Skateboarding Becoming Popular In Urban Communities, Culture

Williams Likely To See Increasing Focus In Reebok's Marketing Plans

Skateboarding has "surged into mainstream culture," and by "infiltrating hip-hop music and urban fashion, the sport has found new popularity among a black demographic that traditionally regarded skating with apprehension, if not scorn," according to Ben Detrick of the N.Y. TIMES. N.Y.-based skateboarder Sheldon Thompson said, "A lot of the stigma changed from it being a predominantly white thing." Detrick noted in cities like N.Y., L.A. and S.F., the sport "has joined the fraternity of minority street games." Reebok in '04 began sponsoring Stevie Williams, "a gold-toothed, bling-flashing skater" who now has his own line of Reebok apparel and "is regarded as a successor to [Nuggets G] Allen Iverson and Jay-Z as a pitchman with street appeal." The presence of skateboarding in urban communities "has not gone unnoticed by some of the sport's most successful figures" including Tony Hawk, who heads Stand Up for Skateparks, a program that has raised funds "for the construction of over 300 skate parks in low-income areas." Hawk: "Every community says they get used more than any other sporting facility they have -- any basketball court, any tennis court, any baseball field." In addition, hip-hop artists "have become some of the sport's most influential advocates," and black skaters are being compared to rap stars (N.Y. TIMES, 11/11).