Olliewood action sports Q&A with casey hinderman
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to run your own skatepark? Olliewood Action Sports is one of the HOTTEST skateparks in the midwest! Located in Dubuque, Iowa the park has shined a light on the local community and is one of the only indoor places to skate for hundreds of miles. Olliewood Action Sports opened its doors in 2015 and has already become one of the most iconic skateparks throughout the midwest. So the next time you find yourself in the endless corn fields of Iowa, be sure to make a pitstop at Olliewood Action Sports for a session with the Kingpins of the park. Street Kingpins was fortunate enough to catch up with Olliewood Action Sports founder, Casey Hinderman, to share his experience about starting up a skatepark:
What is 'Olliewood Action Sports'? Where can we find you?
"Olliewood Action Sports is an Indoor skate park for Skateboarding, BMX, Aggressive Inline and Freestyle Scooters and can be found in the good old state of Iowa, smack dab in the middle of the States."
What inspired you to build a skatepark?
"Honestly, since 13 when I started skating/snowboarding and going to shops and parks. I knew I wanted to be a part of this scene and when I moved back home from Colorado in 2013 and saw no new parks or boost in the scene around here, I decided to get a plan together for Olliewood."
So, you grew up in Dubuque, Iowa. I picture a farm house with no pavement. Were there many places to skate? How did you end up getting so good?
"Hahaha, yea most people say that. As there is A LOT of corn around here and Luckily my dad took me hunting since I was 5 so I did spend time in the woods and fields... but meeting others that didn't do the "hunting " thing through school and The Boys Club I picked up skating and snowboarding around the same time.
Our town is small but has a few spots that were popular, and skating with people older and better always pushed me. Eventually we learned we could travel and hit up other parks and progress ourselves. Mainly surrounding myself with better or even just good hearted people got me to where I am today."
Olliewood is an epic name. How did that one come to you?
"The name came to me when I first wanted to pursue this at age 18. I remember always thinking Hollywood was a destination place for skateboarding and Ollie rhyming with it, to me it just fit. The Action Sports part came to me while building my business plan. That way we cater to all and we even have a pro shop to keep everyone fresh."
It must be the dream job to have your own skatepark. What has been the biggest challenge to starting up a skatepark?
"Man, it really is a dream come true and I think about it every day. It's a way I can stay in the game without throwing myself down stairs. Being around and such a part of the industry I thought it'd be a breeze to open a park/shop...especially in my hometown. There was definitely a honeymoon period but keeping the hype and everyone interested and stoked isn't always easy. Having limited options and funding, it was tough to find a building to accommodate everything we needed for location and affordable size. But, WE FOUND ONE! Getting someone to believe in the project was also tough but again I think the passion behind the project told it all."
Any favorite stories about Olliewood that you can share with us?
“There’s honestly not enough space to fit all of them but a few stick out the most. First off was homie night. All the crew broke in the fresh new park and camped out all night in the park, filming, laughing and shredding the features. Welcome to Olliewood is the edit from that night and can find on Youtube. Another was when the guys from the band Highly Suspect rented out the park for 3 hours and had Spotify shoot a "Rock This" video and I was able to shred alongside and be apart of the video. Epic.”
What can we look forward to this summer at Olliewood?
“This summer we will have all age shows, competitions, and a Demo with Midwest native Pro skater Greg Lutzka! We always try to keep the hype and stay fun, so who knows what else we will come up with :-)”
A few words of wisdom to all the skaters out there?
“Always try and stay positive and know everyone has a story and struggles..EVERYONE. Skateboarding and other alike sports bring us together like nothing else so don't take anything for granted, stay passionate, stay focused and stay happy. The rest will happen naturally.”
Olliewood Action Sports can be FOUND on the Street Kingpins App. So go check out Olliewood Action Sports right now; who will be the next Kingpin at Olliewood? The GAME IS ON...