‘Board’ of Education

By Katie Stallcup

Published: May 11, 2008

Three young men zip down the sidewalk, the swish and rattle of their wheels punctuated by breathless silences as they soar over steps.

Like many in their sport, these guys are after skateboarding perfection.

Trace May, Joseph Wolnski and Richard Daniel, all 19, have been honing their skills for years, but there’s always more to learn.

“It takes a lot of practice,” Wolnski said. “You can’t just start and be good at it … It’s probably one of the slowest things I’ve ever learned. You have to have patience, but it’s all the more fun when you work that hard to learn something.”

For May, this learning is an outlet and a chance to create his own style.

“I think it’s great in that no one can really teach you how to do it,” he said. “You learn it on your own. That’s why it’s not really considered, like, a sport. In sports, you have coaches, and there’s games and stuff, and it’s all competitive. (With skateboarding), you find it on your own and get creative with it … People can show you and give you tips and stuff… but until I try it, I really don’t know the whole experience.”

For the dedicated skateboarder, the learning never ends, Daniel said.

“It’s something you continually build on,” he said. “You never hit the end where you can’t do anything else. There’s always more tricks to be done, more places to do them … There’s no ceiling you hit. That’s why it’s so rewarding. Every time you hit (a trick), it’s the same feeling you get.”

But not every place skateboarders practice is welcoming, and it’s not always easy to find a haven for this sport. The trio is regularly asked to leave public places, Daniel said. Often, they have to struggle against a bad reputation created by a few in the sport.

“If you see a skateboarder on your property, you immediately think they’re tearing something up or they’re going to spray graffiti or they’re doing drugs,” he said. “It’s something we struggle with because they connect those. I don’t do drugs, but I’m tagged with it anyway. So, we do struggle.”

Nevertheless, all three skateboarders encourage people to join the sport and the unique challenges it offers.

“If they want to do it and they want to be good at it, they just have to love it,” Daniel said. “That’s all there is to it.”

CRUCIAL MOVES:

Ollie: A jump achieved by popping the board off the ground but balancing the nose, forcing it back down. One of the first but more difficult tricks to master.

Kickflip: Kicking the skateboard during a jump to make it flip around, landing back down on it.

Front 180/backside 180: During a jump, rotating the skateboard 180 degrees in the air.

Sliding: Sliding down rails using the board itself.

Grinding: Sliding down rails using the skateboard’s metal elements