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Wellbeing: Skateboarding is based on a supportive community

VaselineJune 26, 2024

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Wellbeing: Skateboarding is based on a supportive community

Editor’s Note: This column provides ideas and inspiration for using exercise as a tool for cultivating overall wellness. We highlight programs and people who create their own community through physical activity while also finding social, emotional, mental and spiritual fulfillment. If you have any suggestion, please send an email [email protected].

Since skateboarding exploded into popular culture in the 1970s, it has been a tool for artistic expression, skill mastery, and recreational fun.

Nate Kipnis and Aaron Kaplan are two members of Evanston Skating, a coalition for the local skateboarding community. They find the supportive environment, confidence and natural high of skateboarding unlike any other sport.

“Everyone takes care of each other and there is a relaxed atmosphere,” says Kipnis.

Nate Kipnis (left) and Aaron Kaplan find support in skateboarding. Credit: Joerg Metzner

Both longtime skaters, the two now practice their skills at Evanston’s skate park, located in Twiggspark. The facility officially opened in February and received strong support from the Evanston community. Kaplan sat on the advisory committee Kipnisa local architect.

Aaron Kaplan practices a new skill at the skate park.
Credit: Joerg Metzner

Kaplan said the social aspect is a big draw.

“I’m used to skating alone outside my house, so it’s exciting to come here and be around other people who are passionate about skateboarding,” he said. “I notice that I skate better around other people. It’s not that I want to be the best person in the park, but the energy is different and it’s more fun.”

Unlike many arenas, the atmosphere at the skate park is refreshingly supportive.

“Skateboarding is unique because it’s not competitive,” Kipnis said. “This is one of the few sports where everyone cheers you on. There is no coach and no one yells at you. We are each other’s coaches and mentors.”

Nate Kipnis defies gravity at the skate park. Credit: Joerg Metzner

Combining physical prowess and mental focus, skateboarding is also a creative outlet. “You can win a competition, but you can’t win at skateboarding. The group here feeds off of each other. For every great skater, there’s someone else doing something different, and we all support each other,” Kaplan says.

Kaplan finds skateboard culture welcoming and inclusive.

“Skateboarding doesn’t matter about your socio-economic background, gender or how you were raised. Everyone starts at the same place,” he said. “A lot of the people I grew up with had rough home lives, and skateboarding was an important outlet for them. They knew that once they were on the board, they were in control, at least for a while.”

The Evanston Skate Park is open to skaters of all ages and levels. Credit: Joerg Metzner

Kaplan, who started riding at age 13, always wants to grow his skills.

“I got a skateboard for my bar mitzvah and have been a boarder ever since,” he said. “I grew up playing team sports, so this was the first sport where if something goes wrong, it was all on me. I like that responsibility aspect. Now when I get on the board, I want to do a trick that I didn’t do the last time I skated. I think back to what I practiced earlier and think in my mind how I can take the next step.”

Kipnis has been riding since 1975, shortly after the crucial polyurethane wheels were invented.

“As a youth, I competed and competed with the Tom Thumb skateboard team, and that was the only thing I was really good at,” he recalls. “I performed in a big show in front of 5,000 people at Woodfield Mall, then went back to high school and didn’t tell anyone because it wasn’t really cool at the time. You can get a slap for that.”

Kipnis took up the sport again at the age of 48. Now, at age 62, he finds that the skills he learned in his youth still help him.

“I’m tapping into muscle memory from when I was 17,” he said. “These days I just don’t want to fall. For me, skateboarding is a stress relief. My office is a few blocks away and I come here at lunch to have fun. I’m no longer competitive and I don’t care how much safety equipment I wear – the more the better.”

Nate Kipnis speeds up at the skate park. Credit: Joerg Metzner

Besides the board and protective gear, skateboarding requires very little equipment and is becoming easier and easier for beginners to learn.

“When I first learned, we had to rely on magazines to explain tricks,” Kipnis said. “We were looking at the pictures and trying to figure out how to get into those positions. Now there are countless videos and tutorials on YouTube, Instagram and other social media platforms that make it much easier.”

Kaplan advises beginners to start with the basics and then get straight to it.

“Learn a few basics to get started. Practice some simple movements and get comfortable on the board,” he said. “Once you have that, go to the skate park and challenge yourself a bit. You can always build further from there. In that way it is a metaphor for so many other challenges in life. You will fall, you may get hurt, but you will also have fun doing it.”