Rigby basketball academy aims to enlarge its community with new skate park

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BIZ BUZZ

RIGBY

Owner of Rigby sports academy says new half-pipe will help ‘turn basketball into skateboarding’

RIGBY – At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sean McDonald, and his wife, Spring, opened Jump Start Sports Academy off exit 325 north of Rigby. It started with a small court in a small building and has since grown to include a second building with a full-size court.

At 94 feet long and 50 feet wide, it’s the same size as an NBA basketball court. The floor is from a G-league Golden State Warriors team. It serves more than 400 kids from ages 4 to 18.

Jump Start’s newest amenity is a skate park on the north side of the building with a half-pipe McDonald and his crew built and designed themselves.

“We’re getting skaters over there every night,” Sean tells EastIdahoNews.com. “We’ve built the basketball community to around 420 students at peak season, and we feel like it’s time to enlarge the pie and do something different for other kids.”

Take a look at it and the full-size court in the video above.

RELATED | Local man’s love for basketball helps kids succeed

Sean grew up playing basketball in Boise and played for his high school team. Another hobby he liked just as much was skateboarding.

His 17-year-old son, Miles, who’s been involved with the basketball academy since its inception, has helped merge the two sports. Sean says Miles has “turned basketball into skateboarding” by doing tricks, similar to what you’d see at a Harlem Globetrotters game.

He’s spent the last several years growing his social media presence and it went viral last year when he appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.” He spun a basketball on the tip of a toothbrush while brushing his teeth.

Miles has since collaborated with the Harlem Globetrotters during the team’s recent performances in eastern Idaho.

“One of (the Globetrotters’ players) came to Jump Start two years ago and did some social media content with us,” says Sean. “That’s a little sideshow with the basketball thing, but Miles represents it really well.”

Miles says the trick aspect of basketball is something that first appealed to him when he was 9. He came across the Globetrotters on YouTube and taught himself how to do some of the basketball stunts.

Miles says the chance to perform on “The Tonight Show” was “awesome.” He hopes to be a social media influencer one day.

Basketball + skateboaring

Although basketball and skateboarding are two different sports, the two have shared a long and intertwined history through footwear and cultural influence. The creation of the Nike Dunk basketball shoe in 1985 was the initial cultural connection. The shoe design was a combination of three other sneakers Nike created.

“It was designed, developed and shipped over a six-week span,” Nike reports. “The Dunk dropped out until skaters (sometime in the ’90s) discovered them at bargain stores on the cheap. As important as affordability, Dunks had the look and the function for skating and doing tricks.”

Later that decade, Nike started making shoes for skaters.

In addition to footwear, basketball and skateboarding are both rooted in street and urban culture. Self-expression, style and attitude are aspects of each sport. It was those values that led to the formation of the Harlem Globetrotters in 1926.

“They actually beat the NBA champions in the late 1950s,” Sean says. “Later, they started recruiting the Globetrotter players in the NBA.”

In recent years, the sports have had crossover athletes, such as Gary Payton II. Earlier this month, ESPN reported the NBA free agent launched a professional skateboard league.

The decision to open a skate park at Jump Start stemmed, in part, from a conversation Sean had with members of the Rigby City Council. He said the city told him they were considering getting rid of the skate park at Rigby South Park, due to concerns of vandalism.

Rigby Parks and Rec Director Mitch Bradley says that eliminating the skate park has been a topic of conversation in the past, but there are currently no plans to get rid of it.

Regardless, Sean is thrilled to offer something for skaters and hopes to see it continue to grow.

“We’ll probably have students at some point, but right now, we’re just building that community,” he says.

Former Jump Start Academy student Kye Ellsworth, 19, did the artwork for the half-pipe. It includes a variety of symbols and images, including an image of Tony Hawk. Ellsworth calls him “the Michael Jordan of skateboarding.”

Ellsworth has dabbled in skateboarding as well, and he says art is one of the cultural aspects that’s tied into both sports. He got into it about four years ago and is looking to make a name for himself.

“I’ve done quite a few murals, everything from murals to shoes to portraits,” Ellsworth says. “Murals are definitely what I’m most proud of.”

On the basketball side, Sean is thrilled to have a team of coaches with college ball experience who can provide the best experience for students. Among them is Paul Wilson, a recent graduate from The College of Idaho in Caldwell. The Idaho Falls native is 7 feet tall and played as a center on his college team.

He was hired in June as the company’s newest coach, and he’s thrilled about the opportunity.

“I always want to give back to the community,” Wilson says. “I’ve had a lot of great coaches in my life, and being able to come here and help at a family-owned business really interested me.”

The idea of giving back to the community is important to Sean as well, and his ultimate goal is to see his business benefit as many people as possible in the basketball and skating worlds.

“The goal is to get the community as big as we can,” says Sean.

RELATED | New skate shop in downtown Idaho Falls offers patrons a cultural experience

BIZ BITS

Home healthcare service opening first location in eastern Idaho

IDAHO FALLS – A home healthcare company offering non-medical assistance for senior members of the community is opening its first location in eastern Idaho.

Amada Senior Care is celebrating its grand opening in Idaho Falls on Friday at 4 p.m. It’s opening inside the Keller Williams building at 3525 Merlin Drive, Ste. 131.

Its team will work with assisted living centers and other homebound seniors and help with anything from meal preparation to shopping, running errands and other tasks.

Olga Szobonya and Noelia Creager are the franchisees of the Idaho Falls location. The business has more than 200 locations nationwide.

EastIdahoNews.com will post a more in-depth story soon.

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