For youth who frequent the downtown Texarkana skate park Darkslide, the skateboarding life provides a sense of community and a way to stay active during the dog days of summer.
Most of these kids are living out those pre-driving, early-teen years simply looking for something to do. While others shoot hoops and slam dunk, they skate and do ollies. Instead of a baseball diamond, it’s about hand rails.
Skateboarding is a way for youngsters to burn off energy as they glide through the park, flip, jump and land smoothly or run roughshod right on the edge of a halfpipe.
“I just like the rush, I love the air,” said Keegan Moore, 16, taking a break from flying around with his board and some friends this past week.
One, Anthony Mays, 19, said he loves the speed of skateboarding, and he believes improving as a skater boils down to everyday practice. It’s a communal thing.
“I mean like skaters will ask their friends, ‘Hey, how do you do this?’ ... they’re going to watch you do a trick and then they’ll tell you, ‘Put your foot back more, pop harder or flip the board harder,’” Anthony said. “It ends up working itself out.”
Keegan on this day was wearing rollerblades. He doesn’t have much of a plan on how he’s going to jump on in and skateboard.
“I just throw it on the ground,” he said.
Anthony points out his friend’s City board. What makes a good one?
“Concave and just durability,” said Anthony, who skates bigger boards because his feet are larger.
“If you have a bigger board you have more control than the small board, but you can flip a small board faster than a bigger board,” he said.
It’s also about the pop. The more concave, the better the flips, but it’s also easier to be thrown off.
“Like when you push the tailend of the board and it snaps, but it’s got a bigger angle, I guess it makes the board easier for you to pop. That’s where you can do the tricks,” Anthony said.
He said skateboarding is getting to be pretty popular, especially in bigger cities. There’s a yearning for crazier, newer sports.
“It’s starting to get bigger here, like a lot more of the rollerblading, skating ... I’m not saying they’re sick and tired of baseball or football or whatever, but they’re trying to find a new thing to do,” said Anthony.
But he thinks skateboarding is not appreciated like it should be.
Street skating can give skaters a bad rap. Skating at a store or shopping center can get them kicked out. But maybe that boils down to miscommunication.
“You show them respect and they might change their mind about skaters,” suggested Anthony. He said people may be surprised to know skaters aren’t about breaking things and riding around town.
In his eyes, it’s like any other sport.
“It gives a workout, and you can get hurt pretty bad.”
David Hanson, at 20, is one of the older regulars who’s been hanging out at Darkslide for a while.
“What do I like about it? Being able to be creative and be yourself, you know, just that it’s fun. I like a challenge. Plus, I’ve been doing it for so long,” he said.
He got involved at 14 when his friends got him to street skate. He then moved indoors.
“The main reason I skate park all the time is because it’s not as rough on you. Skating here is not as rough as skating street. I got to go to work in the morning, you know. Skating in the street is rough ground. You get tore up,” said David.
At the park you can land on a ramp, but with street skating you can kiss the pavement. There’s even something of a rivalry between the kinds of skaters.
“A lot of the street skaters almost look down on the people who skate at the park all the time,” David said.
As far as the general view of skateboarding is concerned, David thinks it’s generally frowned upon by parents because of kids getting injured.
“But at the same it gives your kids something to do and stay out of trouble instead of doing drugs at somebody’s house, you know what I’m saying?” he said.
“I mean you might get hurt every once in a while, but that’s life. That’s the way my mom looked at it. I explained it to her when I was younger and started skating.”
Darkslide owner Lorraine Murray lets her son skateboard. And she knows there’s a whole culture of gear and music surrounding the sport.
“I expanded the pro shop a little bit. I’m venturing a little more into a little bit of the music,” Murray said.
And Darkslide, like other skate parks, is on the map.
“A lot of out-of-town kids come .... (from) Oklahoma, Shreveport, (and) then a lot of them if they’re from Florida or California, or if they’re visiting, they always come out to the skate park. There are skaters who search out skate parks,” she said.
“It’s like their little network. They just know where to look.”
Junior high and high school students make up most of her clientele. The skate park concerts (local and touring bands) bring in slightly older youth.
Murray’s supportive of the culture, but there’s a bit of a generation gap at play.
Although she appreciates the energetic, talented rock and punk bands like Soul Descenders that capture the interest of skateboarders, she jokes that she doesn’t quite get the lyrics.
“I don’t understand a word they’re saying, you know, but I’m 40, not 18,” she said with a laugh.
Murray does understand having bands come to the skate park brings an entertainment option for those into the skateboard lifestyle.
And although she maintains a clean, safe and friendly environment for the kids who come in, the ethos of skateboarding still shines here.
Kids chill out on an old, comfy couch and compete on video games. Sodas and hot dogs can be bought for a snack. Racks of the more affordable boards with various spiffed-out designs sit on one wall.
The gear—as well as the flavor and sounds of skateboarding culture—is here: young punk bands staccato-nailing a beat over the sound system and the sound of wheels slapping the boards like rough drum playing.
“We still try to maintain the lifestyle of being pretty carefree, and It’s not so strict that they can’t say or do anything ...” she said, pointing out it’s the kind of place where parents drop off their kids for the whole day.
To Murray, it’s about providing a safe environment for skateboarders to perfect their skills.
Inside the indoor park, tags like “All Ready!” and “Sly Boogie” or “D.J.” mark the walls with color, words and personality. So do smiley faces, stars, squiggles and other forms of scrawled spraypaint art.
Hang out at the park, at 305 Spruce St., and you can’t help but notice it’s dominated by males. Where are the girls?
“I ask that question every day,” said Anthony. “Most girls really don’t care about skateboarders really.”
He thinks they prefer the bigger jocks—like football players. But there were a couple teen girls hanging out at the skate park, just not skating.
Skaters are faced with a ton of choices. What to wear? Which style board? Inside or outside?
“I like both just the same,” chimed in Eammon Murray, all of 9 and the owner’s son, about whether to work his board indoors or outdoors.
“Inside on a rainy day, outside on a sunny day,” Anthony said.
His friend Chris Long, 15, thinks vert skating (that’s using the indoor ramps) is easier.
“But street is definitely a lot more fun for me. It’s more complicated,” he said. “It’s more of a challenge, you have to practice a lot more.”
With outdoor skating on the streets and concrete, riders have to push to build speed, dodge rocks, manage the cracks in the pavement, Anthony explained.
Then there’s clothing style. No matter how skaters individualize it, it’s casual.
Eammon was sporting torn-up Nikes and an Element T-shirt. (The music he likes: “Just music that has good flow to it like skating.”)
“Really it’s just whatever you feel like wearing. I don’t even match most of the time,” Anthony said.
But they say you can tell if someone is a real skateboarder or not.
“If they’re wearing like big old block skate shoes they’re probably not a skater,” Anthony said.
Real skaters wear thin shoes, he pointed out. But if they sport the clothing the wrong way they might not be a real skater.
Attitude, style, the effort and energy put into tricks and a sense of variety are the marks of a good skater, said Anthony.
Any words of advice from this crew for those considering a whirl on the skateboard?
“It’s fun and everybody should do it,” David said. “Everyone should try ... you know you can’t knock it until you try.”
Most of these kids are living out those pre-driving, early-teen years simply looking for something to do. While others shoot hoops and slam dunk, they skate and do ollies. Instead of a baseball diamond, it’s about hand rails.
Skateboarding is a way for youngsters to burn off energy as they glide through the park, flip, jump and land smoothly or run roughshod right on the edge of a halfpipe.
“I just like the rush, I love the air,” said Keegan Moore, 16, taking a break from flying around with his board and some friends this past week.
One, Anthony Mays, 19, said he loves the speed of skateboarding, and he believes improving as a skater boils down to everyday practice. It’s a communal thing.
“I mean like skaters will ask their friends, ‘Hey, how do you do this?’ ... they’re going to watch you do a trick and then they’ll tell you, ‘Put your foot back more, pop harder or flip the board harder,’” Anthony said. “It ends up working itself out.”
Keegan on this day was wearing rollerblades. He doesn’t have much of a plan on how he’s going to jump on in and skateboard.
“I just throw it on the ground,” he said.
Anthony points out his friend’s City board. What makes a good one?
“Concave and just durability,” said Anthony, who skates bigger boards because his feet are larger.
“If you have a bigger board you have more control than the small board, but you can flip a small board faster than a bigger board,” he said.
It’s also about the pop. The more concave, the better the flips, but it’s also easier to be thrown off.
“Like when you push the tailend of the board and it snaps, but it’s got a bigger angle, I guess it makes the board easier for you to pop. That’s where you can do the tricks,” Anthony said.
He said skateboarding is getting to be pretty popular, especially in bigger cities. There’s a yearning for crazier, newer sports.
“It’s starting to get bigger here, like a lot more of the rollerblading, skating ... I’m not saying they’re sick and tired of baseball or football or whatever, but they’re trying to find a new thing to do,” said Anthony.
But he thinks skateboarding is not appreciated like it should be.
Street skating can give skaters a bad rap. Skating at a store or shopping center can get them kicked out. But maybe that boils down to miscommunication.
“You show them respect and they might change their mind about skaters,” suggested Anthony. He said people may be surprised to know skaters aren’t about breaking things and riding around town.
In his eyes, it’s like any other sport.
“It gives a workout, and you can get hurt pretty bad.”
David Hanson, at 20, is one of the older regulars who’s been hanging out at Darkslide for a while.
“What do I like about it? Being able to be creative and be yourself, you know, just that it’s fun. I like a challenge. Plus, I’ve been doing it for so long,” he said.
He got involved at 14 when his friends got him to street skate. He then moved indoors.
“The main reason I skate park all the time is because it’s not as rough on you. Skating here is not as rough as skating street. I got to go to work in the morning, you know. Skating in the street is rough ground. You get tore up,” said David.
At the park you can land on a ramp, but with street skating you can kiss the pavement. There’s even something of a rivalry between the kinds of skaters.
“A lot of the street skaters almost look down on the people who skate at the park all the time,” David said.
As far as the general view of skateboarding is concerned, David thinks it’s generally frowned upon by parents because of kids getting injured.
“But at the same it gives your kids something to do and stay out of trouble instead of doing drugs at somebody’s house, you know what I’m saying?” he said.
“I mean you might get hurt every once in a while, but that’s life. That’s the way my mom looked at it. I explained it to her when I was younger and started skating.”
Darkslide owner Lorraine Murray lets her son skateboard. And she knows there’s a whole culture of gear and music surrounding the sport.
“I expanded the pro shop a little bit. I’m venturing a little more into a little bit of the music,” Murray said.
And Darkslide, like other skate parks, is on the map.
“A lot of out-of-town kids come .... (from) Oklahoma, Shreveport, (and) then a lot of them if they’re from Florida or California, or if they’re visiting, they always come out to the skate park. There are skaters who search out skate parks,” she said.
“It’s like their little network. They just know where to look.”
Junior high and high school students make up most of her clientele. The skate park concerts (local and touring bands) bring in slightly older youth.
Murray’s supportive of the culture, but there’s a bit of a generation gap at play.
Although she appreciates the energetic, talented rock and punk bands like Soul Descenders that capture the interest of skateboarders, she jokes that she doesn’t quite get the lyrics.
“I don’t understand a word they’re saying, you know, but I’m 40, not 18,” she said with a laugh.
Murray does understand having bands come to the skate park brings an entertainment option for those into the skateboard lifestyle.
And although she maintains a clean, safe and friendly environment for the kids who come in, the ethos of skateboarding still shines here.
Kids chill out on an old, comfy couch and compete on video games. Sodas and hot dogs can be bought for a snack. Racks of the more affordable boards with various spiffed-out designs sit on one wall.
The gear—as well as the flavor and sounds of skateboarding culture—is here: young punk bands staccato-nailing a beat over the sound system and the sound of wheels slapping the boards like rough drum playing.
“We still try to maintain the lifestyle of being pretty carefree, and It’s not so strict that they can’t say or do anything ...” she said, pointing out it’s the kind of place where parents drop off their kids for the whole day.
To Murray, it’s about providing a safe environment for skateboarders to perfect their skills.
Inside the indoor park, tags like “All Ready!” and “Sly Boogie” or “D.J.” mark the walls with color, words and personality. So do smiley faces, stars, squiggles and other forms of scrawled spraypaint art.
Hang out at the park, at 305 Spruce St., and you can’t help but notice it’s dominated by males. Where are the girls?
“I ask that question every day,” said Anthony. “Most girls really don’t care about skateboarders really.”
He thinks they prefer the bigger jocks—like football players. But there were a couple teen girls hanging out at the skate park, just not skating.
Skaters are faced with a ton of choices. What to wear? Which style board? Inside or outside?
“I like both just the same,” chimed in Eammon Murray, all of 9 and the owner’s son, about whether to work his board indoors or outdoors.
“Inside on a rainy day, outside on a sunny day,” Anthony said.
His friend Chris Long, 15, thinks vert skating (that’s using the indoor ramps) is easier.
“But street is definitely a lot more fun for me. It’s more complicated,” he said. “It’s more of a challenge, you have to practice a lot more.”
With outdoor skating on the streets and concrete, riders have to push to build speed, dodge rocks, manage the cracks in the pavement, Anthony explained.
Then there’s clothing style. No matter how skaters individualize it, it’s casual.
Eammon was sporting torn-up Nikes and an Element T-shirt. (The music he likes: “Just music that has good flow to it like skating.”)
“Really it’s just whatever you feel like wearing. I don’t even match most of the time,” Anthony said.
But they say you can tell if someone is a real skateboarder or not.
“If they’re wearing like big old block skate shoes they’re probably not a skater,” Anthony said.
Real skaters wear thin shoes, he pointed out. But if they sport the clothing the wrong way they might not be a real skater.
Attitude, style, the effort and energy put into tricks and a sense of variety are the marks of a good skater, said Anthony.
Any words of advice from this crew for those considering a whirl on the skateboard?
“It’s fun and everybody should do it,” David said. “Everyone should try ... you know you can’t knock it until you try.”