San Diego has always been a safe haven for skateboarding. Our city has a broad history of legendary skaters, is rich in diversity, has some of the best skate parks and, of course, boasts outstanding weather. However, one of the biggest reasons San Diego is so popular in skateboarding is the variety of skate spots it provides for up-and-coming skaters.

   People often ask, “How do skateboarders go professional?” since there’s no college level skateboarding teams or drafts like in many other sports. Although skate companies have teams, skateboarding is and individual sport. If you want to go professional, the big guys have to see you. So you need to go out, film your best skate tricks on street obstacles, create videos and send your tapes to companies in order to get noticed. For skateboarders looking to do this, you need a decent location (the gnarlier the better), and spots with stairs, ledges, handrails and banks are best, and that’s where our beautiful city of San Diego comes into play.

   Foundation Skateboard Company Owner Tod Swank said, “You can’t really be focused on being a pro skateboarder. You have to focus on riding your skateboard. Your talent will pave your path. Have fun and enjoy the ride.”

   Senior Cole Bingham, a skateboarder of nine years, is very much acquainted with the skate life here in San Diego. As a Clairemont local, Bingham enjoys skating many of the skate parks such as “Poods Park” in Encinitas, Rancho Penasquitos and Carmel Valley Skate Park. His favorite spots to skate include the benches at Standley Middle, Torrey Pines High, Innovation Middle and Bay Park Six Stair. When he isn’t practicing his tricks at skate parks, he spends his time out in the streets of San Diego catching video clips.

   Many of the places known to have the best skate spots are schools and government buildings which are on private property, making it hard for skaters to actually skate there. Nonetheless, many skaters trespass and risk sliding up against the law.

   If skaters want to pursue a career in skateboarding, it’s imperative to go to different spots and film. So if you want to skate somewhere on private property, chances are the cops will come, and you’ll get a ticket or get kicked out by security and property owners, but it’s something skaters just get used to.

  Senior Anthony Carrillo has experienced incidents like these firsthand. “Once, some friends and I were skating in Mission Hills at a house where the driveway was built like a ramp. I had a conversation with one of the neighbors, and he told me that the owner of the house was fine with us skating there, but then all of a sudden, the owner speeds up to the driveway, gets out his car, kicks my friend’s board and screams at us, telling us to get off the property,” Carrillo said.

  Although Carrillo is constantly getting kicked out of these risky spots, his favorites include Westview High and a shootout rail and four block at University of California, San Diego. “The four block has a bench at the top of it. It’s super gnarly, so I’m really glad I was able to get a fast-plant [a popular skate trick] on it,” Carrillo said.

  Carrillo said that he recently came out with a part in a skate video produced by San Diego locals called “Deli-Clerk” that he plans to send to companies so he can get his name out there. Living in San Diego, where skate spots are abundant, really helped him make his video outstanding.

  Senior Anthony Pence said, “I love skateboarding here, but it’d be cool to travel around, experience other places and try new spots. There are so many famous spots in San Diego; I feel blessed to be able to skate here and be a part of the community I’m in now.”

  Senior Harrison Beres said, “Living in San Diego offers a big advantage for skaters, because the terrain and obstacles apparent here in Southern California are amazing compared to places like the midwest, where everything is flat, and there’s just sidewalks and roads; but here, you can go anywhere and still be able to find spots.”

   It doesn’t matter what level you’re at in skateboarding. Whether you just started last week, or you’ve grown up with a board, you will find something to skate in our wonderful city. So get out to the skate park, go on a skateboarding adventure and hit the streets of San Diego, because that’s where the real fun is at.