Skateboard Community

Skateboarding has a culture of it's own. A culture that is united around the world. Lots of people look at skateboarding as another sport. It is nothing like a "sport" in my eyes. When I watch sports on tv, I see a bunch of guys running around trying to get a ball somewhere (most of the time). When one team looses they are always angry. When I played soccer in high school, whenever we would lose, everyone gets down, and upset, no one is happy after a game if we don't win, however when we do win, everyone is happy. That never made sense to me, because rather if we won or lost, I still played the game my hardest and had a lot of fun doing it. If you never lost a game what fun would it be, where is the challenge anymore? Losing only pushes me more. However in skateboarding, in competitions for big money, very important games, up to $500,000. I see a group of guys having fun. If one guy does a better trick then another guy, they congratulate each other and clap for one another. They are all friends having fun with friends. Isn't that what it is really about, doing your best and having fun? What good is winning every single match and not having fun? Wouldn't you rather lose every match and be having fun as long as you are doing your hardest?

Like I said earlier, skateboards compete, but are friends just hanging out with friends, getting paid to do it. Skateboarding is a very bounded community, it is like nothing else, and probably hard for you to understand. If you haven't read my blog from Go Skateboarding Day. I went to NYC to skateboard, without knowing anyone who was there, or any place to sleep. I basically met up with a group of 5 kids, skated with them all day among the thousands of other skaters. They help watch my camera, so it wouldn't get stolen. Then they left, I hooked up with some other skaters who had the phone number of Steve Wolfe from SFNJ (skate ministry in Jersey that I have worked with), who then gave me the number of another skater who I have never met, allowing me to spend the night at his house.

While in Ukraine I was able to skate with 4 other kids, playing games of skate against them, having a fun, when they didn't even speak english. Only one of the skaters could speak little english. I was able to present the gospel to them, and build a relationship beyond just trying to tell them about Jesus Christ but one that showed Jesus Christ.

Recently for planning on going to Taiwan, I have contacted a skateboarder, who happens to also be a professional photographer, named Neil Wade. I told him about what I will be doing in Taiwan, and have a crew to skate with, and if I can't make it out to where he lives, he knows a bunch of skaters that I can skate with where I will be living.

What really got me to writing this blog was because, I was on my facebook, looking at some friends, and noticed that Steve Wolfe, from Jersey, knows my friends that I grew up skating around in Michigan, who are also connected with other skaters around Michigan/Jersey/NYC I know. It just crazy how skateboarders are all linked together in some way. Not knowing anything about the other person (initially) but only the fact that they skateboard brings us all together. I am a skateboarder, I have a world of friends I haven't met yet.