Mental and emotional suppression leads to depression, anxiety, poor performance at school, low self-esteem, stress, and more. According to a recent study of 13–25-year-olds by the Pullias Center for Higher Education at USC’s Rossier School of Education.
Mental health problems in youth often go hand-in-hand with other health and behavioral risks like increased risk of drug use, experiencing violence, and higher risk sexual behaviors that can lead to HIV, STDs, and unintended pregnancy.
Our proposal is to introduce the community to skateboarding and the skateboarding culture. Skaters need to take care of their body and mind. To perform at the best of their ability and overcome the hurdles that come in their way, in skating as in life. Skateboarding teaches a plethora of valuable lessons that can easily translate into day-to-day life. Through regular practice, skateboarding brings long-term physical, psychological and social benefits.

By drawing attention to experiencing new highs, skateboarding shifts focus away from anxieties and negative thought patterns, which improves self-esteem and self-efficacy. This is particularly important for recovering from injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression. Skateboarding builds critical thinking skills and improves the ability to build relationships. Skaters use skateboarding as an outlet for stress, to feel safer and inclusive.
Tourism and development

In a council meeting held on Monday, December 19th 2023, the Mayor of Wichita Brandon Whipple and The Kansas Skateboarding foundation discussed a need for events and programs at the current skateparks and the new parks he is in the budget stages of building.

He went on to discuss the need for events, programs and competitions that can bring in returning visitors and revenue to the city once all these new parks and facilities have been built. In 2019 before the pandemic, visitors in Wichita spend over $1 billion. During the pandemic, travel spending dropped by 33% across the state.

Our answer Is organizing and hosting Skateboarding events that are up to par with industry standards across the country. We have begun the framework to be added as a stop for the STREET LEAGUE, an international skateboarding tournament series. The league features professional street skateboarders competing for the largest monetary prize in the history of skateboarding. In addition to the street league, we will also work with REDBULL and gain a stop on The Red Bull Drop in Tour. This tour will put Wichita's local skate scene on display with interactive demos and skate competitions with cash prizes.

To further achieve this vision, our foundation is seeking support to acquire an up to 25,000 indoor facility. We're currently performing market research to complete our development budget and are looking for partners who are interested in assisting us during this research and evaluation phase.