by Suzi Taylor
From the 1997-98 4-H Clover Project Selection Guide

Skateboarding is your life.

But there's nowhere for you to go. The businesses downtown chase you away. The cops write you a ticket. And your parents just think you're crazy. So what's a kid supposed to do?

Well, why not create

America's First 4-H Skateboarding Club

The first thing you notice is the noise. It's awfully loud, this din of skateboard wheels cruising over cement floors, screeching to a halt, barrelling up ramps and then scream ing through the air and landing with a crunch. Oh yeah, it's loud, baby, it's loud.

But that sound of wheels and bodies is music to the ears of Gallatin County skate boarders who, up until just a few months ago, had very few places to skate without being yelled at or handed a ticket.

That is, until 4-H stepped into the picture.

Todd Kesner, Gallatin County 4-H Extension agent, first contacted Jay Moore, owner of World Boards, Inc., a Bozeman snowboard and skateboard shop, after Jay was inter viewed about the plight of local skateboarders with no place to skate. Jay put Todd in touch with the right people, and soon, with a few dedicated volunteers, an army of willing skateboarders, and the concrete floors of the Gallatin County Fairgrounds, the 4 -H Skateboarding Club came to life.

Jeremy Adamich, a 23-year-old World Boards employee, and his roommate, 22-year -old Travis Bos, were key figures in forming the club. Both were avid skaters, and like many of the new skateboard club members, knew nothing about 4-H.

Todd gave the two a crash course in 4-H history, tradition and policies, and they started signing up members. "We're getting a lot of kids involved in 4-H who never would have known about it," said Adamich.

The club is for all skateboarders, from beginners to experts. Members pay 4-H dues, attend regular meetings and promise to uphold the 4-H pledge. As the club progresses, Jeremy says, the educational component of 4-H will be stressed more. "This can't just be an open skateboard jam," he laughs.

Future meetings will include lessons on skateboard techniques, history and safety, followed by practice and skills assessment. Travis and Jeremy recently created a skate boarding curriculum book filled with facts, vocabulary and profiles of famous skate boarders.

Both Jeremy and Travis emphasize that the most important part of the experience has been creating a way to help younger skateboarders. "I never had anything like this," 

4-H Skateboarding Curriculum book

• some general info about 4-H and the skateboarding project
• tips for leaders
• checklists for 7 different levels of skating (Beginner, intermediate street skills, intermediate ramp skills, advanced street, advanced ramp, expert street, expert ramp)
• each checklist includes knowledge, safety, equipment and riding. For example, to complete the advanced street riding level, you must do: 180 ollies in every direction, fake ollie and nollie while rolling, kickflip on flat ground, 50/50 grind on a slider box or slider bar, etc.

• how a tree becomes a skateboard
• info about skateboarding equipment, hardware, wheels, bearings
• styles of skateboards from 1950-1997
• bios of skaters of the year 1975-present
• how to start your own club (insurance, building a trailer, etc.)
• designs for ramps, parks and trailers
• glossary

To order this book, send $5 plus $2 shipping to
Todd Kesner, Gallatin County Extension Office, 901 N. Black,
Bozeman, MT 59717

or e-mail Todd for more information: acxtk@montana.edu