This nonprofit wants to transform the Coast into a ‘skateboarding Mecca’
Metal axles scrape against half-pipes and handmade ramps for hours every Wednesday under the I-110 bridge in Biloxi. At this DIY skatepark, longtime skaters practice alongside children not much taller than their boards.
The Gulf Coast Skateparks Association built the Biloxi DIY in 2023 and the St. Martin DIY in 2025. Now, the nonprofit is helping lead the design of what could be Mississippi’s largest skatepark.
“Our vision is to transform the Gulf Coast into the next skateboarding Mecca in America,” Tyler Prowant, GCSA president and founder, said.
Tradition keeps rolling
The “Do It Yourself” skatepark movement is not new to Mississippi’s Coast. After Harrison County Skatepark closed in 2014, skaters such as GCSA vice president Andrew Buras used scrap materials to build the region’s first DIY skatepark in Gulfport.
However, less than two years later, city officials ordered it to be torn down.
“It kind of hurt us as a community because it gave us no space for an outlet,” Buras said.
Skaters turned to street skating, where uneven pavement and traffic increased risk of injury, or Jones Park, which prohibits the sport.
When Prowant returned to Biloxi after active-duty assignments around the world, he said the gap was obvious.
“I know that we have some world-class talent and people here, but it’s unfortunate that they don’t have the amenities that some of these other places have,” Prowant said.
To address the lack of public skateparks on the Coast, he founded GCSA in 2023.
“There’s absolutely a clear demand and need for skate parks for these communities to grow,” Prowant said. “I wanted a place to belong as well and skate parks have always been that place for me.”
Beyond building skateparks, the nonprofit hosts weekly meetups, youth clinics, festivals and skatepark tours from Louisiana to Florida. Prowant said the community is growing fast, having amassed more than 1,000 members since its inception.
“It’s a one-man sport, but really it’s a whole community,” Andrew Montejo, GCSA chief of media, said. “You get out there and you’re skating with everybody, and it’s really pushing you to want to do better things on the board.”
For some, the new skateparks signal a generational pastime. Chris Jobes grew up skating on the Coast. Now, his wife and two sons skate with him at the Biloxi DIY.
“It feels wonderful … to be able to have this,” Jobes said. “Kids who may be financially strained are able to still skate somewhere safe and not in the streets.”
Jobes’ son, Bane, is working on perfecting his skateboarding tricks such as the ollie and the pop shove-it. He said he’s grateful to learn from his dad and other experienced skaters in the community.
“I have somebody who’s been skateboarding for over 20 years,” Bane said. “He’s kind of my mentor, so it makes it a bit easier to do.”
A bigger build
After years of advocacy, GCSA is moving forward with the Jackson County Skatepark, its third, and largest, project on the Coast.
The more-than-23,000-foot skatepark will be built in the West Jackson County Recreational Complex, next to the St. Martin DIY.
The Jackson County Board of Supervisors partnered with Grindline Skateparks in June to start design work. Prowant said the park will feature beginner to intermediate-level obstacles.
“We get the community involved up front in developing the park so that in the future, when they finally get it, not only will they appreciate it more, they’ll take care of it,” Prowant said.
While a firm timeline for the project has not been established, group leaders said they hope to start construction next year.
The Jackson County Skatepark would be the state’s largest, a major step in GCSA’s mission to transform the Coast into an international skateboarding destination.
“There’s so much potential here,” Montejo said. “I feel like it could be that next destination, provided the right resources and backing.”
