The International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC), will celebrate the pure exhilaration, creativity, and spirit of one of the most influential activities in the world — by blowing off all other obligations to go skateboarding. On June 21, 2006, the 3rd Annual Go Skateboarding Day (GSD), which is recognized by skateboarders internationally as their official holiday, celebrates with a growing number of events around the globe. Go Skateboarding Day is a day not only for skateboarders to skate, but also an opportunity for those who've never been on a skateboard to grab a friend and join in.
In 2005, the largest Go Skateboarding Day event, produced by Emerica footwear, took place in Philadelphia, PA with over 2000 skateboarders taking to the streets in hope of freeing Love Park to skateboarding again. This year's largest event will take place in the streets of Chicago, where they will be building awareness for the first skate plaza proposed in a major metropolitan downtown area.
Skateboarders in California plan to take GSD to the next level this year by rallying around the IASC supported Senate Bill 1179, introduced by Senator Bill Morrow (R-Carlsbad), SB 1179 would permanently add skateboarding to the list of Hazardous Recreational Activities, granting skateboarding what is termed as “straight HRA status.” The bill would treat skateboarding in public skateparks with the same liability protections already afforded much riskier activities.
When introducing the new legislation Senator Morrow said “We provide full HRA protection to activities such as skydiving, hang gliding, motor vehicle racing, off-road motorcycling and body contact sports. It's ridiculous and discriminatory to treat skateboarding as if it is more dangerous than jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet.” The senator concluded, “It's time we stopped discriminating against skateboarders, marginalizing participants in what has become a dominant cultural activity. The State of California has an interest in encouraging, not discouraging, participation in a creative physical activity at well planned, responsibly designed skateboard parks.”
Discrimination against skateboarders reared its head during the Dwindle distribution GSD celebration at Hawthorn Skatepark in Los Angeles last year. Skateboarders were banned from skateboarding and some were arrested when too many people showed up to utilize the park.
IASC will be building on the numerous events held in countries from Portugal, to Africa, the Netherlands, Japan, England, Australia, Canada, and many more. The buzz is already building along with the anticipation of making skateboard history on June 21, 2006.
GO SKATEBOARDING DAY is currently posting on MySpace.com.
