UPSKILL – Sports (Fitness)

UPSKILL – Sports is all about bringing sports facilities to the town and give the youth healthy activities to do by building team spirit and healthy living.

This Project is spearheaded by Captain Conroy Williams of our local Police force with his Panic Room Boxing and Kickboxing Academy.  Conroy is a member of UPSKILL Barrydale and has trained troubled youth up to win numerous championships and is a mentor in the community with his aim to help get kids of the street, by giving them discipline and fitness and keeping them from getting involved in drugs and gangs. 

The other sports facility that’s been built by Graham Abbott the Director of UPSKILL and Colin Walch is the Playground Skatepark, that provides 45 kids with 25 skateboards and skating ramps. The kids range from the age of 6-16 and come to skate every weekend at the skatepark and on the adjacent netball field. The playground skatepark provides the younger youth a place on the weekends to play and be part of a Skater club.

The aim of the skatepark is to teach the youth to build their own skatepark and earn their skateboards. This also gives them the appreciation of what they have achieved and the needs to earn & deserve what you are given.

Thanks to SkatePro in Denmark we have been donated 15 skateboards recently and are busy starting a crowdfunding for a container to have as our Clubhouse and a storage space for the boards and other sporting equipment that we are busy putting together for the youth. 

We have been donated Soccer goals, balls, cricket bats and balls for further youth development. We have Andrew Nun that facilitates frisbee games at the skatepark as well.

Future plans are to carry on building the playground skatepark and build a boxing gym. We would love a multipurpose sports field and more coaches to help teach the youth. We are working on getting an outdoor gym and fixing up the playparks in the community as part of UPSKILLING Barrydale and keeping the kids off the streets and away from drugs.

We have many more plans into the future, like building mountain biking tracks and hiking trails in the mountain range. This to can bring competition’s and funding to Barrydale.