This question has been debated for 50+ years…..
Most boardriders can throw and catch a football, can swing a bat and hit a baseball, they can shoot a basketball into a hoop. But most ball sport athletes cannot surf, skate or snowboard; most ball players could not even come close to performing the simplest most basic maneuvers required in boardsports. The reality is the majority of football, baseball, basketball players can’t paddle out and catch a wave, drop in on a vert ramp or carve through trees in deep powder. Considering these facts; who is really the most athletic and which activities are the most sports like? Is skateboarding a sport? The answer is ‘YES’ of course skateboarding is a sport and boardriders are athletes. More importantly they are also artist, boardriding is much more of a craft than a sport. Boardriders are not jocks they are more like artists in perpetual motion. That is why I feel the question has been debated, because boardsports are beyond sport and everyone instinctively understands that boardriders should be held at a higher realm and we all know their abilities are beyond athleticism, there is an element of spiritualism. Boardriding is something deeper than a sport and boardriders are much more complex than being defined as simple athletes. Plus, boardriders win the cool factor, there is little debate that surfers, skateboarders, snowboarders are simply cooler than ball players.

Debate reversal: “Can ball players drop in a vert ramp? If not, are they real athletes?”
This post was originally posted on Medium ‘Is Skateboarding a Sport?’