As part of the Progress Skateboard Camp Starter, we spent five days skateboarding, progressing, learning new tricks, overcoming challenges, and enjoying plenty of great moments together. The camp brought together riders of different ages and skill levels – from complete beginners to experienced skateboarders. This created a great atmosphere where everyone motivated and pushed each other forward.

From the very first day, we focused mainly on finding out each rider’s current level and identifying what we would work on during the camp. We adapted the training individually according to each rider’s abilities and goals.

During the first days, we mainly skated in the skateparks in Martin and later travelled to Dolný Kubín. The conditions were mostly great, and we had the skatepark in Martin almost entirely to ourselves for most of the day. This allowed us to fully focus on skating and progressing.

It quickly became clear that this camp was going to be special. A huge number of new tricks were landed, and every day we could see the riders improving.

One of the highlights was Filipko, who landed an ollie over five stacked boards from a ramp and gradually started trying more challenging tricks. Kubo from Košice landed beautiful kickflips from the launch ramp, a nosegrind on the flat ledge, and several other flip combinations. Kristián landed his first clean 50-50 grind on a rail and added a frontside boardslide shove-it out. Alan impressed us with a clean noseslide on the down hubba and later landed a beautiful heelflip from the launch ramp.

We also saw huge progress from the girls. Monika significantly improved her boardslide and later landed her first backside 5-0 on a small quarter pipe. Natálka landed her first clean backside 50-50 grind, while she and Nicolka both managed to drop into the biggest quarter pipe in the park. Nicolka from Senica also landed her first drop into a quarter pipe and gradually worked on her rock to fakie and 50-50 grind.

Our youngest riders also made us very proud. Maty managed to conquer a big quarter pipe that he had been struggling with, mainly because of the mental challenge. With the help of the coaches, he finally overcame it. He also landed drops into banks, spins in the quarters, and a rock to fakie. Oliver from Martin landed drops, spins, and his first rock to fakie on a small quarter pipe. Oliverko from Liptovský Mikuláš, who had only been standing on a skateboard for a few days, made huge progress and gradually gained confidence riding obstacles.

Tomatel also had a great session, landing fakie ollie, frontside boardslide, 50-50 grind, a 180 into a bank, as well as plenty of switch and nollie tricks. Arthur made significant progress with his 50-50 grind and kickflip out of the box, and later landed his first clean 360 flip on flat. Maťko and the other younger riders constantly pushed each other and were always ready to try something new.

One of the most interesting days was our trip to Dolný Kubín. First, we took care of our commitments connected to the support we received from Kaufland, taking photos and filming the required content. We also showed the kids how to build a skateboard. Afterwards, we skated at the new skatepark next to the ice rink, built by Sketon.

We really enjoyed the new skatepark. The obstacles flow naturally into one another, there are plenty of lines to choose from, and it is great to skate. Visiting different skateparks is an important part of our camp because riders get used to different types of obstacles, angles, and surfaces.

After skating, we also took some time to relax. We visited Eden restaurant in Ľubochňa, stopped for ice cream, and later headed to Demänovská Valley. At the mini-ramp, which was sponsored for us by Dušan, Dorotka’s father, we had a barbecue together. It created an amazing atmosphere and turned into a spontaneous evening skate session. Besides skateboarding, we also played basketball and simply enjoyed spending time together outside the skatepark.

After our more relaxed day, we returned to Martin. Another packed training session was waiting for us, with plenty of new tricks. The weather was almost perfect, and even a short rain shower stopped us only temporarily.

Arthur landed his first clean 360 flip on flat and added a beautiful nosegrind. Maxo Pavela landed his first boardslides and frontside boardslides on a rail from a bank, as well as a feeble to fakie on a small quarter pipe. Natálka and Nicolka continued pushing their limits, while Maty finally overcame his fear of the big quarter pipe.

Kubo from Košice landed a beautiful kickflip from a bank, several grinds, and combinations of flip tricks over the corner. Monika added a backside 5-0, while Tomatel landed a switch ollie over two boards, switch boardslide, and plenty of fakie, nollie, and switch tricks. Oliver from Martin landed the A-frame rail from a bank and added some nice airs with nosegrabs.

Oliverko from Liptovský Mikuláš continued making incredible progress. Although he had only been skateboarding for a few days, he gained more confidence with every session and gradually overcame his fear of obstacles. Filipko started trying ollies from the launch ramp and his first flip tricks.

The Trick of the Day definitely went to Alan, who landed a beautiful, high-popped heelflip from the launch ramp, with a clean catch and landing. Maxo Strelecký landed a 360 flip from the launch ramp into the side bank, while Kiko from Košice delivered a textbook 360 flip from the launch ramp into the same bank.

The strongest moment of the entire camp, however, belonged to Maťko from Liptovský Mikuláš.

From the morning, he had been working on a 50-50 grind across an A-frame rail from a bank. As he is still a beginner, it was very challenging for him to generate enough speed to make it across the entire rail. Nevertheless, he refused to give up and kept trying again and again.

Just before leaving, we let him use a skateboard with bigger and faster wheels. About five minutes before the end of the camp, he took the run, got the right speed, and finally landed the 50-50 grind.

The entire group erupted with joy and emotion. What made it even more special was that it was not a fluke. Maťko landed the trick again immediately afterwards, this time in front of the professional camera we were using to film footage for the final Progress Skateboard Camp Starter edit.

These are exactly the moments we organise our camps for. It is not just about learning a new trick. It is about overcoming your own limits, staying persistent, finding joy in the process, and experiencing that feeling when you finally achieve something after dozens of failed attempts.

On the final day, we returned to the new skatepark in Dolný Kubín. After five days of skating, the fatigue was starting to show, but it did not stop the progress.

Our youngest riders continued working on drops, ollie to fakie, spins, and other tricks. The more experienced riders tried new lines, different obstacle angles, the pyramid, and the street ledge. Arthur landed a nice halfcab noseslide, along with plenty of other technical tricks.

Another huge milestone came from Monika, who landed her first ollie onto a box from the front. It had been a long-term goal for her, which made it even more special that she achieved it at our camp. Nicolka added a beautiful rock to fakie in a steeper quarter pipe, once again showing how much she had progressed throughout the camp.

Around lunchtime, we finished the camp with a group evaluation and awarded the prizes. A huge thank you goes to all our partners who supported us and prepared great prizes for the kids.

After the awards, we all went for lunch together, officially bringing five days of skateboarding, travelling, new experiences, training, and fun to an end.

From our perspective, Progress Skateboard Camp Starter was one of the most intense camps we have organised in recent years. We had experienced riders, complete beginners, and everyone in between. Everyone found their place, everyone had space to progress, and we created a group that constantly motivated one another.

Our goal throughout the camp was not only to improve the riders’ skateboarding skills. We wanted to teach them not to give up, to try new things, overcome fear, and believe in themselves even when a trick does not work on the first, tenth, or twentieth attempt.

And that is exactly what Progress Skateboard Camp is all about.

A few days of skating, learning, progressing, laughing, travelling, discovering new skateparks, and creating memories that last.

Thank you to all the kids and parents for choosing our camp. Thank you to all our partners and everyone who helps us make these camps possible.

We are already looking forward to the next Progress Skateboard Camp Midder and to seeing all of you again at our camps, training sessions, and skateboarding events.

Thank you, and see you at the skatepark! 🤙

Progress Skateboard Camp Team
Marek, Kubo, Maťo, Marek, Matúš and Maťo