Skateboarding needs more acceptance in the world as a sport because it takes skill and dedication to even be able to stand on the skateboard itself.
I used to believe it was just a hobby guys used to get away from annoying girlfriends and parents. Until, one day, I asked a friend of mine who so happens to be very passionate about skating, “What’s your favorite sport?” and without hesitation, he hit me with “Skateboarding”.
I tried arguing with him that it was no sport but simply a hobby. Then he asked me, “Do you know the definition of sport in the dictionary?” I said no. He said that the known definition of a “sport” is: “An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.”
Skateboarding was a sport that was showcased in the very first X Games, in which is an annual sports event arranged by ESPN that focuses in extreme sports. When X games first started, in 1995, skateboarding had been chosen in which an individual skater competes against another for entertainment.
Kids and adults look at it as if its just a hobby boys used to waste time, yet they don’t know the difficulty it takes to ride one.
“The hardest thing about skating is when you know a trick but you’re not able to land it,” Junior Jesse Reyes, 16 said.
Skateboarders are dedicated; they show up to skate whether there’s rain, sunshine or snow (if they have a place to do it) without a schedule. No coach tells them when to arrive, how long to work, or what the next trick is. They don’t care what the next trick is; even if it’s down a 7 stair jump, skaters keep at it.
I just find it amazing how these athletes can just dedicate their life to something they have this passion for. Skateboarding isn’t just a sport, its a passion. These skaters look up to skating as a way to express themselves and be themselves. Just likes artist draw, just like singers sing and just how people dress is there way of expressing themselves, skating is a way they express themselves.Like Freshman Elizabeth Martinez, 15 said “Skating is not a hobby, it’s a passion. It’s life!”