> - How long have you personally been involved in the sport of skateboarding.

I've been skateboarding since I was 12, or about 12 years.

> - How long have you been involved in Skatepark.org *

I've been involved with skatepark.org since 1996 *, approaching 5 years. For most of that time, the site was known as "legalskate", but the content and motivation has always been the same.

> - Can you give me a brief description of what services you offer. Are > you primarily a resource for groups interested in have a skate park > established in their town?

When I started as "legalskate", I was mostly interested in getting skateboarding legalized. It happened that almost all the interest in the site revolved getting skateparks * built, so we shifted our focus towards that. We offer resources to help folks get skateparks and to promote skateboarding in general. These resources take the form of all sorts of documents published by ourselves and other contributors. We also index contact information for skatepark developers and others related to the process, and well as linking to many resources off site. We currently have 381 resources in our database. I also do some consulting informally by phone and email when folks have questions that aren't answered by the website.

> - What are the benefits to having a skatepark. Is it primarily for the > safety of the skaters?

There are many, many good reasons to have a skatepark. I would rank safety of the skateboarders as one of the less important ones. :) Statistically, we are already safer than most other sports. I provide more detail on the positive social impact of skateparks in this draft of a speech given on the issue. Skateparks promote skateboarding and inline skating, which are great for lots of reasons. First, they are forms of exercise. :) Also, they are freestyle * sports, which are gaining popularity as an alternative to competitive sports for their positive values. For a fun read on a middle aged man's life lessons through the flying trapeze, I recommend Sam Keen's Learning to Fly. If you visualize his passion and growth for the flying trapeze applied to another freestyle activity such as skateboarding, I think you can see where some of us are coming from. Skateparks also tend beautify communities. Besides being architecturally interesting themselves, they tend reduce the amount skateboarding that happening on ledges, curbs, rails and other private and public property which is considered vandalism. Skateboarding and in-line skating are also great forms of transportation. They are cheaper to buy and maintain they cars and much better for the environment. :) I still ride my skateboard to work most days.

> - Based on the most recent statistics that you know of, roughly how many > people in this country are currently involved in skateboarding.

According to America Sports Data, there are currently 9.3 million skateboarders under the age of 18.

> - Are these numbers increasing? If so, how quickly.

I don't have as strong a sense of that. I know that there have been over 300 new skateparks built or planned in the past two years, and that skateparks not only cater to existing skaters, they attract new ones. Skateboarding is also showing up much more in major media such as, the X games, and this exposure in turn is attracting more folks. There is also an increased amount of information and communication available, through a growing number of publications and the internet. So, I don't how fast it's growing, but it's definitely growing. :) I hear that skateboarding is now one of the top 5 participant sports in the country.

> - What do you see as the growth trend for the sport in the next five or > 10 years?

Historically, skateboard popularity has gone in waves, lasting about 10 years each. If the that trend continues, we are somewhere near the peak of the third wave. Realistically, I could see the popularity dipping some in the future, but I predict a general growth trend.

> - What — in your opinion — is the biggest single development in the > sport of skateboarding in the past 10 years.

I would say the skatepark boom. The technology of the skateboard hasn't change much, but the skatepark boom is dramatically changing the environment of what terrain is available to skateboarders. It's getting to the point where most towns of any size either have a skatepark, are planning one, or their is one in the next big town over. So skateparks are becoming common terrain, fostering a different trick set and skating style then when street skating or home made ramps are the only options.

> - Has the Internet been a benefit to skatepark.org? If so, in what way.

No Internet == No skatepark.org! The internet and skatepark.org have definitely been a benefit to _me_. :) I find it rewarding to feel like I'm helping out, and I've grown to feel like I'm a part of the skateboard/skatepark industry through the connections I've made across the Internet. Some companies such as Girl Skateboards * send me free skateboard products to support the project, something I never accomplished through my skateboarding ability!

> - Are there any independent associations or organizations in this > country that you know of, that are dedicated to promoting the sport of skateboarding.

Yes, the first three listed here. The IASC * focuses on legalization, SPA USA * on skateparks, and USA puts together contests.

> - If our readers are interested in finding any more information about > skateboarding are there any books, magazines or other publications > available that focus primarily on the sport (authors and/or publishers > if possible please).

Yes. I list several of them through The Skateboard Culture section of skatepark. If folks click through my website to buy them, I get a commission. :)

Thanks and Good Luck!

This article was originally found at http://mark.stosberg.com/currents.cgi/2000/ 10/12-bridges.com_interview.html

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