Neo Mohlakoane, 19, has been skating for the past six years.
Johannesburg - Summer House Thrift Joint skaters club in Dobsonville, Soweto, recently celebrated its first anniversary.
Skating was the one thing some youngsters could do during those Alert Level-5 hard lockdown days to stay sane. Even though they were in contravention of the lockdown rules, they say being locked up at home was just not possible.
Koketso Poho, the founder of the club, arranged a small gathering to celebrate the milepost. Several skateboard fanatics gathered at the Dorothy Nyembe Park in support of this milestone.
Poho admits that their story follows the normal narrative that skating keeps the youth off the streets. He says this is not, however, the focus of the club. It is rather focused on skate skills development and being on the street in a creative way.
“This is time-out from the books,” says Neo Mohlakoane, 19, who has been skating for the past six years. She is a higher education sophomore and arranged an “accidental success” when she sent out an invitation a few months ago for a small group of friends to gather at the Milpark skate park. Mohlakoane says hundreds of skate enthusiasts rocked up “to my surprise” and “this just shows how we wanted to be in the street”.
Her inspirations are Zeke and Luther, the stars of a US sitcom about two youngsters who set out to become the best skateboarders in the world.
Says Ntokozo Mono, 17, who has been skating for the last two years in and around Zola, Soweto: “My inspiration is my aunt.”
She found much guidance in the group, who are also her friends.
The group skate to the sounds of rock music, and even though most of them don’t say much about the costs of this sport, it seems heavy on the pocket, as they all “ooh” and “aah” when a fellow skater looses a wheel while performing a trick.
“We don’t even know each other if you don’t see the board, we are family when skateboarding together,” says Mandla Nkosi, 15, a skater since two years ago, around Snake Park, Dobsonville, Soweto. When asked about electronic hover boards, he says there is no creativity, no excise and just no camaraderie.
“Don’t look at us as the same WhatsApp group,” he says.
Happy Anniversary. Skate on.
The Star
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