We will still hear a lot about this new sport in Italy, a bit like in the past for beach volleyball and padel. At his debut among the “greats” at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, lo skateboarding in fact, it has been spreading among the very young for some years now, marking a number of members who are growing rapidly. In Italy, in 2021 the members of the Fisr for the Skateboarding-Scooter there are a total of 8,819 (3,469 competitive athletes, 5,350 amateurs), while in 2020 alone they were less than half, 3,177. It is undeniable that this sport gets the great interest of Generation Z (but also among the smallest) and, consequently, also of “traditional” sponsors who look to the new generations as possible targets for targeted advertising campaigns. But let’s see in detail.
Meaning of skateboarding
Spread all over the world using informal urban structures such as benches, stairways and handrails, skateboarding is practiced with a wheelchair whose dimensions and characteristics vary according to tastes and specialties. It also features specially designated practice spaces such as Skateplaza, Skatepark, Half Pipe and Bowl.
In the last year alone, several new skateparks have been opened in Italy, including the international one of Ostia (the Italian Championship will be held on 2-3 October) and one at the Foro Italico in Rome, formerly the seat of the world championships of skateboarding in May 2021. «The investment required for the opening of a suitable structure also approved for competitions – explains Corrado Basile, CEO of Improveconnect, a media agency specializing in Urban sport – is between 100,000 and 200,000 euros, an overall low cost if you think of the great social implications and, why not, of visibility and CSR (Corporate social responsibility) “.
The competitions normally organized using these structures take place in different ways, leaving the skater full freedom of action in a limited time. Maneuvers, style, composition of the routines are the result of the free expression of the skater. The performances are evaluated by a jury considering the difficulty of the maneuvers, the style of execution and the creativity in the interpretation of the structures.
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The numbers of skateboarding in Italy
As already reported above, according to the data from Italian roller sports federation the members of the Fisr Skateboarding-Scooter are a total of 8,819 (3,469 competitive athletes, 5,350 non-competitive athletes) while the membership campaign for the Freestyle Scootering (Scooter), recently joined by Fisr, is in the start-up phase. In 2020 there were only 3,177 members, therefore with an increase of more than double the number of young practitioners, confirming the great interest that these disciplines find among the Generation Z but also among the little ones.
Certainly a great media boost to this growth process has been given by the recent ones Tokyo 2020 Olympics who saw Skateboarding open the ceremony as a new Olympic discipline, to the benefit of the show and the involvement of millions of young enthusiasts all over the world.
Spain ahead in freestyle skateboarding and scootering
And if in Italy this sport begins to make numbers of important fans, it is in neighboring Spain that we must look to understand what appeal this sport has (as in the past precisely for padel). The 11th edition of Urban World Series-Extreme Barcelona among the most representative events in the world in the field of Urban Sports and Urban Culture.
Bmx, Skateboarding, Scootering Freestyle (Freestyle Scooter) and Breakdance were the main disciplines protagonists of the event that saw the major international “big names” channeled into a single urban “super spot” to compete at the highest levels. Canada, United Kingdom, United States, France and Ukraine were just some of the states represented in the race and, for the first time, Italy was also able to take part with its representation in the Spanish stage of the Scooter World Championship thanks to the Fisr athletes. .
The Iberian event, for the Skateboarding and Scootering part, saw the important collaboration of World Skate , the greatest world institution of these disciplines: «We have to make sure – explains Sabatino Aracu, long-term president of World Skate and a great promoter of these disciplines also in Italy – that more and more young people can access skateparks and suitable structures in their cities, without necessarily having to undertake expensive and difficult trips abroad to train ».
The event, broadcast live on Urban World Series channels, will also be visible in Italy with a television special on Go Tv (channel 163).
Sponsor and partner in Barcelona
An indication that it is a sport that we will still hear a lot about in the future is also given by the presence of sponsors (or rather the type of sponsor): at the Barcelona event the sponsors were bank cash and its new online app “picture”, Hot Wheels, brand of the international toy giant Mattel, Fritz Kola, energy drink very popular drink especially in Spain. The new social networks are also among the partners of the initiative Incloodo, an all-Italian start-up created for groups of people who share the same passions, in this case those that distinguish the new “Urban Culture”.