Skateboarding is not just for the few, it is for the many.
If you ask any professional skate athlete, they will all tell you the same thing. Skateboarding with friends wherever you find ground to skate is the purest form of skateboarding.
At times, when you are skating with you friends, something is on the line. For example, this past weekend at the Dew Tour in Long Beach.
Skateboarders from around the world gathered in Long Beach at the Dew Tour for the first ever Olympic Qualifier and a chance at winning the Dew Tour.
While you were still skating with friends, it just meant more.
So many poignant moments were showcased throughout the entire weekend that took skateboarding to new levels and drives the momentum towards Tokyo 2020 even faster, but at the end it was friends cheering on friends. From 10 year old Sky Brown from Great Britain leading Women’s Park qualifications, to Leticia Bufoni translating for fellow Brazilian Pamela Rosa who had just beaten Bufoni in Women’s street.
But there is a hidden secret in all of this, not everyone can skate at the same level. Whether it’s just with friends at the local park or in a contest format like the Dew Tour, not one skater is alike.
So how do you build a competition course that challenges the best skaters but also won’t wreck the most novice of skaters? With 45 countries and over 300 athletes represented this past weekend at the Dew Tour, an easy estimate of 80% of the skaters this weekend had never seen a course built out like California Skateparks had created for the 2019 Dew Tour.
“It is definitely a challenge,” said Brian Harper, Senior Vice President at California Skateparks. “They way we approached this build began with the base that this is an event first and foremost. A world class event. This is not just a community park build. We have to keep in mind all levels, but we cannot cater to the lower skate abilities. It would bring down the quality of a world class event. We aspire to bring them to a higher level.”
So how does design allow for pros to be challenged and also allow for the new skaters to progress?
“The nice thing about skateboarding is that a skater can find a way to magnify his or her trick even on smaller features,” said Harper. “We have smaller features included in the course design that allow for the most novice of skater to use it for a trick, but at the same time you will see top level pros find a way to use that same feature in a more advanced or technical way. We can add features commonly seen in the urban environment mixed in with strong challenging features at an event like this because it is a world class event.”
Learning a new trick on a skateboard takes practice by trail and error. The same goes for course design for competition events that translates into a last legacy in communities around the world.
“A lot of the features we build at an event like here at the Dew Tour allows us as designers to see what works as new features that aren’t necessarily found in urban environments,” said Harper. “Then as we continue to build parks in communities around the world, we can build a place that will be accessible for everyone for years to come. We gather as much information about the community from the community and to also understand the region and what other parks are in the region to build something that will best serve the region. That is what I love about these event courses. We may build a feature that we like and then watch as it never gets used or that the skaters hate. The ability to make that mistake on a course set up like this one at the Dew Tour that is only temporary allows us to know not to build a feature like that in a permanent park.”
Skateboarding is global. Rails, curbs and stairs are found everywhere. Balancing the natural urban environment into parks with man made features is a high priority to California Skateparks. And it benefits the skaters around the world as the sport grows into an Olympic level sport.
“Research is critical to us,” said Harper. “Almost everyone that builds and designs the parks for us are skaters. Before and after work, you can find our crew out skating the community they are building in. From talking to locals and just skating around, we are watching and learning.”
If you don’t skate, now may be the time to start watching and learning too. The next generation of riders are here and they are ready to show off on a world stage.
Look at Dew Tour and beyond to Tokyo 2020, skating is here to stay.