THE SKATE YARD IS A PRIVATE FACILITY! WE OFFER CAMPS, AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS, SATURDAY PRIVATE LESSONS, AND PARK RENTALS (EVENTS, BIRTHDAY PARTIES, GROUP SESSIONS)

YOU CAN NOT WALK UP AND EXPECT TO SKATE, MUST HAVE RESERVATIONS OF SOME KIND

With over 50 years of combined skateboard experience, Brian and Joe are the most qualified instructors out there. Joe has competed professionally and has a degree in education. They are both dads.

Combine these instructors’ expertise with a state-of-the-art private training facility and you get a camp experience like no other. Limited numbers of skaters ensure small groups so every skater gets the quality instruction they need.

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Schedule

Summer
Monday – Friday 9:00 am to 12:00 pm Summer Camp, 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm available to rent for private SESSION $30.00/hr, min of 2 hrs. Saturday-Sunday 11:00-8:00 available to rent for private SESSION $30/hr, min of 3 hrs.

Fall/Winter
Monday – Friday 4:00PM – 7:00 AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS (Ages 7-12). Saturday and Sunday 11-8 available for private SESSION $30/hr, Min 3 hrs. TEXT for availability (904) 994-0908

Spring Break (March 14-18)
12:00 pm to 3:00 pm Spring Camp (Duval County Only) 3:30pm-8:30pm available for private SESSION $30/hr

Christmas Break
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm Christmas Break Camp, Intermediate – Advanced Levels

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Experienced and safety-minded – camp instructors are gnar gnar

Instructors Brian Christenson and Joe Marrara are of a rare breed: clean-cut (as your grandma would say), nice boys who just happen to skate as if they’d been given some righteous gifts, those of coordination, athleticism and spirit. Spirit enough, indeed, to not only excel at the sport themselves, but to want to share it and guide others to excellence, too. All this is accomplished with the highest standards of safety in mind, as well as good vibes, great friendships and a chance to hang with the local pros. Marrara has competed professionally; he’s also earned a degree in education, so he’s ideally situated to train young thrashers in the fine art of staying safe while standing or crouching on a small horizontal surface, usually covered in great graphics, zooming around a big, hard-surfaced bowl-shaped thing or just tooling down a flat piece of concrete.

The Skate Yard is holding Summer Skate Camps, and as the only private training facility in the Beaches area, you need to make reservations for the camp of your choice — as well as any non-camp skate sesh. For groms ages 7 to 12, camp is held Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to noon, and there are five more weeks of camps. Most weeks are already full with a waiting list availability. The cool thing about the camps, though (info for next year, Mom and/or Dad), is that the instructor/student ratio is 1:5, at 20 skaters a week. New this summer is a skate plaza so kids can amp up their flat ground skills. The various areas involved include park safety, proper equipment (like helmets!), ramp and trick identification, and SKART, which is Skate Art. Rest assured, M & D, there are water breaks and free skate time, too. Weekly rate is $240 cash, $250 credit card, check and Venmo. There’s a military discount, too. You gotta text your reservation to 904-994-0908 and keep up with the deets from the instructors.

No matter how you look at it, this all makes sense and still manages to look like great fun in the summertime.

Writer Marlene Dryden