recognition as an Olympic sport.
Skateboarders today reflect the legacy of the sport over the decades, from outliers to athletes. It’s never been about fitting into a box – an ethos that called Sami Hagar and her husband Jon to support the skate community in Troy, Ohio.
Unlikely Beginnings
The Hagars never set out to found a nonprofit. Originally from Colorado, Sami and Jon were RVing full-time before purchasing a house in Miami County with the intention of continuing to travel. They’d been involved with outreach programs in Colorado and wanted to explore if there was a need in Troy.
Every community has outliers and people falling through the cracks, something they knew from their mentorship work and personal experience.
Sami and her husband found themselves on the outskirts many times throughout their lives. Both spent part of their youth in the skate community, Jon as a skateboarder and Sami hanging out with skater kids at the local skate park. Both were single parents who had kids at a young age.
“I have a heart for this group of people,” Sami said of the skate community. “They’re just searching.”
So the Hagars began driving by the Joe Reardon Skate Park in Troy to see how many people used it. They quickly realized it was an active community and popular hang-out spot.
They started showing up with the intention to learn a few names each week, build relationships, and see how they could help. For Jon, this meant getting back on the board after 10 years (and making a few trips to the hospital).
In August 2021, they started doing cookouts at the skate park. The initial response from the skaters was unsurprisingly lukewarm at first. ‘Who are you?’ and ‘Why are you selling food?’ were frequent questions. (The food was free.)
However, as the Hagars and their small team of volunteers built relationships by showing up each week, Troy Skate Church was born.
Fostering Relationships through Food
Skateboarding is a tool to reach young people whose real needs are direction and stability.
“There’s no reason to live in Miami County and not get your needs met because there are so many resources,” Sami said. “But this group of people has no clue how to access them. It’s really about pointing them in those directions and fulfilling unique needs.”
Food, of course, is an inroad – everyone likes to be fed.
For the first three years of Troy Skate Church, they had to haul all of their cookout supplies and food in a truck, which took an increasingly long time to load and unload as the group of skaters grew.
The Duke Foundation recently provided funding for a custom food trailer. It’s fitted with a slide-out grill, music player, deep freezer, refrigerator, and storage.
“It’s been such a huge blessing,” Sami said. “It allows us to go to more parks and incorporate more volunteers because they can just grab the trailer and pull it out. It’s so easy.”
Troy Skate Church makes hotdogs and hamburgers in the warmer months and brings pizza in the winter. They keep Gatorade and water on hand, and always maintain a supply of the group’s favorite snack: popsicles.
Life-changing Mentorship
Troy Skate Church volunteers teach the skaters how to drive and get a job. They help them get shoes and clothing. They show them how to get housing and maintain it. Most importantly, they provide much-needed mentorship and reliable adult figures who care.
“For years, I said they’re here to skateboard, and they’re just willing to eat our food,” Sami said of the skaters. “And now I can honestly say a lot of them show up because they know we’ll be there.”
The group of skaters grew rapidly in the last year, with nearly 40 to 50 showing up each week. They’re coming to Troy from as far as Springfield and Sidney.
As the community has grown, the fully volunteer-led operation has gotten busy. Troy Skate Church is currently working on building an indoor skate park to be able to offer more support year-round, especially in the colder months when skating outdoors isn’t an option.
“There are definitely times when you’re like, oh my gosh, how do we put this much time in?” she said. “And then a kid will come up and say: ‘Guess what?! I’ve been clean for two weeks.’ I can’t take credit for that, but the fact that they want to share that with us – that’s what it’s about.”
