Since the seventies, skateboarding has been a vast and complex culture, pushed along by the innovations made by skaters like Rodney Mullen, films like “Jackass” and the “Baker” series, and figureheads that popularize the sport like Tony Hawk and Nyjah Huston; however, each skateboarding community has their own styles, traditions, and aspirations.
The skateboarding community in Rolla has historically been a small, tight-knit group of athletes, and despite recent growth, remains a small but passionate group. The community has stayed connected through their love of the sport, which allows people to put how they feel about others aside and just enjoy skating.
RHS graduate Zarek Walker is a “*regular” skater who has been skating for three and a half years. He and his friends started seriously skating in high school, and after graduating, he continues to dedicate substantial amounts of time to the sport.
“I mean, in Rolla, [the skate community is] pretty small, but that doesn’t matter because we’ve got some shops around. We’ve got Knifeboy Skate [supply], which is pretty dope…[the community is] getting bigger…we’ve recruited some people, and it’s really nice. It’s nice to have a community outside of everything that you can go and spend some time with, that you guys all enjoy something, you guys all have something in common,” Walker said.
Though the skating community is often seen practicing at the local skatepark and around the S&T campus, skate trips outside of Rolla and sometimes even outside Missouri are not uncommon for this group. Walker’s favorite skating experiences have happened outside of town.
“Going out on skate trips, like up to St. Louis and out to Columbia, Springfield, you know, just around Missouri. We haven’t been out too far outside of state, but whenever we do, it’s just on the other side of Illinois or in Kansas, but it’s always nice going around and meeting skaters in different spots and getting connections like that,” Walker said.
Despite being in a centralized, semi-rural community, Rolla skating takes inspiration from all over. Professional skaters like “Bam” Margera, Paul Rodriguez, Lizard King, and Jamie Foy have shaped the skate- and life-style for many skaters around Rolla. Ian Bell, a regular-footed skater that has been involved in skating since his childhood, sees this personally through his love for Margera.
“[Bam] being so in the East Coast skating culture of rougher grounds, DIY spots—it kind of opens your eyes a little more to, like, what you can see. You know, you look at a stair set that’s really messed up and you might say, ‘Oh, I can’t skate that,’ but you’ll find something you can do on it; and then clothing-wise, chunky shoes and bigger pants, but keep it darker, splashing in brighter colors, and working in music, especially more alternative rock music into your skating films, just your everyday lifestyle,” Bell said.
