Taking air

Joshua Johnson’s dedication to skateboarding won him the praise of the professionals who came to the city for the Sk8 skating demo at Prince Arthur’s Landing.

The 15-year-old was showing some of his moves at Saturday’s event. The event, hosted by Ecl-ec-tic Skateboard Shop, had professional skateboarders from Winnipeg come in to the city to showcase some of their moves and provide some tips for some of the youth.

But it was Johnson that caught their attention and their praise.

Johnson said he decided to take up the sport when he was younger and hopes to make a career out of it.

“I’ve only really gotten good tricks in at the beginning of the year,” he said.

“I come (to the Marina skate park) every day or every second day. I want to get a sponsorship and go places. It was pretty awesome to get support. It was a good feeling because I can go on to do a lot of stuff.”

Angelo Daniele, 23, also participated at the skate demonstration. He started eight years ago after he played the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.

“I thought I would give it a shot,” he said.

For Daniele, skateboarding allows him to experience a sport that’s open but also provides great challenges. He said only people who are passionate about the sport stick with skateboarding.

“You have to figure out the trick, work at it and when you get it, it is very rewarding,” he said. “It teaches you good work ethics.”

John Kelly, chairman of the Thunder Bay Skateboard Collation, said they have been holding these kinds of events since the skate park opened in 2009. He said they’re trying to support the Canadian skateboarding community including selling Canadian made skateboards with proceeds going to put events like the one held over the weekend.

He said bringing in the professionals gives the youth a chance to see what can be done on a skateboard.

“When they see what a professional can do it is mind blowing,” he said. “Skateboarding is very creative and each person does it their own way. Skateboarding in general is growing. Kids don’t want to play organized sports as much. There’s no set schedule, you can do it on your own time.”