High School Skate Teams hold First Competition
Says the LA Times, "Freedom from coaches, freedom to wear whatever they want and freedom to choose their own routines was critical to founder Jeff Stern's ability to pull off supposedly the first high school skateboarding competition." Read more about the competition and clubs on the LA Times website. You can see coverage of the season at lat34.com.
It makes sense that with the rising acceptance of skateboarding, and with huge competitions popping up, that eventually we should see skateboarding as a school sport! Some schools have even adopted skateboarding for PE, and there is a lot of discussion about skateboarding in some form at the 2008 Olympics. Clubs like this are the first step, and in many ways a good one - a lot of parents and city officials (like cops) have a hard time with skateboarding, view it as a waste of time, or actively oppose and oppress skaters. With official school clubs, people will be able to see that skateboarding isn't just a hobby for punks, but a way of life for a huge number of people - not only in America, but all over the world. That skaters spend just as much time practicing skateboarding as other athletes, and take the art of skateboarding seriously. We may not fight as hard for first, but we still want to be the best. We may not wear uniforms, but we take a great deal of pride and identity in skateboarding, even if we don't like calling it a "sport". It's exciting to see where skateboarding is going, and I wonder if high school clubs like this one are going to pop up around the country. Mostly, skateboarding will look like what you and I make it look like. Drop a comment here and say what you think!
Comments
this is a great idea…now skaters can do what they love and get some credit type thing for it at school too!!!..
I think it’s a pretty cool idea. I just find it hilarious that it’s sponsored by Nike. I wonder if there is anything in it for them. hmmmmmmmmm….
This is exactly what I want out of skateboarding. Skateboarding in schools would be a great idea too, and the acceptance would ensue. I would love to do something to help highschools start this, better yet in the university level too, I want to start a skate club for my school!
My P.E. teacher wouldn’t let us do s**t like that, but that’s sweet. All the authority figures here hate skateboarding.
I think that skating for school credits is awesome, but it did seem a little wierd to me at first.
Since it is really considered an extreme sport-it probably will never fly at our high school. Unfortunately everything I’ve seen surrounding this so called sport is about non-comforming,anti-society, anti-rules, graffiti, foul language,anti-organized sports,gang references,very bad hair and clothing-not surprising the high schools don’t want anything to do with it. Our school is teaching responsibility and respect along with success academically. This group would really have an uphill battle to prove it is a positive to even form a club, let alone a sport.
THE COMPS ARE ALOT OF FUN
THE COMPS ARE ALOT OF FUN
I’m goin to Agoura HIgh next year, and it would be cool if I was graded onm skateboarding for PE
This is such a wonderful start. My son loves skateboarding. He is only in 6th grade now and I wonder what I can do now to make skateboarding a possibility for him in high school. Skateboarding is such a great “sport” as it allows my son to put down the video games and get some exercise outdoors. In addition it provides an avenue for him to socialize with others on common ground, challenge himself to meet goals, be creative, and if it becomes a choice in high school…maybe even help with his college tuition one day, who knows? I am now inspired to do research and will look into all I can do to make skateboarding a choice for teens in high school. Thanks for the article…as I mentioned, very inspirational!
See they need to have a highschool skate teams everywhere.
This is not a step in the right direction. Its nice that schools aren’t persecuting the skateboarders and encouraging them, but the way are they doing it is detrimental to the activity and those involved. Not everything needs to be a competition.
Skateboarding is a individual/NON-competitive activity, and should remain this way. it frees the kids from yelling coaches, and gives them autonomy in how, what, and when they want to skate.
And who is to say what is good skateboarding? Who decides what 5 kids get to represent the school? Who decides what kind of contest (vert, park, a game of “SKATE,” etc?
Skateboarding in some cases can be seen as an escape from adult rule (even if confined to the enclosed space of skatepark) it lets the kids develop in their own way. To start to judge it, and take the freedom away from the kids will change skateboarding from an activity and turn it into a controlled sport. This will be negative for the kids and for skateboarding itself.
I think its great the schools are finally encouraging skateboarding, but they need to do it in a way that lets skateboarding stay “free” and not to try to force it into the traditional sports model.