CONTENTS

1. 1940 - 1960S - THE FIRST SKATE BOARD

2 WHAT IS SKATEBOARDING?

3. SKATEBOARDING POPULARITY

4. HOW SAFE ARE SKATEBOARDS?

5. SIZE OF THE BOARD

6. WHERE SKATEBOARDERS GO TO SKATE

7. SAFETY

The first skateboards started with wooden boxes or boards, with 4 roller skate wheels attached to the bottom, similar to the skateboard decks of today.

No one knows who made the first board as it seems that quite a few people came up with the same or a similar idea at around the same time.

The first manufactured skateboards were ordered by a Los Angeles, California surf shop, which was meant to be used by surfers in their downtime. The shop owner by the name of Bill Richard, made a deal with the Chicago Roller Skate Company to produce sets of skate wheels, which they attached to square wooden boards.

Because skateboarding was a new sport during this time, there were only two original disciplines during competitions, which were flat land freestyle and downhill racing.

One of the earliest sponsored skateboarders, Patti McGee, was paid by Hobie and Vita Pak to travel around the country to do skateboarding exhibitions and to demonstrate how to use a skateboard and how to be safe when using one. McGee made the cover of a magazine called Life in 1965 and was featured on several popular television programs. In March 1976, Skateboard City Skate Park in Port Orange which is in Florida and another called Carlsbad Skatepark in San Diego which is in California, were two of the first skate parks to be opened to the public, more or less at the same time, just a week apart. They were the first of at east 200 skateparks to be built through 1982.

THE FIRST SKATEBOARD

WHAT IS SKATEBOARDING

Skateboarding is an action sport, which involves riding and performing lots of tricks using a skateboard. Skateboarding can also be considered as an art form, someone's job, a way of travelling, example transportation. I am sure you have seen many teenagers skateboarding on the roads to get from one place to another. Skateboarding has been influenced by many skateboarders over the years. A 2009 report found that the skateboarding market is worth $4.8 billion and 11.8 million active skateboarders in the world. You would never think that something like this would have so much interest. It has also been announced that skateboarding will be represented in the 2020 Olympic Games, which will take place in Tokyo in Japan.

SKATEBOARDING POPULARITY

In 1975, skateboarding came back in to popularity enough to have one of the largest skateboarding competitions since the 1960s. This was called the Del Mar National Championships and it was said they had up to 500 competitors. The competition lasted 2 days and was sponsored by Bahne skateboards and Cadillac Wheels.

The excitement of skating is the other main reason why people want to get involved with it and why they get hooked. After they do it for the first time, they just want to do it again.

In a recent survey in the USA, skateboarding came in third as the most popular sport amongst teenagers and was just behind football and basketball. Skateboarding is popular all over the world and has professional level competitions going on all year round across the country.

One reason why the sport is so popular is that all you really need is yourself and a skateboard. You don't even need shoes, but then again you should wear them for safety reasons. To get a skateboard, it really is quite cheap, especially if you are not looking for a top of the range board as quite honestly, they can all perform more or less on the same way. If you are overweight, thin, tall or short, young or old, there is a board and a style that will work for you.

Skateboarding is all about self-expression. If you are a slow person, then it will be showing your skateboarding style, if you want everything fast, then that will show in your speed, Basically you should just be yourself and take your time in learning the different tricks and styles that you want to learn as there is no rush. Skateboarding is for everyone as long as you have a heart in it. You might not necessarily be that good at it, but as long as you really try and you love to do it, then you're in. Most skaters get along very well depending on who knows what and what else they might be into.

At the skate parks you may see some people acting like fools, but there is also a great number of cool people, especially like the older more experienced skaters who are encouraging younger skaters or the beginners on how to do things by giving them tips, just total strangers getting along and having fun together. The skateboarding culture is willing to accept everyone as long as they try and put the effort into it.

It is also all about helping one another.

HOW SAFE ARE SKATEBOARDS

Skateboards can be and are quite dangerous, if you are not well balanced on them and know what you are doing. People who have been skating for less than a week are more likely to have more accidents than those who have done it for longer, but that doesn't mean that even the more experienced ones can't have accidents too.

Skateboarders, who do not wear protective equipment, are not being responsible towards themselves, as it can protect them from very serious injuries.

Skateboards have come a very long way from when they first came out. Their appearances are of all different shapes, sizes and colours and look much more interesting than before when they were just basically a piece of wood with four wheels, shaped like a skateboard. They can be straight, curved at the ends, wooden, plastic, bendy. Its amazing how much they have improved them today. Here are a few pictures to show you just how much they have changed.

SIZE OF THE BOARD

During the 1990s, skateboarding became dominated by street skateboarding. Most boards are between 7 and 8 inches wide and about 30 to 32 inches long The wheels are made of a very hard polyurethane, which is like a hard rubber with hardness durometer - which is a type of measurement. The wheel sizes are quite small for the board and this makes them lighter to hold and also easier and more manageable to perform tricks.

A skateboard is basically a piece of wood in the shape of a surf board and has four wheels attached to it. Skateboards consist of three parts which are the deck, which is the actual board you stand on, the truck which is the usually a metal component hat holds the wheels to the deck and then the wheels.

Board styles have changed since the 1970's but still remain looking more or less the same even up until now, as this has become standard by the 1990's.

WHERE SKATEBOARDERS WOULD GO TO SKATE

In the 1980s, there was not many places for skaters to go to and skateboard. Street skaters were forced to find places like shopping centres and public private property as their spot to skate but businesses, governments and home owners protested against this and skateboarding would be banned from those areas.

In March 1976, skateboard City skatepark in Florida and Carlsbad skatepark California were the first two skateparks to be opened to the public and just a week apart from each other. They were the first of 200 skateparks that would be built through 1982.

These are just a couple of pictures is some skateparks and what they can look like.

SAFETY

Skateboards along with other small-wheeled transportation like skates and scooters suffer a safety problem.

Riders can easily be thrown of their equipment by small cracks in the pavements and roads, especially when the crack is running in the direction they are travelling in. This is the major cause of their falls and injuries. The risk may be reduced at higher travel speeds.

Although injuries are rare, quite common, a skateboarder who does fall can suffer from scrapes, cuts and bruises and even sprains. Injuries that are reported to a hospital may involve broken bones, usually the long bones in the leg or the arm. One third of skateboarders with reported injuries are usually new to the sport, not quite use to it yet and started skating within one week of the injury. Although less common, traumatic head injuries and death are possible severe outcomes.

When skating as a form of transportation, this exposes the skater to the dangers of other traffic, Skateboarders in the street may be hit by other vehicles or may fall into their pathway.

Skateboarders also cause a risk to other pedestrians and traffic. If the skateboarder was to fall, the skateboard may roll or fly into another direction or even into someone. If a skateboarder collideds with a person who is walking or on a bike, it is likely you would injure them in some way.

Some skateboarders try to hang on the end of moving cars or lorries to get extra help with their travel and to get to their destination a bit quicker but this can be very dangerous.

Many areas require skateboarders to wear the proper equipment. Here is a diagram below:

Hope you enjoyed the facts and tips about skateboarding

BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!