Skateboarding Takes Off

Fourteen-year-old Jaden Lee snapped the tail of his skateboard, slid his foot forward, and jumped all at once.

Jaden received those three tips on how to do his first ​“Ollie” from a visiting U.S. ​“ambassador” who came to town to spread the word about not just how to skateboard, but why it matters, as New Haven also opened a new park for the faithful.

The visitor who helped Jaden Saturday was sociologist, college professor, and skateboarder Neftalie Williams. Williams is the first-ever ​“ambassador of skateboarding,” meaning he’s the sport’s envoy for skateboarding for the U.S. Department of State. He came to New Haven this weekend to hold meet- and-greets at the one-year-old skateboarding spot at Scantlebury Park in Dixwell as well as the upgraded popular spot in Edgewood Park.

His visit also coincided with the Friday night opening celebration for a temporary skateboarding park on George Street. The prefabricated park is to occupy a surface parking lot downtown at 25 George for 10 months. (Click here for a previous story detailing that project. Click here for a story by the Arts Paper’s Lucy Gellman about Friday night’s opening event.)

Scantlebury Park, meanwhile, echoed with rolling wheels and clanking boards as a sign of cheers from fellow skaters as skateboard facility co-founder Steve Roberts hosted his weekly ​“Push to Start” lesson for youth. This week Roberts got help and introduced the skaters to Williams, a special guest who stayed off the board, but shared his wisdom with the upcoming skaters.

Jaden stepped on to his board and took Williams’ hands for balance. Williams gave him three tips to Ollie: ​“Push down,” ​“snap tail,” ​“and slide forward.”

Saturday wasn’t Jaden’s first attempt at the leap-into-the-air trick. But it wasn’t until Williams and Roberts helped that he nailed it for the first time without taking a fall.

While teaching Jaden, Williams recalled perfecting his Ollie around age 15. ​“I understood him,” he said of Jaden. ​“I knew he was nervous, because when I was doing the same thing I was scared of hitting the ground.”

Jaden, who is a freshman at Metropolitan Business Academy, gained an interest in skateboarding earlier this year. While riding the school bus home every day, Jaden would pass by Scantlebury Park and watch the skaters in awe.

He then got a summer job at a camp and saved up $100 to get his first board from Zumiez.

When he started skateboarding, Jaden didn’t intend to take it too seriously until he realized it was ​“a way of self expression,” he said.

Since getting his board, he has been practicing every day at his Hamden home. Saturday was his second visit to Scantlebury. He said he plans to come back to work with Roberts every Saturday.

“I can’t see myself being the best at basketball, but I can see myself being the best at skateboarding,” Jaden said. He hopes to become a professional skateboarder, he said. His next goal is to learn how to do a kick flip and a heel flip.

“I love skateboarding. Sometimes it’s not really about the money. It’s about: Are you happy?” Jaden said.

Williams, meanwhile, is a professor at the University of Southern California. He went on an international journey focused on skateboarding culture and sports culture global issues with race and diversity. He described skateboarding as more than just ​“fun for mental health” but also am avenue to help youth to become passionate about college opportunities

“Skateboarding is rooted in allyship. There’s no secrets,” Williams said. ​“There is no hierarchy. We share knowledge because we want everyone to skate well and be having a good time.”

Skateboarding can lead to careers like skateboard designing and to college, Williams said.

“It’s not just a past. There’s a future in it,” Williams said. ​“And it’s low barrier to entry.”

Bikes, skateboards, and roller skates glided across the park ramps in sync with an occasional fall. Riders jumped right back to their feet and confirmed, ​“I’m good.”

Roberts started his Push to Start program in 2017 behind Stetson Library. Due to safety concerns with cars, and the flat ground discouraging some kids hoping to practice on skate ramps, Roberts and his friend J. Joseph, both of whom grew up here, helped create the Scantlebury skate park, and moved the weekly lessons there.

In addition to his Saturday lessons, Roberts hopes to incorporate art into what he teaches the youth, he said, to expose the youth to careers in building skate ramps and sports photography and videography.

He said he will look to do this with support from the Dixwell Q House once it opens a few blocks away later this month. He plans to make use of the community computer lab by first shooting sports videos at the park with the youth, then teaching them how to edit them. He added that he hopes to work with Williams more in the future to teach the youth additional skills.

Roberts goes to the park every Saturday at 12 p.m. to work with the kids. He calls the regular skaters who come on Saturdays ​“Scantle-babies.”

Roberts, who began skating in his mid-teens, said he has been pleasantly surprised to see the skaters he teaches gain interest younger and younger.

After the park was opened brothers Kinng, 8, Ezrinn, 7, and Ethinn, 7, gained an interest in skateboarding. In an effort to support their interest, their mother Nnedinma London got them skateboards and began bringing them to Roberts’s lessons every Saturday from their Westville home.

Despite being nervous about her boys falling and getting hurt, London said, she loves to watch them do what they love and get better every week. ​“I’m a skate mom now!”

During the Saturday practice, London watched and cheered on her sons from the car as they practiced with Roberts and Williams.

Roberts provided the brother trio with three new boards Saturday. The old boards were left at the park for newcomers to use as needed.

“Steve, how do you grind?” asked Ethinn.

To grind, Roberts told Ethinn and his brothers they must first learn how to kick turn, which allows a skater to riding up on a ramp then swiftly turn the board around to ride back down.

To practice the movement of shifting up, then down the ramp, the brothers started on flat ground. Roberts instructed them to first learn to pivot their boards from left to right to get control with turns. ​“Press down on the tail and lift the wheels up just barely,” Roberts instructed the group.

Before the end of the Saturday lesson, Kinng was determined to drop in from the top of the ramp.

“Push your front foot down hard and lean forward,” Williams instructed.

Kinng practiced several times with support from Williams’ hands until he felt confident enough to drop in himself.

While at the top of the ramp, Kinng looked down and took a deep breath. He straightened his back foot on the tail of the board and asked one last time: ​“Bend my knees?”

Williams nodded yes. ​“You only fall when you’re not committed,” he said.

In his final attempt before ending the day’s lesson, Kinng learned his body forward and pushed his front foot down on the front of the board, guiding his board gracefully down the ramp for a successful drop in.

The group of skaters headed out Saturday with an autographed photo of Williams and new drop-in, kickturn, and Ollie skills.