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Jugendpark Schlachthof stands as a beautiful example of a cultural community that creates cohesion and blurs social divides. Schlachthof is a BMX- and skate park, but it's way more than just a regular skate park. We recently supported their annual BMX excursion, and here we share some highlights from the trip while discussing the ideas behind it.
When the sun is high in the sky and the weather is perfect for outdoor activities, Jugendpark Schlachthof is often frequented by more than 150 active visitors of all ages – from children, to youngsters, to adults. Every member of the family can find something fun to do there. People come together for various activities such as BMX, skating, street basketball, street soccer, and much more.
The park also hosts a variety of workshops, camps, events, and competitions that help create an energetic, diverse, and inclusive environment with room for everyone, regardless of background.
A great example is the annual Butcher Jam, which has made Schlachthof a well-known location in the BMX world. At Butcher Jam, there are competitions in park BMX, dirt jump, highest air, mini ramp, and much more. While Butcher Jam plays an important role in the BMX community, the event has become so much more than a BMX competition: it’s a festival of music, dance, and all sorts of fun, where some of the world's best BMX riders kick it alongside young beginners.
Sportpiraten, the organisation behind Jugendpark Schlachthof, aims to create learning spaces and communities for everyone who wants to contribute. The organisation operates on the principle of peer group education, where users learn from each other and become part of a dynamic learning community. In other words, the users of Jugendpark Schlachthof are not just visitors who pay for admission and enjoy the park's facilities.
In fact, there is no admission fee. However, you may have to sweep or clean up the ramps to get them ready for riding. Users of the park actively contribute to its development. This is one way in which Schlachthof helps give children and youngsters a sense of ownership and responsibility that they might benefit from in other aspects of their lives.
Every year, Schlachthof organises a BMX road trip for a group of kids. Filled with cultural discovery and life-lessons, these trips offer a lot more than the opportunity to ride some of the wildest BMX spots. When the kids get back to Flensburg, they bring a heavy dose of inspiration and encouragement, making them not just better riders, but also ready to energise their local BMX scene through community spirit and creativity.
At SkatePro, we are fascinated by the work they do at Jugendpark Schlachthof. We see a clear connection to our Giveback-concept, where we support initiatives that use the passion for action sports to create a better society and strengthen local communities.
Exploring the UK’s Top BMX Spots
This year, a group of 15 young people went to visit some of the most iconic BMX spots in the UK. We followed their trip on social media and it reinforced our belief that action sports can form a solid foundation for strong communities and experiences.
SkatePro contributed to the trip with practical items such as clothes, tires, tubes and tools, and we also made a financial contribution of €1000, bringing the total value of our efforts to €2600.
The trip took place in October, and as we wanted to hear more about the trip, we contacted Katja Wrobel from Sportpiraten. Katja participated in the trip herself, and she plays a central role in Sportpiraten.
We think it's pretty amazing that you organise these trips with 15 very young BMX riders. Can you tell us about the planning process? How did you choose which skate parks to visit?
“We leave the main decisions to the kids, so they are the ones who say where they want to go. This year, it was agreed that the trip should go to the UK to ride in some of the biggest indoor BMX parks. The kids themselves are in charge of planning the trip. They decide which parks they want to visit, and then they sit down with a map to arrange the route. They have to find out when the parks are open, and if we're standing in front of a park that's closed, it's their own problem that they didn't check the park's opening hours in advance. It all helps to give a sense of responsibility. Everyone on the trip is involved in the decision-making.”
In addition to new BMX skills, were there any other life skills you hoped the kids would develop during the trip?
“This is somewhat related to the first question. It's important for us that the young people look after themselves and learn how important it is to take responsibility for themselves and for the group. They learn how to behave in a group, and they have done really well. There's room for everyone, and we found that they all helped to create a great group dynamic. At the same time, they are also learning a lot by experiencing new cultures and practising a language that they are taught at school. They also practise their networking skills when they meet professional riders or when they connect with kids who might want to participate in some of our future BMX camps in Flensburg.”
What does the future hold for Jugendpark Schlachthof?
“We're always in a process and we have no end goal. Ramps get worn out and need to be repaired, and maybe new ones need to be built. If we need to repair something, we obviously don't start building new things for the park. If someone sees a need for improvement or renewal, they sit down with one of the older peers, and together they figure out how they can solve the task. In this way, the problems are solved in a way that meets their wishes, and they get to be part of the process and acquire new practical skills.”
“In general, BMX culture is in a slight decline here in Germany. Not so many new riders are joining the scene these days. But at Schlachthof it's different. Here, we're actually seeing more new riders coming in. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that at Butcher Jam, we make sure there's room for everyone. We do this by holding the Nachwuchs-contest, where the new generations of BMX’ers show what they can do. We also have classes for beginners, amateurs, pros, and girls. It doesn't matter if you're a skilled rider or not – no one is excluded. Maybe these things can explain why we see so many young people becoming fascinated by BMX.”
Do you have any anecdotes or good stories from the trip that you'd like to share?
“I was a little touched when one of the kids from the trip wrote on Instagram that his dream had come true on the trip to England, because he had experienced these cool skate parks. He thanked Sportpiraten for giving him the opportunity to experience something he would have otherwise never experienced. It gives me faith that our work makes a difference.”
Is it true that 4 pallets of ginger shots were consumed on the trip?
“Yes… You’re referring to our little fact sheet. Well, this is the first time we've tried our hand at creating a fact sheet from our trip. For example, you can also see how many kilometres we've driven. It was mostly for fun that we mentioned those ginger-shots, but we realized that we had consumed a serious amount of ginger shots during the trip.”
“It started with the adult participants drinking ginger shots because we've heard it's healthy, but suddenly the kids were asking for ginger shots too because they felt it was a good energy boost, so yeah… we ended up drinking a lot of those on the trip.”
Thank you to Katja and Sportpiraten for a great and inspiring collaboration – and remember that the next Butcher Jam takes place June 6-8, 2025.
Learn more about Sportpiraten and Jugendpark Schlachthof here:
