this is my speech for class please read it and tell me what you think! thank you if you do

“I won’t quit skating until I am physically unable,” said skateboarder Tony Hawk. This is the kind of attitude that is in all of us. It’s the attitude that strives with you to go after your dream. Most likely your dream isn’t to skateboard. I do know that some of you love to dance, to play the guitar, karate, and even the simplest dream to conquer your speech. Lately I’ve been working hard in my print journalism class so I can show that I am honorable enough to work on the Big Red Machine. Just like every dream you have it started out as an idea in your mind. The same thing could be said for skateboarding. So as we roll on to the history, controversy, and lifestyles of this extreme sport think about your dreams and how it could be a reality if you took charge just like these hometown skateboarding punks.
Imagine the year is 1971 and you are sitting at home watching ABC’s Wide World of Sports held in Southern California on the tube. Your cheering on all of your favorite skateboarders doing all the same old tricks every one else is doing. Then it’s Richard Stevenson’s turn to compete. History was made that afternoon when he took one of his legs and kicked the end of the board for it to flip. Which means the kick tail was invented. You may be thinking that Tony Hawk invented all the skateboarding moves. Think again. More specifically think surfing. Richard Stevenson got this idea from surfboarding; just like when older brother Larry Stevenson in 1958 when he took his surfboard and put roller skates on the bottom of it to skate on. Back then skateboarding was practice for surfboarding. It was know as “sidewalk surfing.”
Santa Monica and Venice, California is an ancient sanctuary for skateboarding. This is where Dog Town and Z-boys shed their blood and sweat for future skateboarding generations to come. Nathan Pratt, Stacy Peralta, Jay Adams, Jim Muir, and Tony Alva were the kids from Z-boys. They worked at “Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions". They were a rough and tumble group of teenagers from the “wrong side of the tracks” who made the surf shop their home away from home. The crew surfed at Bay Street in Santa Monica and they dominated the Pacific Ocean Park. They were nicknamed by the locals Dog town.
“Our only crime is being original,” Dog town’s Tony Alva remarks. The statement is true. A lot of people looked down on them and all they wanted to do was surf and hang out. Then skateboarding leads them into a new direction. A lot of skateboarders now would say these boys brought skateboarding into a new direction. Tony Alva invented the front side air. This is when a skater launches off the top of a ramp and flies through the air and smoothly drops back in. It seems familiar if you ever watched a surfer on a movie. The guys even invented the Ollie! This is the clicking of a tail of the board to pop off the street. They purposely made the same moves as surfer Larry Berttleman would as if he was low to the ground and dragged their arms as he would be touching the water.
The skateboarding techniques were being developed in the 70’s. The look of it visually has changed a lot. In the 50’s kids used the surfboard and roller skate technique like Larry Stevenson. It wasn’t until the sixties they came out with rubber tires on a little board. Just like the little ones parents give 5 year old little boys so they can play around on. The 70’s the boards wheels were made out of clay. Sim’s surf and skate shop came out with the 1st laminated wheeled board like the one we know of in 1977. So now that you understand the history put on your safety gear for protection of the controversies argued over the past 20 years.
‘I can do anything better than you’. This is a familiar saying when you think women versus men. Just like everything else in the world there are problems between the two genders in skateboarding. Statistically 90 percent of the people who take part in subculture in skateboarding are male. Unlike football who believe only men can handle the sport; skateboarding is a subculture that does not purposely exclude women. Women who do skateboard sometimes feel like they have to be radical to be accepted. Most likely, says the study that girls who do skate are usually into alternative music. In a recent interview over her achievement of taking home silver for skateboarding in the x games, Mellissa Steamer was asked by a reporter “how are things different being a female pro skateboarder?” She replied by saying, “Nothing. Its only different if you ask the question.” So maybe women do not feel rejected. I as a girl who skates never have felt rejected before as well.
In every dream not only is there battle of the sexes; but there is also authority who holds you back from following dreams. Jerry Harris, owner of skate shop 510 Skateboarding says, “Actually my favorite bumper sticker is: skateboarding is a misdemeanor.” The government thinks of skateboarding as vandalism. In Omaha, Nebraska they proposed a law that threatens up to three months in jail or a one thousand dollar fine for skateboarding in downtown area. Most U.S. cities are considering banning skateboarding in most suburban neighborhoods due to damage to sidewalks and also injuries. Even close to home we have this rule on our parks and even our high school parking lot. Mainly it’s because the government owned places do not want to get sued because of injuries. Skateboarding is a dangerous sport and even the best get hurt. August 5th in Chicago a 15 year old boy is still in a comma for skitching and then he got hit by a car. Skitching is when you hold onto the back of a car and skate with it. So, I understand why they want to avoid accidents like these. Even in an actual experience of mine I went down a slide in the park on my skateboard and fell of and totally sprained my wrist. Although you may want to avoid paying big bucks or big time so there are skate parks that are open to the public even here in Kentucky: Louisville, Lexington, and Bowling Green.
First we stepped on the board to understand the history, and then we put on the gear to be safe against controversies, now we take the biggest step in skateboarding: taking the risk and living the lifestyle. When I say lifestyle I do not mean the salary of being a skateboarder. Although if your good at it you get paid big bucks. Skateboarding is a way of life. It is extreme. Daredog is a 20 year old famous blind skateboarder and he has been skating for five years now. “I was tired of the same old safe activities…I wanted something more extreme.” He says. Even Dogtown were more than skateboarders that was their way of life. Punk music has always been associated with skateboarding since they both have this reckless abandon about them. In the Oakland Tribune says that skateboarding and hip-hop are crossing into a new culture called skate rap. Just like the rap group The Pack who rhymes about Vans (which are skateboarding shoes.) Skating is a lifestyle and every style has been marketed so the kids who skate have this stereo-type with the taps (really tight ____pants.) and vans/converses. This is what skateboarding means to me: about style, about getting away with something, reckless youth, hanging out with friends, it’s about going big, grinding long handrails, and soaring over a flight of stairs.
With a dream as simple as skateboarding was to people like Dogtown or the Stevenson brothers who done it out for fun it turned out to be a change that influenced a lot of people through generations. Those guys took a lot of trouble from people because they fought for their dream. There is now Shawn White, Willy Santos, and Chad Muska. Every idea can become a possibility. Skateboarding may not be yours; it’s not even mine. Skateboarding is just a symbolism that represents a successful change in American culture. So now that we step off the board and take off our gear let’s think how mentally we can keep it on and follow our own personal dreams.

hayley McDaniel