D1 Skateboarding is probably going to be a thing.
“Put me in coach!”
Whether you like it or not, skateboarding is an Olympic sport. This past weekend, 40 skateboarders made history and became the first Olympians for skateboarding. That only means sometime in the future, D1 skateboarding is probably going to be a thing. And when I say D1 skateboarding, I mean skateboarders are going to be recruited to attend a top tier University to skateboard with hopes to make it to the Olympics.
While it doesn’t seem that way because all skaters have to compete in Olympic trials to qualify which would disregard this article entirely because skaters outside of academia are the pioneers of this, it’s not unlikely that somewhere in the future, a University will have a skateboarding program. Like I mentioned in a previous article, Heitor da Silva, attended a skate school in Sweden and is now pro for Palace Skateboards.
But just to entertain.
Can you see it now? Schools with infamous skate spots (or within close vicinity) such as USC, UC Irvine, and UC San Diego would most likely be recruiting for skateboarding.
Imagine these infamous stairs at UC Irvine being part of the training facility and is constantly maintained for skateboarding.
Will skateboarding become as popular on campuses as football? Will skaters get assisted passes on their Science Presentations like John Cena in this 2016 SNL skit? I mean with the existence of Street League, we already have the Monster girls acting as cheerleaders. See below.
Despite what people may say about skaters being dumb, I beg to differ with these articles written by Jenkem Magazine. Skaters have had academic conferences and as well, many have gone to write papers published in academic journals. And as a personal anecdote, I graduated from the #1 Public University in 2016 with an honor’s degree in Sociology. But I’m a graphic designer now, so there you have it. Skater’s can work the system.
With Rob Dyrdek’s Street League in existence with its large stadiums, overpriced food & bevs, and Monster Girls, Skateboarding does have the potential to be a D1 sport or rather, will be, a D1 Sport.
Many of us are still not sure how skateboarding will be judged or even if it could be judged. I don’t know if it’s the same, but the scoring system used in Street League is most likely used in the Olympics. Skaters perform tricks on obstacles at the park and are judged on a scale to 10.
“Skateboarding is more of an art than a sport” — Tristan Funkhouser, Baker Skateboards Pro
Now, how can you judge skateboarding?
If you watch this Red Bull Skate recap of the Men’s Olympic Trials this past weekend, all the tricks that went down are 10s in my book because of difficulty and style. However, judges aren’t willing to just give out 10s or even 9s. If you look in the comments on 1 post, Illegal Civ Pro, Alex Midler says that he got an 8.8 for doing a 270 Noseblunt on a steep hubba. Do you know how many heads would love to be able to do a 270 Noseblunt on a flat rail?
Now watch this video below, Baker Skateboard’s Pro, Tristan Funkhouser, brings up very good points about why skateboarding can’t be judged. Watch for yourself.
Unlike most organized sports, Funk says skateboarding is very individualized because every skater’s way of skating differs from one another and cannot be compared. A stylish trick on flatground would be way better than a sketchy technical trick that was landed sloppily or bussed. And the same could be said the other way around. A trick landed sloppily or a buss could be way better than a stylish trick on flatground. While sports do arouse feelings inside of us as competitors or spectators, skateboarding is an art that is about more what you feel while you are doing it. Like art, it’s a way to make your voice be heard or to show who you are as a person. See T-Funk bomb this hill. No stylish or technical trick, but just an expression of how he likes to live.
In fact, skaters in the Vert section this past weekend, boycotted Tom Schaar’s low score by skating how they wanted to skate. By just having fun and doing whatever they wanted. Though competitors at an Olympic level, the camaraderie of skateboarding built outside of the Olympic arena is way more important. Despite the Olympics trying to place skateboarding in its parameters, it won’t matter.
EVEN if this was written on the back of my favorite skate video of all time, Baker 3, in 2005. (Read the very bottom above the Baker logo).
Although skateboarding now is more socially accepted by evidence of the fact that frat bros, finance bros, and Dads wear Nike SB without knowing what the SB stands for and the olympics of course, skateboarding will always exist outside of the vacuum of the Olympics. The real thing will always be skateboarding in the streets as it has been.
See Dashawn Jordan’s Post below which gives insight to this.
Though it took awhile, the Olympics is one side of skateboarding. The essence of skateboarding in the streets, being with your friends, running from the cops, and of course, landing tricks will never fade. No matter what happens, even when D1 skateboarding becomes a thing even if I as the writer may not want to see it, skateboarding will always be skateboarding because like Funk said, it’s an expression of yourself. It’s about how skating makes you feel.
