So this is going to be a long one, but if youre interested in the community and possibly instructing Parkour in Tasmania youll stick it out. I believe theres a lot more traceurs out there than there is activity on this page, and theres no problem with that, everyone can train on their own terms, but it makes it difficult to grow into a strong shared community. To start moving towards that there a number of things Id like to do over the coming year, and I need your help if its going to happen. 1. Instructor Qualifications First off, Im not far off on my training to become an APA qualified instructor, but its no use me being the only one. The process for qualification is pretty involved, with a strong physical requirement and a broad theoretical base, so studying on your own takes time. The qualifications come into full effect next year, and Id like to help anyone who wants to become an instructor to work towards it. This will mean running an study group/instructor induction thing, depending on how many people are interested. Im also keen to hear from all parts of Tasmania, not just Hobart. Completing the qualification will get you onto the APA instructor register which lets you run insured classes. 2. Building the Local Community Were in a unique opportunity with a relatively small state, with major cities all within a couple of hours drive from each other. Id like to organise some events that use that advantage to bring people back together. Id be keen to run some sort of Tas Gathering every half year, where we hire buses/transport where appropriate and get everyone who trains in the one spot. With a different city/town to host each time we could keep it pretty varied and would be a great way to connect communities. Its not even that hard to organise, rent a couple of vehicles, grab some stuff for a BBQ or something, and then were on the way. The other thing Id like to consider is organising demonstration days at events that lets us have a jam on scaffolding, sort of like what South Australian Parkour Association have done (youtu.be/mYp8lfUf0SI). Again, its a way for the community to jam on something a little novel, and also get the word out about what were doing. This requires a little more setup, and definitely an official body to represent. 3. An Official Body This brings me to the thing that is needed to make this happen. This is not achievable as a single person, and neither is it a good idea to expect that, as it ties up money, responsibility and capability all into what should be a community effort. For those of you who are a bit confused about the APAs role in communities such as ours, the truth is that they are NOT our community, we are. The APA does not set up franchises or move in and take over, their job is to support community leaders and instructors so that we have what we need to succeed. To this end, the APA is a good source of insurance, with clout behind their qualifications which will allow us to set up long running classes that can service the Tasmanian community. Kids, Basics, and Beyond Basics classes are all things there is a demand for here, but its up to us to make it happen. What Id love to build is a non-profit organisation whose primary aims are: - to develop local instructors, getting them insured under APA qualifications - to establish and run regular classes - to provide a goto resource for schools and other organisations looking for Parkour workshops - to organise events which support the broader Parkour and Freerunning Community. My focus has been off of Freerunning mainly because of the difficulty of insurance. I believe classes should stick to covering Parkour, and Freerunning be seen as an extension that people can take wherever they will, potentially seeking Acro/Tricking/etc training elsewhere. I guess my idea is to call whatever we end up making here, Parkour Tasmania, and start pushing towards our goals. You literally cant make a non-profit with one person, so Im keen to see who out there is interested to assist in any way, but Ill leave it at this for now. This is my vision, how we get there is gonna take some talking. Cheers for reading. James
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 23:22:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015