Bruises, cuts, a dislocated joint, fracture or a swollen head.
MEET Ador, a typical 13-yearold who shows his peers that balancing school work and a hobby is possible.
These are just a few terrible “might-happens” to a skateboarder. But for 13-year-old Chris Ador Flores, all these, once experienced, will make a well-refined skateboarder.
For Ador, a grade eight student of the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR), everyday is a skateboarding day.
“Skateboarding is unique and fun. Although dangerous, it urges you to achieve more,” said this young skateboarder.
Skateboarding, according to www. exploratotium.edu, is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard. It can also be considered a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation.
He said that his hobby started when he was growing up in their hometown in Barili. He was in grade five when he went to his classmate’s house and borrowed a wave board, which had two wheels. Then he started strolling… and then bang! He experienced his first fall.
“Nag-sige ko ug tukod sa wall unya wa ko kabantay nga wala na’y wall. Mao to na diretso ko sa euforbia plant and then after nag-sige nalang ko ug panangtang sa mga tunok (I started skateboarding and just held on to the wall and I didn’t notice there wasn’t any wall anymore to hold on to for support, then I fell on a thorny plant. I just got up and spent the rest of my time removing the thorns from my skin),” Ador said, recalling the first time he got on a skateboard.
Later on, he started getting the hang of it and learned to use the wave board and right there, his hobby started.
He cannot borrow his classmate’s wave board everyday so when his birthday came the following year, he asked for a skateboard. His wish was granted when his family bought him a shopboard, a term skaters use for skateboards bought in the mall.
From then on, everyday indeed became a skateboarding day for Ador.
For a while, his father, Cresente Edralin Flores, kept him from skateboarding but later on, he understood that its really Ador’ passion and he will always find a way to skate.
“After mag-skateboard, mag-study man ko for three hours (After skateboarding, I would study for three hours),” he said.
He also researched on skateboarding and said that he learned much of what he knows through practice and experience. The Ollie trick was the first skateboarding trick he learned, where a skateboarder tries to jump away from the skateboard and then lands on it again.
“When I skate, I tend to forget my depression and family problems. Whether I’m sad or happy, I skate. But it’s more of expressing myself,” Ador said, adding that skateboarding helps him forget the longing for his mother, who passed away when he was only two years old.
When he skates on a plain spot, he looks for an obstacle because he really wants to be challenged.
“To the kids who want to learn, if they can’t afford a skateboard, just borrow one because a skateboard can be expensive,” Ador said, pointing to one of his own, which costs P2,000.
TRICKS. Skateboarders flaunt their skills during the Go Skateboarding Day held in SM City Cebu last June 21.
He added that one should have the confidence to learn skateboarding, saying fear would not make learning possible.
In the future, Ador sees himself opening a skateboard shop or anything that has to do with skateboarding.
In his crew of seven who take their spot in front of the Holy Rosary School of Pardo, Ador is the youngest.
“Si Ador, maningkamot gyud na siya sa skuyla ug skate. Mas ganahan mi ing-ana nga bata nga naa’y hobby unya maningkamot sad sa skwela. Lingaw tudluan si Ador unya buotan kaayo. Mutahod jud (Ador strives to do well in school as he pursues his hobby, that’s what we like about him. We always have fun teaching him, he’s always nice to everyone and he respects his peers),” fellow skater Joshua Bloron said of Ador.
They also skate in Consolacion, Mandaue, Hoops Dome, Plaza Independencia, and on the sidewalk of major thoroughfares such as Osmena Blvd. in Cebu City.
“We’re urging local government units to open a skate park that is why we signed a petition pushing for it during the Go Skateboarding Day,” Ador said during the annual Go Skateboarding Day held in SM City Cebu last June 21.
And yes, later tonight, Ador will again be skateboarding because for him, only skateboarding can complete his day, never mind if he goes home with bruises, cuts, fracture or a swollen head.