Eighteen years ago, a then 11-year-old Andrew Conway took up skateboarding in Austin. Starting next week, Conway will be teaching the sport to a new generation of young, local skaters.

Conway, an area musician, will be holding summer skateboarding lessons through Austin parks and recreation beginning Monday at the skate park near the Hormel plant and Mill Pond. The sessions, new this summer to the city, will be going throughout July and will focus on kids looking to learn the basics.

“I just see kids wanting to be more involved (at the skate park),” he said.

“I’m just here to help at the beginning.”

The idea to hold skateboarding lessons for kids has been bouncing around in his head for awhile, Conway said, and became amplified as the poor economy made finding regular work harder and harder. But it was his 7-year-old daughter Kaylee who really jump-started the plan.

“We were driving in the car, and she turned to me and said, ‘Dad, you should teach kids to skateboard,’” Conway said.

Conway took the idea to parks and recreation director Kim Underwood a few months ago. After some standard background checks and paperwork, the program was launched.

“I don’t know much about skateboarding,” Underwood said, “(but it’s) just a good opportunity to positively use our parks. I think it’s kinda cool.”

Conway said parks and recreation has been really helpful in getting his plan off the ground.

“(Underwood) took the idea and helped make it a little more mature,” he said.

“Skateboard 101” will be offered on Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays, with sessions running from July 6-16 and 20-30. The lessons will be broken up into ages 6 and 7, 8 and 9, and 10 and above. The cost is $25 per student and protective equipment is required.

Conway said he’ll start with the basics — kids will learn how to adjust their boards and then move into basic pushing. There will also be a big emphasis on proper skate park etiquette.

“There is a flow to skate parks,” Conway said.

This flow involves a number of skaters going in all different directions at once, and Conway wants the youngsters to learn how to avoid crashes.

He said he has modest goals for the program at first — getting just a few people out would be exciting, Conway said — but he would like to see his idea grow.

If it does well, Conway said he’d like to continue doing it next summer, making it a regular program, like tennis or golf, he said. Conway also said he hoped a successful program could attract more attention to the skate park, leading possibly to some lights for night skating and a new paint job.

Conway said everyone is welcome at his skateboarding classes and is looking forward to working with the kids.

“Skateboarding is tough. It’s all up to the individual how much they pick up,” he said. “But the No. 1 thing is having fun.”