What the heck happened to the sport I loved as a kid….?

[Gene Fitzwater]

It was 1978 when my dad bought me my first board and my friends and I skated almost every day throughout the 80’s. Skating was a huge part of my life as a kid. We never had any hope of becoming pro. We just did it because we loved it. There were also no skatparks around in those days, so if we wanted to ride a ramp we had to build it ourselves. Skateboarding however faded into a beloved memory as my priorities shifted to my career and later marriage and finally kids. So now 20 years later I find myself with two boys of my own and guess what? They love skateboarding just like their dad and we travel to skate parks and pro demos almost every weekend. We even built a half pipe in our basement together. Their enthusiasm has completely reignited my interest in the sport and it’s something we do together as a family. But now herein lies the problem. The sport has changed. I picked up a skateboard mag for the first time in 20 years and thankfully I looked at it before I gave it to my 8 & 10 year old. There was a cartoon of a guy carving a logo in his arm with a knife; there was a pic of a guy vomiting, most of the people in the mag were flipping the bird, the mag was laced with profanity, most of the people looked like they’re homeless; and the mag was promoting underage drinking and drug use. Now just to be fair and to set the record straight. I DO NOT believe in censorship. Even though I didn’t find the magazines suitable for me and my kids I do believe they have the right to exist. But I’m having a very hard time finding any skateboard magazine suitable for younger kids.
I know for a fact that there are other parents that feel the same way I do and I also believe that the negative image the sport of skateboarding is currently portraying is hindering its marketability and overall numbers of participants. I’m finding that most of my kid’s friends are discouraged to skateboard by their parents due to the sports current reputation.
The sport needs many more positive role-models and better representation. There are some now, but there need to be more. So today I’m combining my love of skateboarding with my decades of business experience and my boys and I are starting a new company. RandA Business Ventures LLC. Is the parent company of RandA’s Skate Life Magazine and Website planned to debut in the late summer or early fall of this year. I’m currently working out the distribution of the magazine and right now the magazine is planned to be distributed to every skateboard shop in the nation and select book stores and other retailers who can benefit from the mag. I estimate the first issue to run between 1/2 million to 3/4 million issues.
The theme of the magazine will be my sons Robert and Andrew skating with as many as 4 featured skaters per issue. Each featured skater will be between the ages of 6 and 16 and will more than likely be unknown. The magazine will be very focused on capturing quality photographs of the skaters doing extraordinary tricks. In featuring new kids in the magazine we will also be featuring skate parks all around the country. We will also include a Pro skater profile in each issue and a history of skating segment as well. We’ll also have contests, promotions of advertiser demos and contests, write in’s, sports news and many other ideas to be planned in the future.
So I’m now looking for people who are likeminded as me. I need to hear from freelance writers, photographers, web builders and designers and I need feature idea submittals. Also if you know of any unknown positive role model skaters with a lot of skill and wear a helmet and pads please forward there information for consideration. We’ll also be putting an advisory committee together in the near future and are looking for applicants. And lastly we’re looking for advertisers. If interested please e-mail me for a digital copy of our ad kit.
Gene Fitzwater
E-mail: [e-mail]
Web site: www.randaskatelife.com

[ROBO]

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