Serbian skaters find "freedom" on the pavement

17/11/2009

Skateboarding keeps Belgrade's youth on the streets -- in a good way.

By Bojana Milovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade -- 17/11/09

A skater catches some air at Belgrade's skate park. [Nikola Barbutov/SETimes]

At the skateboarding park in Belgrade, which opened last year, skaters can be found doing kickflips, grinding rails and pulling off the mother of all tricks, the ollie -- where a rider lifts his or her board into the air almost as if by magic.

Two skaters took a break from the course to sit down with SETimes and talk about their love of the sport.

"I've been skateboarding for four years now. I first encountered it [skateboarding] through video games and wanted to start doing it for a long time. The whole thing dragged on a bit because I had to gather the money for skateboarding equipment and that costs a little less than the average Serbian salary," said Misha, 18.

He is one of the co-founders of the skate club Logic.

"Skateboarding might seem easy, but it's not really. One has to give up a lot in order to skateboard the way we do and to master all the tricks. You have no coaches, all you have are friends who can show you how it's done," says Misha. Injuries are common. Despite pleas from his parents, Misha still rides almost every day -- even after tearing the ligaments in his ankle a handful of times.

Branislav, 16, once broke his arm trying to pull off a stunt.

"Freedom, creativity … You can skateboard whenever you want and with whoever you want. There is no coach, it's like it isn't a sport at all. You go out, have a good time, and if you don't feel like skateboarding you just sit down with your friends. Some days you skateboard well and some days you don't, that's how it goes," said Branislav.

The number of skaters in Belgrade is growing.

Although there weren't any girls at the park grinding the curb, a few cheered the boys on. "It depends on the type of girl -- there are some who like it and some who don't, it's all normal," said Branislav.

"There are all kinds of people among skaters, yet we all recognise each other as skaters and are part of the same crew. Some listen to hip hop, some listen to punk or heavy metal, but that doesn't bother us, we don't fight over it," he adds.

At the park, other extreme sport enthusiasts whiz around on bicycles and rollerblades. Regardless of what sort of wheels they ride, the athletes all hang out together.

According to Misha and Branislav, the sport keeps young people away from drugs and alcohol. The only thing the extreme skaters and cyclists seem to be addicted to is adrenaline.

"There are junkies in my neighbourhood. Skateboarding helps me resist that kind of crowd," said Misha.