Weekday
The weekly feature page of the University Daily Kansan
August 30,1978
Scott McDonald, 18, does an aerial off the bowl at the Bonzai Pipeline outdoor skateboard park, one of the few of its kind in the midwest.
Cement Surfers
Skateboarding, a sport that has become popular in California and along the coasts in recent years, is migrating eastward.
Opinions differ whether skateboarding should be called a sport, simple recreation or just a bunch of young kids with a death wish.
Regardless of its title, skateboarding has achieved popularity in the Midwest and has gained at least a toweloft in Kansas City, Mo., and its surrounding areas.
Skateboarding became popular several years ago as a backyard sport. However, in recent years, particularly in California, the activity has taken on new proportions.
When youngsters began riding skateboards and competing among themselves in dried-out reservoir canals and drained swimming pools in the Los Angeles area, commercial developers were quick to seize on the idea of building parks specifically for skateboarding.
THEY CONSTRUCTED what appeared at first glance to be miniature golf courses with concrete fairways. The paths were littered with mounds and ridges of smooth concrete, along with deep bows to accommodate skateboarding tricks.
"I'm in it mainly for the commercial appeal," Silil said, "but just as much to me as it is for you."
In the Kansas City area, only one commercial skateboarding park exists, but skating fans say there are plans for three parks to be built, possibly in the next year.
The idea caught on and the number of parks quickly grew. The parks and the skateboarding industry have now become a success across the country. The Wall Street Journal has called the skateboarding industry a sound investment.
MARK SILLEL, a Kansas City, Mo., businessman, has been trying to establish indoor skateboarding arcades in the area and is promoting a skating exhibition for the Muscular Dystrophy Association during the Labor Day weekend.
In the past, neighborhoods in Kansas city, Mo., have banded together to oppose rezoning land for skateboard parks because residents claim the parks are a public nuisance. developers say this opposition is slowing growth of skateboarding in the area. Questions also have been asked about the safety of the sport.
public it is a safe sport, we will never have a success."
Kris Kukar, who is co-sponsoring the muscular dystrophy benefit, opened the Ellipse skateboarding shop a year ago in Kansas City. Like the majority of his customers, Cukar is young, having opened the store when he was 18.
Cukar said that from his experience selling skateboards, the area market is very small.
"Kansas is like a crying waiting to be packed," Culair said. "It's exciting, it's packing."
Yet Tom Schroeder, owner of the 'BanzaiPipeline,' the only area park, is less appalled.
"TM DISAPPOINTED thus far. This thing is in the evolutionary phases. Time will tell if it's enduring or just a fad," Schroeder said.
But active participants are adamant that skateboarding should be considered a sport. Scott McDonald, who many say is the best skater in the area, says skateboarding possesses all of the characteristics of a sport.
"It takes more motor system coordination than any other sport. The mark of a good skater is how many tricks with how much speed he can perform often times how much guts he has," he said.
McDonald, 18, said that competitive meets were scarce in Kansas, but that in California, his home, there were frequent slalom and freestyle skating contests.
The outward appearance of skateboarding is changing also. Because of concern about accidents, most skateboarders wear moccasins, leather gloves, knee pads and elbow pads.
Like most other sports, skateboarding has acquired its own jargon. McDonald performed "rock walks," "axle grinders" and "airials" to the oats and of his less-amplified peers. Most of his stunts were performed on the rim of a concrete bowl.
THE GROWING NUMBER of professional skateboarders is also an indication that skateboarding as a sport is prospering. Some professionals, such as former world champion Tony Alva, have made a lucrative business out of lending their names to boards and skating accessories.
Skateboarding probably will never be on a scale with such big league sports as football or basketball, but to a growing number of people is a great recreation and a new way to compete.
Photos by Randy Olson Story by Tim Sheehy
John Fleishman, 19, executes a "lip grab," a maneuver that involves rolling up a wall, wrapping the top of the board, pivoting and physically pulling the board around and going back down. Sometimes a person goes too far before they turn the board (right) and get hung on the wall.