Where can you find folks flipping into foam pits in North Platte? A group of students have organized a way to safely practice parkour jumping and flipping with the help of a local business. Legacy Dance and

Gymnastics recently started to host an open gym every other Friday night.

Owner Janna Ryan was approached by seniors Jackson Erickson and Mac Hardy. “[They] asked if there was any way that maybe they can work something out because they’d love to have an indoor place to do all the stuff they like to do,” Ryan said. “We would love to see the facility being used for the youth in the area to be able to have a place when it’s cold out.”

Erickson is a regular attendee. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always been fascinated with flips, just anything I

could do that was dangerous,” Erickson said. He has been doing parkour for a while now, and is very glad that he finally has somewhere he can practice. “We stopped here and talked to Janna, and she set everything up super quick,” said Erickson. 

The open gym is still in its developing stages, and is still somewhat unorganized. “Our goal, at this point, is to see what the interest level [is], and to determine if it would be worthwhile,” Ryan said. “We found out if we wanted to really start promoting it, the interest is probably there. It’s just a matter of setting our schedule.”

Because this is a new event, everything has to be taken carefully. “Our biggest concern is safety first,” Ryan said. “[We] need to make sure everyone’s following the rules, so that nobody gets injured. We have to be a little careful for insurance reasons.”

“The more people we can get, the longer this thing keeps going,” Erickson said.

The open gym will be hosted every other Friday night from 7:30-10:30 for $15 a night. The next session will be Friday, Nov. 22.

North Platte High School students practice parkour techniques at the newly available open gym in North Platte.