A new group, the Panhandle Skate Alliance, is looking to improve access to skateboarding education in North Idaho. 

The group held its first meeting recently in Post Falls, but it already has its sight beyond just teaching kids skate moves like verts or slides; it wants to make a difference.  

“I would love to do what I can for simple things like the skateboard culture,” James Brighter said. “Dedication to the sport, the culture, that’s what we’re starting now and we’re not going to give up on this.” 

Picking up trash in local skate parks and working directly with the parks and recreation department are among the actionable items PSA intends to pursue locally. 

The group is still defining roles, but Brighter, Anthony Richardson, Ayden Devlin, Brian White, and Tate Vasquez are looking to form a nonprofit to expand their reach in skateboard advocacy in North Idaho. 

Brighter has given himself the moniker the “Secretary of Skate” and is personally working to preserve pieces of Post Falls skateboarding history to ensure the past is reflected in the sport's future. 

Devlin said that before he connected with skateboarding, he never directly understood what perseverance meant.  

“Skateboarding has genuinely taught me more about commitment with work, school, everything,” Devlin said. “I was failing through school and then I would skateboard and it would teach me to keep going.” 

Creating an educational aspect for aspiring skateboarders to learn from adults would also help PSA provide the role models they were looking for when they first got into the sport. 

“As a kid, I wasn’t really big into any organized sports like football, basketball, I tried them all and then I found skateboarding. It took me a long time to learn to ollie or ride on the board,” Devlin said. 

White said that not all of the community’s responses to the group's formation have been positive, and some comments had nothing to do with skating.  

He wants to change that perspective and, through advocacy around the sport, give local kids the tools to interact with city government and learn that their interests matter to their community. 

“We want to give the opportunity for younger people to see how to get organized, present themselves, how to address their city government, how to be involved in their city government, how to navigate difficult situations,” White said. 

As a man in his 50s, he is still learning about more ways to navigate conversations to meaningful resolutions. 

If local skaters want something changed, White wants to give kids the understanding and ability to make those changes. 

“This is their city. I grew up in a place where it was against the law to ride in any public space. With the street in front of my house, I could get a ticket for riding my skateboard, but I had no means of addressing grievances with my city. I had no idea how to do that,” White recalled. 

By encouraging kids to take action and be heard, White said they can be sources of positive representation and be active participants in their hometowns. 

“There are so many young people disillusioned with how to be engaged in things,” White said. “Our place becomes richer when we have more voices. This is what I think Post Falls, this is what I think we could be.” 

For more information about PSA, email [email protected].