INTRO
Go Skateboarding Day is just in 4 days. I want you to know what Skateboarding means to me. Skateboarding began in my life at 8 years old. I saw a neighbor that just moved in; who was 13 at the time doing some flat ground tricks in his driveway. I ran inside like a little grom I was and reached under my bed to pull out an X-Games skateboard. It was honestly the best beginner boards you can get from a store at the time. I believe it came from Toys-R-Us or K-Mart. I ran outside at full speed to his driveway yelling "I have a skateboard too!". It probably looked hilarious to anyone watching at the time. He pushed me to not be a freaking poser about skating. The brotherly bond he used made me push my boundaries at 8 years old probably more than any other kids in that area. I was hooked and couldn't put it down for good.
BrickYard DIY in Summerville, SC
I want to say over time my family saw this so one day on our way back from Lowes my dad promised he would let me skate at Brickyard for a minute. When I got out the truck and pushed around, I definitely felt like I was experiencing something only cool kids could experience. It was completely out of my skill set and age bracket to be there, but my dad felt it was a good place to show me. This was such a true place where street skateboarding showed how organic and resourceful it can be. Looking back now I see how gem of a place it really was. There was long smooth over finished concrete with thick angle iron going off the side to a 3.5 ft drop on the end. Then on the same end there was a little embankment that had a perfect size ledge with that thick angle iron going down. These blessed early 2000's skateboarders had it made with this spot!
On the other time I went, or this may have been the first time being there, I can't remember! There were left over cups everywhere in this little pit area. I guess it's where the skaters would just toss their trash during all day seshes. My brother said, "I found a wheel" and he hopped down and grabbed it out of the mess of everything. It was a Pig Skateboard Wheel and it didn't seem to me to be in that bad of shape. The other memory I have for this spot is when my dad filmed me on his JVC Camcorder and I thought I was hot stuff, so I decided to drop in for my first time. I'm guessing it's what I was seeing guys doing. Who knows what made me try it. So, I get on top of it and put my tail down on this Jersey barrier. I drop in and completely eat sh*t. I remember being skinned up and felt like dang I'm never doing that again. haha I also remember saying to myself they did a terrible job making this.
Inland Brought Me Up
Over months of not letting up I wanted to get an actual decent skateboard. My father, who was my biggest support system in my life decided to let me get one but at the expense of what he needed me to do. I had to end the year in 3rd grade with A Honor Roll. If I didn't do that then I didn't get the complete. It was $125 a Zero Pink Stripes skateboard with matching Zero Pink Stripes wheels and Venture Trucks.
I made it happen and when I came to pick it up, I remember being so nervous. There were probably like 25 skaters in there just looking at me. I walked in grabbed it, most of those dudes I probably know nowadays. Crazy how it molded me into the skater I am today. That was my intro to getting a legit start and moving up in skateboarding.
In 09 my father bought Inland and we changed the name from Surf and Skate to Skate and Surf. We changed our logo to one done by the community. We had a chance to ask the community what they wanted and hosted a contest.
Health Took Me Off My Board
The Summer of 2016 I had to go study in Vermont for a Language School to learn Portuguese. While I was there every chance I got, I went to skate. The ledge by the library I waxed up and back 50 180 out. It was sort of like you ollie into it. Like having to gap into it. It was real clean marble. I was so fired up for skateboarding because while at the Philadelphia airport I met Caswell Berry for the first time. I watched his part everyday as a kid in Enjoi Bag of Suck. Little did I know that the same professors held me to such a high standard while up there and one day the male professor got upset that I didn't attend any other event but classes. I had no idea it was that necessary. I couldn't just stop the love I had for skateboarding just to adhere to someone else's plan for my life. That's also around the time I knew that College wasn't for me. Long story short it led me to know I had SVT-WPW. Then years later after being off the board I found out that I need to have surgery for it through hospitalizations.
As I'm writing this, I'm itching to go skate. I forget sometimes that I have the chance to skate again until I think about it. I believe it was a necessary pause in my skateboarding journey. If God didn't do that for me then I'd still be pushing myself in skateboarding super hard. It's like I needed that reset to not only love it again, but for God to refocus my energy in skateboarding. It took years too. As a young man I wanted to go somewhere so hard with it; if I'm not skating to film a video then it wasn't worth my time.
Post Surgery
It wasn't until after my surgery in 2024 God laid on my heart so heavy to open this shop. Nothing was happening in any job sector I tried, and it was just such a burden to not fulfill what God wants from me. I'm still figuring it out exactly on what he wants with this shop. I do know that going through health issues has led me to be more patient with doing the groundwork needed. I don't have to go out and film a video part or go out and work a job because I got a degree and "need to use it". I'm not having to come home too exhausted to work on MDNT-OWL and I'm blessed for that. As much as the process isn't socially accepted or is maybe looked at as "bro keep dreaming". This is exactly where I feel at peace with.
Setting Up My New Board
I have not skateboarded in around 3 months. I decided to order the initial inventory that would take care of others first. I had an old Quasi 8.675 board that was just not my jam anymore. I had a 9.1in Swim Skateboards Aleve Egg that was just calling my name. The other two eggs I donated. It lived in my backseat and eventually I took the little bit of money I had at the time to buy trucks, wheels, and bearings. It's crazy how much skateboarding can alleviate stress and worry, haha alleviate..."I need to Aleve".
It came in and I set it up. Gripped it up with a 9in wide grip tape. New shop owner I should have bought 11in wide griptape. Back when I worked in a shop in 2016 we didn't even have grip that we stocked in different widths than a 9. The whole meaning of this article is to explain is to tell you how much this skateboard makes me smile. I just love the egg shape for one, it feels fun. Just as skateboarding should be. I want to say it took me 15 minutes just to get a no comply 180 on it. It's such a different feeling than the traditional popsicle. Standing on it and looking at it every time just makes me smile. I treasure this skateboard like I did with my Zero Pink Stripes board at 8 years old. I love those dudes up at Swim Skateboards. They are what skateboarding should be. I want to tell everyone reading this Happy Go Skateboarding Day! Get out there and shred! 2016 Go Skateboarding Day was the last GSD that I had the chance to skate. Now 10 years later, skateboarding is just as fun if not more fun than it was when I was 8. I am truly blessed for that.
-Nicholas Craven