Knees slightly bent, a tiptoe lightly touches the ground, and the skateboard under the boy's feet seems to turn into a pair of wings, soaring, spinning, and sliding freely with him. In many mainland cities, "skateboard youths" appear more and more on the streets, entering campuses and sports fields. In recent years, as skateboarding has become an Olympic event, the mainland education department has also included this sport in the physical education curriculum of compulsory education. The skateboarding sport and its related industry market have rapidly grown in the mainland. According to market institutions, there are currently millions of skateboarding enthusiasts in the mainland, over 400 skateboard clubs, more than 200 standard skateboarding venues, and the skateboard market size has reached about 4 billion yuan (RMB, same below). The future of skateboarding sport and related industries is expected to further grow rapidly. ● Hong Kong Wen Wei Po reporter Zeng Ping reports from Guangxi
Stereotypes Are Changing and School-age Students Are Increasing
"Stepping on the skateboard not only brings a sense of achievement in being able to control things, but also allows you to feel incomparable freedom while gliding and jumping." Chen, a first-year high school skateboard enthusiast, told Hong Kong Wen Wei Po reporter that as skateboarding becomes a competition in large international events such as the Asian Games and the Olympics, the public's stereotype of skateboarding as "dangerous" and "street" has also changed. "After the Asian Games last year, the number of skateboard enthusiasts increased significantly. Originally, only four or five of us were playing skateboards in the square, but now more than ten people have joined our team, forming a fixed 'skateboard friends group' to practice and play together."
More and more children of school age are also stepping onto skateboards. "Children under 10 account for more than 50% of the students in the club, with the main age group being 8-10 years." Tang Tang, the person in charge of Guilin Jike Sports Culture Development Co., Ltd. in Guangxi, told Hong Kong Wen Wei Po reporter, "On the one hand, the 'post-90s' and 'post-00s' generations are becoming parents, many of whom recognize skateboard culture and are willing to let their children try skateboarding. On the other hand, entering the Olympics has changed the previous public image of skateboarding as a 'street sport'. Mainland education departments also proposed the promotion of 'skateboarding into schools', which gave school-age teenagers the opportunity to engage with skateboarding, directly boosting its popularity among young people. According to statistics cited by CCTV Finance, in the past two years, 6 million new people have taken up skateboarding in the mainland, mainly between the ages of 8 and 12. So far, the number of skateboard enthusiasts has reached tens of millions."
High Discussion on Social Platforms, Gear Favored by Young People
In 2016, the International Olympic Committee announced that skateboarding and other sports would become events in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, bringing this niche sport into more people's view. The genes of street culture and the boost from Olympic events have gradually expanded the reach of skateboarding. In 2022, the number of skateboard brands on the mainland sports equipment e-commerce platform "Dewu" increased ninefold compared to 2020. Besides street-style skateboards and longboards, "land surfing boards" that simulate skiing and surfing on land are also very popular among young people. On the "Xiaohongshu" platform, which reflects youth consumer trends, there are over 200,000 notes related to "skateboarding," covering topics like teaching, equipment, clothing, and venues.
"The promotion of skateboarding in schools by education departments is also an important factor for its rapid development in the country." Tang Fang, a person related to the Nanning Roller Skating Association Skateboard Training Base, said that in recent years, the General Administration of Sport in various regions actively promoted the activity of "skateboarding into schools". Some cities are exploring the integration of skateboarding projects with sports and teaching, which not only makes the development of skateboarding more standardized but also enhances parents' acceptance of skateboarding, expands its audience, and boosts the development of the skateboarding industry.
'Street' Skateboarding Competitions Gain Momentum
Moreover, driven by the national team, skateboarding competitions that focus on "street" are gaining momentum, further expanding the influence of skateboarding. The Skateboarding U-Pool Tour organized by the mainland extreme sports platform "REnextop" was held in cities such as Changsha, Hunan, Kunming, Yunnan, and Beijing, providing a top-level competition platform for sports enthusiasts; the "King of the Streets" Skateboarding Open Challenge and other competitions have been held in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, and Chengdu; various city clubs also regularly host a variety of competitions. According to a skateboard market research report released by Beizhe Consulting Company, in 2023, China's skateboard market size reached 4.094 billion yuan, and it is expected that by 2029, the global skateboard market size will reach 17.691 billion yuan, with an annual compound growth rate of 3.46% during the forecast period.