Skateboarders strive to learn the next trick
Between Memorial Drive and the baseball fields at Vet’s Park, a
small skate park is tucked into a corner. The skate park attracts
kids of all ages.
Many kids drawn to the skate park enjoy just hanging out with
their friends, while some go to the park to practice. Sometimes
there are parents sitting in their cars watching the kids ride from
a distance, and sometimes the kids sneak off to the park alone.
A few of the kids hanging out in the last week were new to
riding the bowls, and as they went up for the first time a fall and
a knee scrape usually followed. There were also a few kids
practicing new tricks and trying to get better, in hopes they will
turn pro some day.
Skateboarders strive to learn the next trick
Between Memorial Drive and the baseball fields at Vet’s Park, a small skate park is tucked into a corner. The skate park attracts kids of all ages.
Many kids drawn to the skate park enjoy just hanging out with their friends, while some go to the park to practice. Sometimes there are parents sitting in their cars watching the kids ride from a distance, and sometimes the kids sneak off to the park alone.
A few of the kids hanging out in the last week were new to riding the bowls, and as they went up for the first time a fall and a knee scrape usually followed. There were also a few kids practicing new tricks and trying to get better, in hopes they will turn pro some day.
For many teenagers, they say they like skateboarding just because they enjoy doing it.
“I skateboard because it is so fun,” Albert Cortez, 12, said. “I come to the skate park every once in a while.”
For most of the kids out at the skate park, skateboarding is just a fun hobby. They skateboard wherever they can, whenever they can.
“I do it for fun,” Albert Rodriguez, age 11, said. “I skateboard at my house or the park.”
For some teenagers, skateboarding is more than just a hobby. For a 14-year-old boy who asked not to be named, skateboarding is all he does.
“I’m supposed to be at summer school right now, but I left to come and ride,” he said, noting his mother would be mad if she saw his name in the paper. “This is all that I do. I never get sick of it and I never want to do other things. I used to love the summer break from school because wherever I went with my family, I liked to skateboard.”
Many, such as this 14-year-old boy skateboard because it relaxes them. If he has a stressful day, he said he will just ride around town.
“It does not matter where I am skateboarding as long as I am riding. It’s all good,” he said.
The 14-year-old boy spends most of his time skateboarding at the high school, but also goes to the skate park occasionally to work on his tricks.
Doing tricks is a part of skateboarding that attracts many to the sport. Most kids who have been skateboarding for a while know how to do ollies and kickflips.
“I practiced the kickflip forever and I could never do it,” the 14-year-old boy said. “I hurt myself so many times. Most of the time it really hurts when you fall, but I just kept practicing and now I can do it easy.”
Once he mastered the kickflip, he practiced grinding and other tricks. He enjoys watching the pros invent new tricks and trying to imitate them.
“No matter how hard the trick seems to be, I do it anyway,” he said. “It provides an adrenaline rush that I cannot find anywhere else.”
Skateboarding is not only fun for these kids – it’s a sport. They also like to board because it creates new opportunities and can lead to new friends.
“Half the friends I have today are because of skateboarding,” the 14 year old said. “It just does everything for me and sorts everything out for me.”
Skateboarding is a hidden joy for many young kids as the sport has gotten vastly popular over the years as more and more events are being televised for kids to watch.
Recently, at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, the Got Milk? Skateboarding Tour put on a show, drawing a huge number of people of all ages to the crowd.
“Many people say that skateboarding is not only a sport – it is an art,” the 14-year-old boy said. “If that is the case, I hope to become a pretty good artist someday.”
Basic skateboard tricks
Ollie – a skateboarding trick where the skateboarder pops the skateboard into the air. The effect is the skateboarder jumping with the skateboard stuck to his or her feet.
Kickflip – a kickflip is similar to an Ollie, but you flick the board with your foot to make it spin underneath you while in the air.
Fakie – fakie refers to riding a skateboard backwards from the way you would usually ride it.
Grind – grinding is the name for sliding along an edge (such as a curb, bench, rail, coping, etc.) using your trucks – the metal axels holding the wheels to the board – instead of your wheels or deck.
Grabs – any time a board rider reaches down and grabs his or her board, it’s called a Grab. Grabs happen in the air, often with a few other tweaks like spins, grabbing certain parts of the board, etc.
Manuals/Nose Manuals – A manual is a skateboarding trick where, while rolling, the front wheels of the skateboard are lifted off the ground, but the tail does not touch the ground. This is called a manual. A manual is similar to a wheelie in other wheeled sports. A “Nose Manual” is the same trick, but on the nose of the skateboard instead of the tail. A nose manual takes better balance, because of the direction the skateboard is rolling in.
Information courtesy of www.skateboard.about.com.
