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City Ramps Up Rapport With Skateboarders

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By GEOFF FOX

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 20, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - Skateboarders wear different clothing.

They have their own dialect.

They see stairs, handrails and picnic benches as potential apparatus on which to test their skills.

Helping bridge that gap is part of the mission of Josh Harris, middle school minister and skateboard park director at Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg. Harris spoke to a group of about 20 local business, church and government leaders Friday at Zephyrhills Wesleyan Church on C Avenue.

The church is across the street from the city-run skateboard park at Krusen Field.

The purpose of Harris' talk was to educate adults about coexisting more easily with skaters.

That may not be easily done in Zephyrhills, where downtown skateboarders had pushed residents and business owners to "a boiling point," Zephyrhills Police Department Capt. David Shears told the city council in January.

Besides being considered a nuisance by some, skaters were blamed for damaging downtown property with their wheels.

"Skating is not going to go away," Harris said Friday. "In fact, it's getting more and more popular."

From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, a skateboarding workshop and contest will be held at the park. The two-day event was coordinated by the city and the Zephyrhills Wesley Chapel Ministerial Association.

The first step to achieving harmony, said Harris, a skater and former professional surfer, may be for adults to better understand how skateboarders think.

"Skateboarding is a sport, but it's more like a lifestyle," he said. "There's no right or wrong way to do a trick. It's like a form of expression."

And it takes dedication.

"You have to be willing to pay the price and be injured," he said.

Harris helped establish a skateboard ministry at Calvary Chapel in St. Petersburg about three years ago.

"Now we have 1,400 members," he said. "It's free. All the kids have to do is have their parents sign a form."

Still, he said, some skaters have shown disdain for that seemingly simple process.

The forms are handed out by park supervisors.

"They don't like a lot of rules and regulations," Harris said.

One reason the park has been successful, he said, is that it was designed by people who understand skateboarding and because it is supervised.

"Most of our supervisors also skate," he said. "The supervisors are people the skaters can look up to."

One problem with the city's park, Harris said, is that it has an asphalt surface, which slows down skaters, who need to generate speed for aerial tricks and other maneuvers.

Tim Mitchell, president of the ministerial association, said he thought it was important to "work with and encourage skaters in our community."

"I got to talking to some skateboarders," he said. "They said if you don't know about the culture, you're not going to get it."

WHERE THERE'S A WHEEL

For information about today's skateboarding activities, call (813) 486-8907, or go to www.wccnonline.org/

happenings.

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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