BY FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ
According to historians of the sport, skateboarding was probably born or invented sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s, when California surfers wanted something to do when there wasn’t much activity in the water. They called it “sidewalk surfing” – and while no one knows exactly who made the first board, it seems that several people came up with similar ideas around the same time.
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The first manufactured skateboards were ordered by a Los Angeles surf shop whose owner, Bill Richard, made a deal with the Chicago Roller Skate Company to produce sets of skate wheels, which they attached to small and square wooden boards. It has been said that early skateboarders copied and used surfing-style maneuvers and, like surfing, would ride the skateboards barefoot.
The popularity of skateboarding continued growing and three years ago it was introduced as a competitive sport at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Before that, the X Games featured it on their list of competitive events. Before then, many people did not consider skateboarding a sport even though it demands physical skill, a combination of balance, coordination, and strength as well as creativity and innovation of tricks and maneuvers.
Locally, Los Cabos has several young up-and-coming talented skateboarders who competed at the CONADE and FEMEPAR Mexico National Championships on September 1-3, in Mexico City.
Tláloc Mondragón is considered the best in our Southern Baja California Region. FEMEPAR (The Mexican Federation of Roller Skates) is the national government’s branch that oversees the skateboarding sport in Mexico.
For three consecutive days, Mondragón and our other local skateboarding athletes were in an intense competition that tested their skills on the skateboard, and while none of the Los Cabos contingents came away with a medal for their efforts, our BCS Region was well represented and the future looks bright for this group of skateboarding kids.
In March, Mondragón was victorious at the Interassociation Skateboarding Championship in Guadalajara. Then, during the first week of June, Mondragon achieved an even more notable achievement by winning the silver medal at the CONADE Nationals.
Ramsés Mondragón coaches his son and has complete confidence in his abilities. He does not doubt Mondragón’s ability will continue to proudly represent Los Cabos when he competes outside of Baja California Sur.
“My goal is to compete professionally, to participate in the Street Leagues, and go to the United States,” said Mondragón.
