Behind the scenes at Source Park

On Wednesday 19 October 2016 first year Sport Management students had a trip to Source BMX Park which is located in the seaside town of Hastings. The purpose of the visit was to put the stakeholder theory learnt in lectures into a practical example to develop understanding of the different ways organisations are run.

The visit also helped students gain a better understanding of how the business is run and its future aims – the BMX park has been open for just seven months.

Student Tom Dodsworth reports on the visit:

“Our morning consisted of having a tour of the facilities on offer at this internationally recognised venue. Source BMX have a strong online following in conjunction with two large skate parks, a café; situated between the two is a retail store which sells an array of products from personalised skateboards, BMX bikes, branded shoes to t-shirts.

“We learnt that many award-winning international BMX riders live in Hastings and are often seen using the facilities alongside children who are getting on a BMX bike for the first time. This demonstrated to us the equality amongst the sports elite and, more importantly, the respect each rider has for one another when they are in the Source BMX environment. This results in a community-based feel to the park which the council and Source BMX had strived to achieve.

“In the afternoon we were invited back to use the facilities on offer on either a skateboard or a BMX. For many of us this was the first time we had been in an indoor skate park and despite some of the group being hesitant to get involved at the start, everyone was involved towards the end of the afternoon. Despite several falls we thoroughly enjoyed our day with some of us wanting to try BMX and skateboarding more often as well as wanting to come back to Source BMX in the future for academic purposes as part of a placement.

“From a business point of view, Source BMX is run very well as they involve the whole community, support local charities and societies, as well as getting more people involved in the sport and developing their ability through specialist coaching. I believe that there are a three words that link into what we think Source BMX derive themselves from: respect, support and opportunity.

“The trip showed to us how one venue can be transformed over the years to meet the needs of the community. For example, we learnt that the space was originally used for bathing, then it was opened up as a public swimming pool and eventually turned into the skate park.

“As Sport Business Management students it was valuable to see that any organisation needs to be adaptable to meet the needs of customers whether this is through physical, human or material resources, and also to keep people involved in community-based sports, all of which are accessible and cheap to take part in.

“We would like to thank Source BMX for providing us with an insight into how their business operates as well as giving us the opportunity to try two new sports, leading to a thoroughly enjoyable and educational day out!”