Tuesday 4 to 8pm Free. No cover. Skate Church 6pm Saturday 11am to 7pm Lakeview Square Mall, Battle Creek
Battleground Skate House badge Battleground
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5775 Beckley Rd, Battle Creek MI
269-962-1080

Programs

What’s here

Skate Church is the anchor. Around it there are lessons, camps, four contests a year, a reading challenge that buys you a free month, an internship, and a park you can rent by the hour.

A long view across the Battleground park, quarter pipes and flat bar in the foreground
Every Tuesday, 6pm

Skate Church

Free and open to the public. Turn up at 4pm and ride, or turn up at 6pm for the talk. Either way it costs nothing on a Tuesday.

Riders sitting on the ramps under a painted Skate Church wall

4pm

Doors and ramps

The park is open and free. Skateboards, BMX, scooters, blades. Sign a waiver if you have not already.

6pm

Ramps stop

For about 45 minutes. Someone from the community shares a testimony or a passage from the Bible.

After

Small groups

Everyone is encouraged to share what they think, including disagreement. Nobody has to. Sitting and listening is fine.

8pm

Back on the ramps

Until close. Then you carry your wheels out through the mall, please.

You are welcome at Skate Church no matter what faith you have. This is an open time. We have had pro skaters, community leaders, business professionals, former addicts, teachers, kids and folks from every walk of life get up and speak.

Riding here

What it costs

Tuesday
4pm to 8pm
Free
Attend Skate Church at 6pm and ride free.
Saturday
11am to 1pm
$12.00
Riders 12 years and younger.
Saturday
1pm to 7pm
$12.00
All ages.
Rentals
  • $2.00  Helmet
  • $5.00  Skateboard
  • $10.00  Scooter
  • $2.00  Lock for a locker
Rent the whole park

The full park by the hour, weekdays before 4pm and Sunday nights after 5pm. Private sessions and parties. Call during park hours to find out more.

Call 269-962-1080
Everyone signs one

A waiver is required for everyone in the park area. Under 18, a parent or legal guardian has to complete it. Online or in the shop.

Fill out the waiver
Learning

Nobody starts good

An instructor holding a young rider's hands as they stand on a board for the first time

Lessons

Lessons with our pro skaters and riders are a good way to start. We can match you with teachers who will, sometimes literally, hold your hand as you brave the ramps.

A beginner lesson covers

  • Pushing
  • How to tick tack
  • How to ollie
  • Kickflips
  • Basic grinds
  • Dropping in on a ramp
  • How to pump a ramp
  • How to fall
  • Any other trick you like

Beyond tricks, the important thing beginners learn is skatepark etiquette, so they can navigate the busy lanes safely.

Answers to the three questions everyone asks

How old do you have to be? Any age. We have had students from 3 to 40.

What do you need? We can provide equipment and a helmet. We recommend bringing knee and elbow pads to start. Both are available in the shop.

How do you sign up? Teachers work with you independently and set a time you both agree on. Prices are set by each teacher.

Some instructors are Battleground employees and some are not. All have been through our screening and background checks. Talk to a manager if you have any concerns about a teacher or a lesson.

Free month of riding

The Reading Program

Read or listen to five age appropriate books. Write down the titles and page counts. Have a parent or teacher sign the sheet. Bring it in. That earns a one month free admission pass with free rentals, a value of about 67 dollars.

Open to any middle or high school student in the area, public, private or home school. Fiction, non-fiction, comic books, audiobooks, textbooks, cookbooks, how-to manuals. If a parent or teacher approves it, it counts.

Made possible by the Battle Creek Community Foundation and The Miller Foundation. Teachers are welcome to use the form for classroom reading goals.

Summer skate camps

Free summer skate camps, co-hosted with Hood Church and other area ministries, at locations around the region as well as at the park.

A group of young riders with boards and helmets at a Battleground summer camp
Four a year

Contests

One for each discipline. BMX, skateboards, aggressive inline and scooters. Divisions run beginner to advanced and are set at sign-up based on who turns up.

How it runs

Registration starts at 1pm. Contests begin at 3pm. Twenty dollars to enter, which includes admission for the day. A signed waiver is required, and under 18 a parent has to sign it.

Watching

Free. Space for spectators can be limited, so come early if you want a good spot on the deck.

One thing to know if you have young kids

We love beginners, but on contest dates we do not admit young riders, roughly 10 and under, unless they are entering. It is too dangerous to have them in the park when it is that busy. Please pick another day to bring them.

Prizes come from these people
Testimony Skateboards Verde Bikes 5 Mile Hill Royal Skate & Apparel DL Skateboard Company Character Skateboards Malchus Life Skateboards Sunshine Distribution Hard Knot Skateboards Five Lakes Coffee Company Harley Davidson of Battle Creek Perfect Storm Comics & Games Pardon My Thrashing Pennfield Pizza Ill Spoken Clothing Co.
From the park

Session clips

Sent in by people who ride here. Shot on a phone, held sideways, which is exactly right. Send yours to bcskatepark@gmail.com.

A rider mid-air above the transition, board under their feet
Peter, mini ramp
A young rider in a red hoodie holding a skateboard up in front of them
First board
Two young scooter riders in helmets on the flat of the park
Scooter session
An adult crouching beside a small child in a helmet learning to balance on a board
Lesson, age three
Three older riders standing together in the shop at the front of the park
Shop, Saturday
The bowl and quarter pipe empty before opening
Before doors
If you want in deeper

Three other ways to be part of this

Age 18 and over

Skate ministry internship

Eight to nine weeks across Michigan and Illinois. A short amount of classroom time and a big amount of doing it. You help host a contest and outreach in Illinois, travel to skateparks around Michigan, join area churches for youth skate camps, and meet with discipleship groups.

Housing is with a volunteer leader about eight miles out in the country, so you need your own transport. Participants raise 800 dollars toward expenses. Flexibility and a heart to serve go a long way.

A park down the road

Marshall Skate Park repair

Battleground, Marshall Parks and Recreation and area skaters are working together to make Marshall Skate Park rideable again. Obstacles have been removed as they fell apart. Ramps held together with duct tape, rotten wood, missing pieces.

3,100 dollars buys the wood, paint and supplies. A volunteer team is ready and waiting. Parks and Rec plan a full rebuild later. This makes it safe in the meantime.

Donations go through Battleground's secure donor software, designated to this campaign only. Questions: 269-419-5333.

A weathered outdoor quarter pipe at Marshall Skate Park with damaged plywood
Open to anyone who draws

Sticker design contest

Design the official Battleground sticker. Clear, creative and original. Drawn by hand or digitally. Design it large, at least four or five inches, because we can always shrink it.

One colour designs get bonus points. Black ink on white is great. Try to work in the name, the website, the location, or the sports that happen here.

The winner gets their design printed as the official sticker, ten free copies, and a free month at the park. We like edgy art. We will not take drugs, nudity or violence.

Everything on this page

runs on donations and volunteers

The free Tuesday, the free camps, the reading program that gives away a month of admission. None of it charges its way to break even, and that is on purpose.

Give to the park Volunteer