(2015 ☆ ARCHIVED) Kelly’s Whitewater Park - USA

KELLY'S WHITE WATER PARK & ACADEMY (USA) - Nominee for the 'Foundation Award.'

Website: www.kellyswhitewaterpark.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/Kellys-Whitewater-Park

The future of white water in Idaho is looking very healthy thanks to Kelly's White Water Park and Academy.

This beautiful whitewater park sits on the banks of the Payette River in the stunning Cascade valley. It is an incredible whitewater kayaking training venue that caters for all levels of ability and ages across a range of different disciplines of paddle sport.

The local kids have not only got access to an amazing new facility and newly developed park in their community but they have also been able to watch, meet and get to know some of the worlds best athletes as they have come to and competed at 'their' park.

In only five years since officially opening it has already made a name for itself as one of the premier whitewater parks in the country and one of the most successful whitewater park builds in the world. Recreationally they have seen hundreds of thousands of visitors come to this otherwise quite transit town.

One of the goals of the Kelly's White Water Park founders was to enhance the opportunities available to the local youngsters and to create a site where a future world champions and Olympians could be created, developed and trained. This vision founded the start of the very successful Kelly's Academy.

Every summer the park runs an Academy for the local kids. The kids sign up for the river sport of their choice and get up to 4 weeks of intensive coaching from some of the Worlds top athletes. For free. There is kayaking, stand up paddling and surfing on offer and the Academy really brings the park to life. Over the course of the summer the kids get to learn to do the skills and sports they have seen the world best pros do only a matter of days or weeks before. It's about educating the whole river community as well as about providing opportunities to get involved in the sport.

Kelly's is an inspirational project that's ethos showcases everything that is amazing about the river and the outdoors. As the river community continues to grow, the academy continues to provide opportunities to the local youth who have a passion for the river and a healthy life.

In addition to all of this the park also runs a community project that engages these kids in assisting with community projects. In return for their involvement in the projects and the completion of a set number of volunteer hours the kids then receive a free set of water sport equipment which allows them to continue to be involved in their new sport outside of the Academy hours.

There are also a number of scholarships available for the Academy kids all funded by the founders of the park.

Kelly's is about more than just a park. It's a legacy and is a leading example of how a whitewater facility can help grow not only a community but also the sport.

Other activites and achievements:

• Opened in 2010
• In 2013, 2014 & 2015 it hosted the Payette River Games and have become the home to many world freestyle record rides.

This is a 2015 archived nominee. Voting has closed.