The True History of Skateboarding in Portugal Chapter III – First decades of the new millennium
Exclusive of Site Nacional de Skate
The True History of Skateboarding in Portugal
Chapter III – First decades of the new millennium
In 2001, the second Portuguese skateboarding website created by the photographer Vasco Neves appeared, “skatebyte.com” which dedicated itself to promoting almost exclusively the “Radical Skate Clube” and some people who were close to it.
Unfortunately, the site only lasted a few years, perhaps because it didn’t publicize the portuguese skateboarding scene, and/or it lived off of support that, when it disappeared, led to the quiting of the project by those who created.
After “skatebyte.com” disappeared from the air, sitenacionaldeskate.pt was once again alone in promoting the reality of the Portuguese skateboarding, being the only one that has remained on the air since 1994 without any type of support/sponsorship to this day.
THE FIRST PORTUGUESE PROFESSIONAL SKATER
In 2003 the dream finally became reality, and Portugal got its first Professional Skater,it was Ricardo Fonseca.
The status of Pro Skater was something that seemed impossible for a Portuguese person to obtain, since at the time becoming a Professional was only possible in America.
But the emergence of the French brand “Cliché Skateboards” in 1997, created by Jeremie Daclin that same year, gave Europeans the opportunity to also become professionals. Ricardo Fonseca was also five-time national champion.
In 2002, a skate magazine, “Difere”, appeared, created by Artur Casaca, a pioneer in the construction of skateparks (his first skatepark was built in 1994). Difere lasted a few years and had few copies. After the disappearance of “Difere”, another magazine soon appeared.
In 2006, a skate magazine called “ONSK8” appeared, which remained in that format until 2011.
In 2012, “ONSK8” was on stand-by, returning later on May 1, 2013, adopting a more digital format through the onsk8 website.
“ONSK8” was also a for-profit commercial project by the company MAGIC MILK SHAKE – PRODUAÇÃO AUDIOVISUAL, LDA (Cascais), and as expected the website remained faithful to the old magazine, focusing on the street skateboarding scene, highlighting nationally mostly personalities and “stars” in accordance with the company’s editorial criteria.
In 2009 Ruben Rodrigues managed to become the 2nd Portuguese Professional Skateboarder, thus showing that Ricardo Fonseca’s case was not unique.
Ruben represented Portugal in numerous international competitions, the best known of which was the Tampa Pro.
Ruben was a four-time national champion, and is considered the best Portuguese skater of all time, he has a very high technical level and after Ricardo Fonseca, he was the Portuguese Skater who raised Portugal’s flag the most at an international level.
In 2010, “Formiga Sk8 Clube” emerged, which had a partnership with U.D.R. da Formiga, existing since 1969 (theres’s the name of the club, and now enjoying the status of existence of U.D.R. da Formiga), created by the founder of the Site Nacional de Skate (Ricardo Breda) who already had many years of experience in skateboarding in Portugal.
The “Formiga Sk8 Clube” boosted skateboarding in the north of Portugal through several championship-style events, established partnerships with local authorities, created skateboarding classes in the “Valongo Mexe Comigo” program in 2010, and made many skaters from the north known never eard before.
In 2011, for the first time, the north had a skateboard circuit, called “Circuito de Street do Norte”, created by “Formiga Sk8 Clube” which had 3 stops:
- 1st stop Valongo 14 may 2011
- 2ns stop Maia 16 july 2011
- 3rd stop Ermesinde 30 julho 2011
In April 2012, the “Formiga Sk8 Clube” had all types of activities on standby also due to the lack of support, but since then it has continued to travel to Municipalities, Parish Councils, and Youth Houses in the north of Portugal, promoting skateboarding and fighting for the construction of more infrastructures by entities duly equipped with the technical knowledge to do so.
In the same year of 2010, a free distribution magazine for commercial purposes appeared, called “SURGE”.
It focuses on the sport of street skateboarding, and highlights nationally mainly personalities and “stars” in accordance with its editorial criteria.
In 2013, a new Skate Association emerged that revolutionized skateboarding in the south of Portugal, “Skape”, created by Architect Luis “ninja” Fortes.
The Association uses Skateboarding as a tool for social inclusion, and works with some Institutions proposing to occupy some of the time of institutionalized young people by teaching them how to skateboard.
Above all, promoting skateboarding to society, showing that it is not a marginal activity and helping the neediest young people, creating conditions for them to practice a sport.
Some flyers from “Skape” competitions/events
Newspaper clipping from Intendente Skate Jam
In 2017 we have another Skater becoming Professional, the Portuguese-Brazilian Thaynan Costa for the American brand “Enjoi Skateboards”.
Note: To date, no Portuguese person has managed to become a Professional through Portuguese brands as they reveal that they have no financial interest in supporting this career.
In general, support for skateboarding in Portugal is negligible or even null, with huge discrepancies between different areas of the country, with some Local Authorities favoring the promotion of Public Spaces, even forming Public Private Partnerships with companies with business sectors related to the practice of Skateboarding, while other Local Authorities simply prefer to continue ignoring the potential of this Olympic sport.
