IS SKATEBOARDING STILL CONSIDERED
A NICHE SPORT IN SINGAPORE?
With the rising popularity and recognition of skateboarding, its label of being a sport for rebellious youth slowly fades away.
By Fong Li Shan
When boredom struck after completing A-levels examinations, Elijah Tay, a nonbinary person who uses the pronouns “they” and “them”, decided to pick up the skateboard that they have bought years ago to try out this new hobby.
Elijah is just one of the many youths who have recently jumped onto the bandwagon of skateboarding. This 18-year-old says that they have always had an interest in skateboarding, but have never gotten the opportunity to go into it until last December.
Skateboarding has emerged into the mainstream culture as one of the rising sports amongst youths in Singapore in 2020. The industry is also growing with high-end brands like Dior modelling their runway into a skatepark for their 2016 autumn/winter show in Paris, according to Artefact magazine.
According to Statista, the global skateboard market is projected to grow by 23.7 per cent at US$1.94 billion (S$2.57 billion) in 2018 and to an estimated US$2.4 billion (S$3.17 billion) by 2025.
Ms Daphne Goh, a Marketing and Business Lead at The Ride Side, says that even the mainstream crowd such as doctors, lawyers, and the working adults have also gotten into the sport, with the former two transitioning from snowboarding due to travel restrictions and the latter ones who are probably going through a “mid-life crisis”.
Infographic by: Fong Li Shan
From a survey conducted with 102 respondents, 60.8 per cent of them have skateboarded before. Among these people, 64.5 per cent have gotten into skateboarding in the last 6 months.
The booming popularity of skateboarding can be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Circuit Breaker that followed in 2020. Ms Goh says that it was a year where plenty of people began to get into hobbies that they have been holding off for ages to try out something new.
Ms Isabel Lam, 18, was one of those who picked up the sport during the Circuit Breaker period in May 2020 as she had a lot of time on her hand to try out something “cool” and has been hooked on it ever since because “it’s a lot more fun than expected”.
Besides that, skateboarding is also a solo sport in nature, unlike basketball or soccer, which naturally became an alternative for those seeking an adrenaline rush with gathering restrictions in place, says Ms Goh.
Rocky Chan practising a high-level trick at his usual spot, Xtreme Skate Park.
Image credits: Rocky Chan
But the popularity of the sport started even before Covid-19. The sport made its debut appearance at the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines.
Mr Rocky Chan, 19, who represented Singapore in skateboarding during that SEA Games says that he loves “the friends, the vibes, the mindset and the fun” that comes with skateboarding.
While skateboarding has essentially become a part and parcel of Mr Chan’s life, it is a different case for Elijah who had just gotten into the game recently. They see skateboarding as more of a mobility tool, allowing them to get around with just a board in hand conveniently.
The sense of freedom is also one of the major reasons why the sport is loved by many, says Ms Lam as she loves the pure pleasure of the wind hitting her in the face as she cruises down the street feeling like a “main character in a movie”. Ms Goh also agrees that skateboarding offers “freedom of expression”.
In the eyes of many, skateboarding is often stereotyped as a rebellious sport for the underground people but this misconception and perception is slowly shifting into a more positive light. Ms Goh says that with the recognition of skateboarding in major sporting events such as the Olympics and the SEA Games and also from the government, the image of skateboarders has improved.
As the community of skateboarders slowly expands, Mr Chan hopes that “more people will start skating for the fun of it, not for the fashion or the trend”.
From the same survey conducted, 39.2 per cent of the respondents have not yet tried skateboarding. However, 60 per cent of them have expressed interest in taking up the sport.
For those who are still hesitating to try out skateboarding, Ms Lam says, “Just go for it if you’re truly interested [in skateboarding], there will never be a ‘right’ time and you’ll never know until you try.”