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18 thursday july 4 2002 economist sun stouffville tribune sports boarding craze in full flight byjohncudmore staff writer give a kid some stairs a handrail or street curb throw in a set of wheels and chances are you have a happy skateboarder unless hes into quarter and halfpipes in which case hes more into vert funny lot teenagers these days on the upside at least those community- access playthings dont cost parents a cent but do you really want your kid sailing toptobottom down a flight of stairs in the name of expressing himself but hey dude how are you gonna stop em once theyve made up their minds the skateboarding craze is in full flight no matter if the venue is a sidewalk or custommade facili ty such as the evolution skatepark that opened for business last sum mer at the vaughan sports village find a smooth surface throw in objects around which to ride jump and perform tricks and there is potential for skateboarders heck give a kid a stairwell and hes in business it is the xgenerations contri bution to sport derived from ven tures into other socalled extreme sports very individual un-main- line nonconfrontational yet competitive as kids invent and copy each others moves and make up their own all with a very evi dent west coast strut vert skating a form of skating similar to olympicstyle snow- boarding is starting to get hot again big in the 1980s its biggest rpadblock is space though thats no problem at the 20000-square- foot complex in vaughan where the centrepiece is an 1112foot halfpipe guaranteed to make the step in life seems likely to be a wrecking ball should the craze fade vert is a little more scary said christian scenna part of a group vying to bring a permanent year- round skateboard park to newmarket you have a 12foot pipe and five feet of air under neath and that can be intimidat ing but i think going down an eightstair stairway is scary too kids are willing to go to great limits to prove themselves and are doing some crazy stuff file photo the evolution skatepark in vaughan is a mecca for skateboarders stouffville has its own park and markham is planning one blood rush to any boarders head psst dont tell the kids but par ents think the supervised facility is cool because of a mandatory hel met policy actually the vaughan facility differs from typical skateparks in that its wood construction can be easily altered to create variety from year to year and meet shifting interests in the sport most parks are concrete monsters whose next but i think going down an eightstair stairway is scary too kids are willing to go to great limits to prove themselves and are doing some crazy stuff to the uninitiated it might seem like splitting hairs but those in the know are quick to acknowl edge there is a difference between the two modes for some reason kids are more willing to throw themselves down a flight of stairs acknowl edged brian stier manager ofwest 49 a retail franchise at upper canada mall catering to the cloth ing and equipment needs of skate boarders to me a halfpipe is intimidating the comparisons between skateboarding and snowboarding one of the hottest things on hills these days are obvious see ramp page 19 kathleen griffin been there done that cute pro nice day golf cant be too bad right off the bat ill confess ive never really liked golf ive always believed mark twains adage the game is a good way to ruin a nice walk maybe its because i could never get away from my hockey shot no matter how i swung the club the ball invariably went straight along the ground to the guffaws of friends and family besides the occasional game of minigolf with my son i havent touched a club in years until last week thats when i took a lesson from cpga pro david spylo at the beautiful angus glen golf club in unionville nice course cute pro it couldnt be that bad and it wasnt in fact golf is one of the few sports most anybody can play and play for life you dont have to be an athlete you dont even have to be in good shape lucky for me its a lifetime sport for all shapes sizes and ages mr spylo said some people think it can be stuffy but its really just a classy environment its not about competitiveness its more see one page 19 f10c c j itfc 4j s3fcww i visit our location to view our new summer collection 4981 highway 7 e markham across from markville 9059469738