Skateboarding culture on the grind at RHS

Skateboarding connects people in a way that is unexplainable, from learning techniques, listening to music, exploring art and following skate culture, it builds a bond between people that is hard to achieve elsewhere. 

Skateboarder and student Emil Kostritsa was born in Siberia and moved to the US when he was 11 years old. He believed that the USA was skating heaven, due to the way the media portrays the sport. 

“11 year old me, I thought it’d be best fit if I skated,” Kostritsa said.

Emil expressed that skating has been one thing that he seems to stick to when it comes to hobbies and activities in day to day life. Skating has also taught Emil important lessons that he will carry throughout life. 

“It taught me to get up when I fall over and over again. I had a tendency to pick up a hobby and come to this plateau where I wouldn’t progress and give up. But something about skateboarding, it didn’t give anything back to me but I still came back to it every time.” Kostritsa said.

Skating can create friendships that are often really strong and something about skating with someone, you get to know them in a whole new way, by the way they skate, what music they listen to, it’s a whole different way to learn about someone. Emil shares how skating has connected him and his friends. 

“I have a pretty narrow circle of friends, some of them skate, some of them don’t, but me and my friends are all united by the idea of creating something, whether it’s music, art, or through me through skateboarding, because I do consider it art,” Kostritsa said. 

Another skater who attends RHS is Michael Timonichev, Who started skateboarding a year and a half ago while on vacation, where he bought his first skateboard, believes that skateboarding doesn’t deserve the negative stigma it has. 

“As long as skaters aren’t vandalizing and causing trouble it shouldn’t be an issue,” Timonichev said.

Both Michael and Emil agree that skating at school is a realistic possibility. If set in moderation. Also it’s an opportunity to create profit that can go back into the school. 

“If there was some entrance fee the school could profit off that. I think skaters would be a lot more happier on this campus,” Timonichev said.

“Maybe a designated area with a small curb, I think that’d be awesome, it would have to be regulated,” Kostritsa said. 

Skateboarders at RHS hope to see change whether it’s a place to skate or just more acceptance when it comes to their hobby, because skateboarding is a culture that will never die.