These days, they are known as “action” sports. But when skateboarding the halfpipe, BMX stunt riding and freestyle motocross began dipping into the sports mainstream more than a decade ago, it wasn’t unusual for them to be labeled “extreme.”
That’s largely because it also wasn’t unusual to see blood or broken bones in the vicinity of those boards and bikes. What was atypical to see was riders wearing helmets, or much else in the way of safety equipment. Just like the Bobby Orr-era NHL, it simply wasn’t done.
But a lot has changed in what might be considered Tony Hawk-era action sports, and for skaters and bikers competing in this weekend’s Right Guard Open stop of the inaugural Dew Action Sports Tour in Denver, the rule, for the most part, is safety first.
“I guess you could say I try to set a good example, but honestly I just do it because I don’t want to get hurt,” said California skate and snowboarding star Shaun White, 18. “When I first started snowboarding, helmets were awful and even my sponsors were like, ‘You have to take your helmet off or you’re not going to get any photos in the magazines.’ But I was like, ‘I’m not taking it off. I’ve had way too many close calls.”‘
White believes he wouldn’t be alive today without his helmet. When he was 7, he was hit in the head by an older snowboarder who lost control of a spin coming off a jump and sliced a huge gash in White’s helmet. After that incident, he says, there was never a question.
So it stands to reason that when White turned his attention to skateboarding, a helmet – vastly improved in recent years – came along for the ride. And as a hero to thousands of young skaters, his example doesn’t go unnoticed.
“I try to imitate them and be good,” said James Sizemore, 13, from Meeker. “I always wear a helmet, just to be safe. You don’t want to mess up your head.”
In skateboard vert (halfpipe), helmets are required on the Dew Tour.
But while White wouldn’t consider skating without the protective gear, many of the competitors in the skateboarding park or “street” event aren’t interested in any sort of safety equipment. Some to the point of boycotting the Dew Tour after officials required them to wear helmets at the first event in Louisville, Ky., last month. After officials eliminated the rule for the Denver stop, not a single skater wore a helmet for park competition.
The pros play by a different set of rules, however. Anyone riding in the interactive skate park at the Pepsi Center this weekend is required to wear a helmet as well as elbow and kneepads provided by sponsors.
“It’s a liability issue, but at the same time it’s an upcoming sport with the younger kids, so it’s a good thing to preach safety to them,” said Brandon Heilig, supervisor at the interactive park. “Most of them are already used to it.”
Scott Willoughby can be reached at 303-820-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com.
