Skateboarders Converge in Anaheim

May 23, 1965 - More than 500 skateboarders turned out at Anaheim’s La Palma stadium yesterday for the first events in the two-day United States Skateboarding Championships. The competitions began at 8 a.m. yesterday, with finals slated for noon today.

Skateboarders from as far away as Japan, Mexico, New York, Texas, and Washington have entered the events, which include the downhill slalom, flatland slalom, trick performances, and figure-eight event.

Three classes for the skateboarders have been set up by National Skateboard Championships, Inc., sponsors of the contest.

Class-one competition is limited to boys through age 11, and class two will be open to males over 12 years of age. Girls of any age will compete against each other in class-three competition.

First-place winners will receive $500 university scholarships, and all finalists will be awarded trophies and medals.

Constructed in the stadium for the championships are a 150-foot-long course, from a 21-foot-high tower for the slaloms to two concrete slabs for the trick and “flat” events.

The sponsoring organization, formed in December, is the only group of its kind and has issued a rule book and safety regulations for skateboarding. 

Skateboarding was probably born sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s, when surfers in California wanted something to do when the waves were flat. 

No one knows who made the first board; it seems that several people came up with similar ideas at around the same time. 

The first manufactured skateboards were ordered by a Los Angeles surf shop, meant to be used by surfers in their downtime. The shop owner, Bill Richard, made a deal with the Chicago Roller Skate Company to produce sets of skate wheels, which they attached to square wooden boards. Accordingly, skateboarding was originally denoted “sidewalk surfing” and early skaters emulated surfing style and maneuvers and performed barefoot.

By the 1960s, a small number of surfing manufacturers in Southern California such as Jack’s, Kips’, Hobie, Bing’s, and Makaha started building skateboards that resembled small surfboards, and assembled teams to promote their products. One of the earliest skateboard exhibitions was sponsored by Makaha’s founder, Larry Stevenson, two years ago, and it was held at the Pier Avenue Junior High School in Hermosa Beach, Calif.

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