“I love to skate because I feel liberated when I do so. I don’t have to follow any rules or depend on any team. Although there are competitive contests, skateboarding is not a competitive sport. I’m only really competing with myself,” said Roy Rivera who has been skateboarding for about 6 years now.
Others may not describe it the same way but make no mistake, skateboarders from all around New York are hitting the streets this summer. Feeling the wind in their face and doing an “ollie”(skateboard trick).
Why is warm weather important to skateboarders?
“Spring/summer is very important to skateboarders, especially to the East Coast. Sadly we’re forced to be seasonal skaters due to weather. So when summer breaks out and it’s nice and warm, it becomes crunch time to do what you love,” stated Wade Yates, who has been skating for nearly a decade. Summer is the season for skateboarders to go all out learning new tricks and perfecting the tricks. “Well here in the East Coast the warmer weather is such amazing time for skateboarding. Because of the fact that during the winter there aren’t many places to skateboard with all the snow everywhere. We’re not fortunate enough to have warm weather all around like the West Coast,” stated skateboarder Luis Rios who recently broke his ankle in half while skateboarding and is no longer skateboarding.
The cold weather makes skateboarding much difficult. With snow on the ground a skateboard can’t be used. During the summertime, skaters wear t-shirts or even go shirtless. But when it’s cold outside, wearing many layers to keep warm limits a skater’s movement. When skaters do try to skate in cold weather, they get cold and fall down. Falling hurts significantly more than falling down in the summertime.
There are many skateboarding competitions and jams around and near New York. Events such as Go Skate day, Street League Skateboarding contest, Zumiez best foot forward contest or National Go Skate Day. Another event is Harold Hunter Day, Wade Yate is part of making this event possible. The Street League Skateboarding is a grand scale professional skateboarding contest that takes place across the world. Each stop takes the best professional street skateboarders in the world and pits them against each other for a night of insane skateboarding. The contest will take place at Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey on August 28, 2016.
You can catch skateboarders such as Roy or Wade out in the streets of New York skateboarding, feeling the air in their face. “Sometimes I’m just flustered with emotions and the only thing I can do is go out and skate. It’s gotten me through some tough times,” said Unitus Bright who has been skateboarding for almost three years.