Skaters waiting for shuttered skateparks to open up; in the meantime, they’re getting creative

Skaters in many Southern California communities are getting antsy, wondering when they can ride back into their beloved skateparks.

As tennis courts, golf courses and other recreational areas open up as coronavirus restrictions start to ease, it seems skateparks fall into a gray area.

In San Clemente, a security guard still watches over the city’s skatepark to make sure no one rolls around on the concrete playground. The Long Beach skatepark was filled with mulch to keep skaters away.

Meanwhile, skaters in Redlands and Oceanside are celebrating being able to shred again.

“Skaters are definitely really anxious to get back out there,” said Shane Sheckler, who runs private lessons at a facility filled with ramps and rails in San Clemente called Foot Plant Skate.

“A real skater is going to skate anything,” he said.

Skaters are pushing back to the streets and parking lots and going back to their roots with backyard builds of half pipes and ramps as they wait.

In Venice Beach, skaters armed with buckets scooped out sand officials put in to prevent use of the popular park.

Sheckler’s place is one of the few operating, with other private parks such as Vans skate parks in Huntington Beach and Orange still shut down and many city-operated parks still curbing use.

San Clemente said Friday, May 29, its park would have a  “soft reopening” June 1. Staff had filled the skatepark with sand, but were ordered by the City Council to remove it after public outcry.

Skaters will have to go online and sign a one-time waiver. There will be a staff person on hand to make sure there’s no more than 10 people in the park, rotating users out after an hour if there’s a wait. Spectators and skaters will have to maintain 6 feet apart and those 8 and younger will need a parent around.

Also, helmets and pads will now be required and the new hours will be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Stephanie Aguilar, board member for the San Clemente Skatepark Coalition, noted that other skate parks have reopened without restrictions.

“We’re a bit confused about why San Clemente isn’t just opening, as other counties are moving forward with that,” she said.  “It doesn’t seem like it’s something going on with the state, other skateparks are open. Is this a state of California problem or a San Clemente problem?”

Aguilar also wonders as Phase 3 is put in place whether the rules will be lifted or if they will be permanent.

She’s unsure how skaters will react to the new rules.

Skateboarding is a sport that has for decades adapted to change. When droughts plagued California back in the ’70s, transition skating was born from an abundance of empty pools, according to the Etnies Skatepark in Lake Forest.

When cities began building sculptures, ledges and plazas, skaters evolved into street riders.

The Etnies Skatepark in Lake Forest has been offering virtual classes, but hopes to open soon.

“As of right now, they haven’t given us an official date, so we are still closed. Hopefully it changes sooner than later,” said Kevin Fernandez, recreation supervisor, noting they are taking the time now to do needed maintenance.

Skate parks are more than just a place to exercise, for many it’s a community of like-minded people, a place where kids can feel like they fit in and push their own limits.

“It gives the kids a nice, friendly place to go,” Fernandez said. “A lot of kids miss it, and we miss the kids.”

Scott Stewart, senior recreation supervisor for Lake Forest, said he gets about 30 calls a day from people wondering about their opening. He hears they will be included in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan.

That’s when Long Beach plans on opening its skatepark, grouped in with recreational sites such as basketball courts, volleyball courts and playgrounds “where more intense and prolonged person-to-person contact is likely to occur,” city spokeswoman Chelsey Finegan said.

In Hermosa Beach, the county gave the go-ahead to open BMX bike parks, but the city has to wait until Phase 3 for its skatepark, spokeswoman Laura Mecoy said.

Sheckler said he’s running a maximum of six kids per session and everyone is maintaining social distancing.

During this time, he said he’s seen some friends go to “dark places” because they can’t get that physical and mental outlet.

But he’s also seen people get inventive.

“I love seeing people get creative and building ramps,” he said. “That’s part of being a skateboarder. It really brings the creative side out in people.”

That’s just what Stone Fightmaster, a 13-year-old from San Clemente, has been doing. On a recent day, he was heading to his shut-down middle school to skate the parking lot. And with some spare time on his hands, he and his father, Duke, built a half pipe in their garage.

His mom, Lesley, said the skate park is a place Stone can channel his energy.

“He needs to let it out someplace,” she said. “It’s a good release for him.”