The coolest thing I love about the skate community isn’t just the art, the slang, or the sport itself. It’s the people who make it up and how diverse they are and no matter what, you will get props no matter what.

It all started in the Lords of Dogtown era back in the 70s when skateboarding was still considered an activity for derelicts but because of the guys of that era such as Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Stacy Peralta, etc. people recognized that they needed to look at it from a shifted perspective.

That era though proved to be the beginnings of skateboarding as we know it today, and the building of the sport from street rats becoming athletes after it saw the first teams and later sponsorships which is still very active in making skateboarding what it is today. All the guys wore shirts that sported logos and competed under that brand. The same is true today though skateboarding has grown to include women, and become more expressive with professionals able to wear just about anything to skate contests because most of their sponsors are now on their board.

One place i’ve always ventured to which is about 40 minutes away from me to go to feel included and not excluded is Skatepark of Tampa. And my favorite time to visit Skatepark of Tampa is for Tampa Pro.

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The above video was divinely aligned because I really only came to Tampa Pro this year because I mentioned the above athlete to my special needs students during a lesson about treating those with disabilities with respect, and now every day my kids reference this video by saying “Hola, Mod 3!”

The coolest full circle moment I had at this year’s event was when I got to show Jaegger Eaton I came with the poster print of a collage showing my 20 years coming to Tampa Pro and SPOT, and he thought it was super cool especially because the picture of him winning his first Tampa Pro was on there, just as he was announced the winner of this year’s.

Thank you to skateboarding, Skatepark of Tampa, and everyone who has made the community continuously inclusive.

You guys are rockstars!