Let Skateboarding Just Be Skateboarding

There was a time when skateboarding was just a thing you did after school. No career path, no sponsor-me tape deadlines, no algorithm to feed. You’d meet your friends at the curb cut, take turns trying the same dumb trick, and maybe walk home with a bruised shin and a Slurpee. That was it. Nobody cared if you were “good.”

Now? It feels like every kid is born with a GoPro strapped to their forehead and a mental spreadsheet of how many followers they need before they’re “legit.” Skateboarding has always had pressure—everyone wanted to land something in front of the crew—but these days it’s like every kickflip has to double as content marketing.

We can blame the Olympics, sure. Or Instagram. Or the endless parade of contest circuits, shoe sponsors, and NIL deals that make skating look like a sport where everyone’s supposed to climb the same ladder. But here’s the weird part: a lot of kids don’t even want to climb. They just think they’re supposed to. And when they realize they’re not the next Nyjah or Rayssa, they quit. Not because they hated skating, but because they thought they weren’t good enough to justify it.

That’s the saddest part. Skateboarding was never about “good enough.” It’s one of the few things in life that doesn’t require a scoreboard. You don’t need a coach. You don’t need a bracket. You don’t need a “plan.” All you need is a board, some pavement, and maybe someone to laugh with when you eat shit.

The danger is that we’re losing the middle ground. Hobbies used to be hobbies. Now everything has to be optimized, monetized, turned into a “side hustle.” If you paint, you better have an Etsy. If you play guitar, you better upload your riffs to TikTok. If you skate, well, why not get clips, start a YouTube, and chase those energy drink sponsors? It’s exhausting.

Here’s the thing: skateboarding can be a sport. But it doesn’t have to be your sport. It can also be the dumb, unproductive, backyard thing you do just to sweat out a bad day. It can be how you kill time while your friends talk shit on the curb. It can be a way to learn balance, patience, and the art of not taking yourself too seriously.

The truth is, the best skaters aren’t the ones with medals or contracts—they’re the ones still skating after everyone else quit. Not because they’re good, but because they remembered it’s fun.

So let skateboarding be what you want it to be. A sport? Sure. A passion? Absolutely. A dumb hobby where you only know five tricks but you love every one of them? Even better. Because the second you turn it into another job, another metric, another thing you can “fail” at, you’re missing the point.

Skateboarding doesn’t owe you a career. It only owes you a good time. And if you can keep that in mind, you’ll never lose.