The Grind

Skateboarders take their skills outside of ZionsvilleGRINDThe

By Gretchen Drews, Opinion Editor

Riding around town, curving around the corner of a street, sliding down rails, ollieing over curbs, doing kick flips in parking lots. Skateboarders take their skill from the streets of Zionsville to all over Indiana. Ethan Ferzandi, senior, has been riding since he was a young boy. “The first time I ever went to a skate park was when I was a little kid, and my dad took me,” Ferzandi said. “I stopped for a while, but then I started it again back in middle school around seventh grade with my friends.” Ferzandi realized the more he skated, the more he wanted to go to different skate parks. While Zionsville’s skate park is nice, Ferzandi said as he progressed he wanted to look around for bigger and better places with unique structures such as ramps, bowls, half pipes and more. “I travel around a lot with friends,” Ferzandi said. “I’ve been to Greenwood, Bloomington, Carmel, Downtown Indy, and Louisville.” Another great thing about skateboarding for Leonard Clay, senior, is that his friends are always there to support him and push him to do better, especially when learning new tricks. “[People who are more skilled] can kind of intimidate you and sometimes they push you to do better,” Clay said. “But when you have people who are your skill level, you can also progress with them.” Additionally, Jackson Wade, senior, said there is no need to feel afraid, specifically when heading to the skate park for the first time. “We all have been beginners before,” Wade said. “We all know what it feels like to be the worst person at the skate park, but it’s not really that big of a deal. Nobody’s going to judge you as long as you’re trying to progress and get better.” Before you can even begin learning how to ride, there is something very important you need to decide: what kind of board you will ride. Clay recommends buying a board cheap online for your first time, but emphasized that it shouldn’t be so cheap it’s unable to ride. It’s about finding a good balance between price and quality. “Don’t get an expensive board first,” Clay said. “I started on a cheaper board. Get a premade one and then when you find out you actually like skateboarding, then customize your own board. Customize it after you’re comfortable with riding a board so you don’t waste your money if you don’t like it.” One other piece of advice to new skaters that Clay offers is to not get discouraged. While initially it’s hard to begin skateboarding, like anything else, if you are willing to learn and improve, anything is possible. “I’m still a beginner,” Clay said. “But once you start getting good or when you get your ollie down, it makes a lot of tricks much easier.”

The front and back of Leonard Clay’s skateboard shows off the cool design. photo by Gretchen Drews