The days of rowdy skateboarders scaling fences and running from security are long gone.

Today, skateboarding remains a recreational activity but has morphed into an action-packed Olympic sport showcasing extreme levels of difficulty – it’s not for your average Joe.

Pro Canberra skateboarder, Zach Vanzetti, picked up a skateboard for the first time when he was 10 years old.

Now 18, Vanzetti dominates at national competitions and came in fifth in the 2021 Moomba National Street Championships in the open men’s category.  

When Vanzetti was around 12, he says the Canberra skateboarding scene was “a bit more dead” compared to the dynamic atmosphere it has today.

He recalls the earlier demographic being “older dudes” who skated in the 1990s and 2000s, but now local parks are packed with people across all ages and genders.  

Vanzetti’s future in the sport looks bright, but Australian skateboarding executives fear it’s an unfeasible sport for many lower- and middle-class kids who lack financial support.

“It’s good to have a community [in the local scene] but to kind of progress past and make a career out of it, you gotta travel outside to Sydney and Melbourne and stuff like that for comps and the other kind of crews there with all the companies,” Vanzetti says.

One way to give your skateboarding career a leg up is through social media – the problem is, you need to have the right people following you.

Many skateboarding competitions are held in Queensland and for a Canberra teen like Vanzetti, that’s no easy trek.

One of the biggest competitions each year is the Rumble on the Reef Championships, which are held in Mackay in September. 

“That’s another pretty big one; it’s a kind of a series final because they do a lot of lead-up comps around Australia …,” says Vanzetti.

“But because that one’s such a big one and it’s so far away, there’s a bit of an expense to get up there.

“Even if you are like a bit more well off, sometimes your parents would just feel like it’s still that stigmatised kind of thing. They don’t want to spend $300 on flights and accommodation for a ‘little skate comp’ – I feel it’s still stigmatised a little bit.”

Although the stigma Vanzetti refers to has lessened over the past few decades, Vanzetti says he believes it stems from skateboarding culture being “carefree” and less rigid like some other professional sports.

A ‘whole new heap of kids’

Skateboarding has been steadily gaining widespread legitimacy throughout Australia, prompting greater approval of the sport and its athletes.

The more mainstream skateboarding becomes, the more grows a new generation of Aussie kids wanting to learn how to kick flip.

Director of the Australian Skateboarding Community Initiative, Donny Fraser, says despite skateboarding’s rapid rise in popularity as a professional sport is great, it’s left behind skaters who can’t afford to travel for events.

While the sport has attracted a “whole new heap of kids”, most young skaters are unable to move beyond their local parks.

“The cost of travel has just gotten out of control,” says Donny.

“The main thing is making sure the best skaters get the opportunities, not just the ones who have the money.

“We want the best people to represent the country and create equal opportunities.”

According to Donny, funding has failed to keep up with the cost of travel, which has “blown through the roof”.

“There’s so many great career opportunities for them and they have limitations on being able to get to the Olympic qualifying events in Australia,” he says.

Skateboarding made its Summer Olympic debut in 2021 during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after having been approved in 2016.

On the largest sporting stage in the world, 18-year-old Australian Keegan Palmer finished his final run with an almost unbelievable score of 94.04, skating off with Olympic Gold.

The 18-year-old’s win beamed a spotlight onto skateboarding in Australia, and Donny is hoping more kids like Palmer will get the chance to show their skills in the big leagues.

Deteriorating Canberra skate parks

In Canberra, ACT Government funding for skateboarding is scarce compared to other Australian states and territories.

However, Donny says despite the ACT facing financial setbacks, there’s still “lots going on in Canberra from a skateboarding perspective”.

ACT Greens Member for Brindabella Johnathan Davis MLA launched a petition on behalf of the Canberra Skateboarding Association late last year, calling on the ACT Government to replace the Tuggeranong Skatepark.

While Canberra is known as a pioneering skateboarding city, the lack of upkeep and funding for parks has spiked fears the territory’s vibrant culture will fade. The ACT hasn’t received a new skate park since the Belconnen upgrade in 2011.

Vanzetti has been skateboarding in Canberra parks for almost a decade now, and says he’s heard from older locals how much better they used to be.

“It was one of the biggest in the southern hemisphere, but it does get very stale after a while and especially with the lack of funding and kind of neglect from the government,” he says.

“You kind of got to really, really heckle them to even repair it when there’s massive cracks and stuff in the middle or something’s bent or broken. You’ve got to really kick up a fuss for them [ACT Government] to come and fix it and even then, they won’t do a very good job.”

Australia is home to some of the world’s best skateboarders but without financial assistance and government funding, potential future stars like Vanzetti and Palmer could remain undiscovered.  

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