VENICE, Calif. — While many Southern California beaches are known for their waves, one beach in particular is known for the flow and motion of something else. Spectrum News visited Venice Beach, home to Venice Skate Park, where one local said its history of surfers turned skateboarders helped skateboarding shift from a toy to a culture — and now, an Olympic sport
“The more you learn about skateboarding, the more you realize how important the Venice, Santa Monica area is, which we call ‘Dogtown,’” said Pat Ngoho, a skateboarder who grew up in the area and helped design the 16,000-square-foot skate park that opened to the public in 2009. “It has a very distinct history that goes back to early 70s with the surfers who became skateboarders. Particularly Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Stacey Peralta and guys like Jeff Ho and Craig Stecyk.”
Ngoho has been skateboarding since he was 7-years-old, experiencing the beginning of the sport taking off in his own hometown. While Ngoho participates in skateboarding competitions all over the world, he always returns home to Venice Beach, a place he describes as a Bohemian art beach town.
“There’s no real experience like skating on the beach, where you’re looking at the waves in Southern California with a free-spirited environment like Venice,” he said.
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Watch the Spectrum News 1 special “Swell Beaches” at 9 p.m. on July 6 and 7 to find out what makes Southern California’s coast so special.