Skateboarding has always represented “the restless soul of suburban youth.” Growing up in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, skateboarding was a daily part of my life. It was my transportation, my sport of choice, my social doorway and my creative canvas (both in the way I skated and the way I chose to decorate my board).

As I have grown older and matured in my tastes, skateboarding has also grown older and matured – from an underground activity that kids undertook when the surf was poor to a multi-million dollar marketing tool that is now an international sport. Yes, it is now a sport, with competitions, sponsorships and legitimate athletes.

Part of my psyche cringes at this realization. Something that felt so personal and my own is now universal and accessible by the masses. What was once misunderstood by everyone under a certain age and social status (i.e. my parents and teachers), is now just another media darling and merchandising juggernaut.

It is in this moment of despair that I find a new view on my love of skateboarding. Of all the unlikely places for skateboarding to take hold, East Africa takes the cake. In the Republic of Uganda sits Kitintale Skate, the only skatepark in Africa. It is handmade in a not too dissimilar fashion to the way my friends and I would make them when we were young. The ramps are created from the unused scraps of the local terrain. In true skater fashion, they are graffitied, taking on a life and personality of their own. Because of their uniqueness, they attract the local neighborhood kids, onlookers and strange gazes. This is skateboarding at its core. Being different because you are, embracing what you love, taking a chance and making it happen because it’s in your nature. Skateboarding is still the “restless soul of youth”, but it is no longer confined to suburbia.

Photography credits: Yann Gross (http://www.yanngross.com/kitintale.htm)