Testing their tricks

~ Nearly 40 skateboarders will compete Saturday; the sponsor hopes the contest will improve the reputation of skateboarders.

James Franklin has spent most of the past 15 years of his life being harassed.

Business owners constantly shooed Franklin off their sidewalks and parking. A police officer once confiscated his skateboard while he was skating on a Southeast Missouri State University parking lot.

There was no place to skateboard without getting harassed, said Franklin.

The 24-year-old said he finally found a place where he wasn't harassed when the skateboard park opened in Jackson City Park almost one year ago. At the park he could practice grinding on rails, jumping off ramps and hang out with friends who shared his passion -- skateboarding.

"I'm either at work, asleep or skating," says the message on Franklin's cell phone.

"Yep, that's pretty much all I do," he said. "... It's my life."

Franklin will have an opportunity to test his skateboarding skills when he and 37 other local skateboarders participate in the first-ever skateboarding competition at 9 a.m. Saturday at Jackson's skatepark. The competition is sponsored by JNP Accessories, 821 Broadway in Cape Girardeau.

Skateboarding competitions are unlike any other type of sporting event, said Johnny Carter, owner of JNP Accessories. "It's more of an individual competition, and it allows the skateboarder to be as creative as he wants to."

Saturday each contestant will be given one minute to skate on the park's ramps and rails. Three judges will evaluate the contestant on the number and difficulty of tricks performed, speed and creativity, Carter said.

The contest will have two age groups: 14 and under and 15 and over. The youngest skater is 7-year-old Hunter Walker of Scott City. The oldest is Franklin. No girls have entered the contest.

"It's more of a male-dominated sport, but there are a few girls in the area who skate," Carter said.

Franklin's been trying to land a new trick since signing up for the competition in February. "I've tried to put a nice little run together," he said. "But I'll probably end up just going out there to have fun."

Skateboarder stereotypes

Carter hopes the skateboard competition will be held annually. He also hopes the publicity about the competition will give skateboarders more of a positive reputation.

"There's this whole stereotype of skateboarders being bad people, and I've been dealing with it my whole life," Franklin said.

"Skateboarding takes real dedication, and you've just got to deal with the reputation," he said. "I don't let it bother me."

Shane Anderson, Jackson's parks and recreation director, said the skatepark has been an overwhelming success since opening June 5, 2005. The park is often filled with 10 to 20 skateboarders.

While several skating accidents have occurred at the park, Anderson said all have been minor.

Discussions about building a skatepark in Jackson began in 2000 when parks department and city officials saw a high amount of interest of skateboarding and inline skating in the area.

Cape Girardeau's skatepark in Missouri Park at Fountain Street and Park Drive was built in 2003. But it wasn't until April 2004 that funding was secured for the Jackson skatepark.

The 4,800-square-foot park was made possible by donations totaling $60,000 from Jackson's two Optimist clubs. Jackson High School's Family Career and Community Leaders of America group donated another $1,681.

When the original design was introduced at a city council meeting in spring 2004, skateboarders objected to the plan. They said the proposed park would not hold their interest for long.

Jackson officials then created a skateboard park committee that included as many as 25 local skateboarders. Over 10 meetings during summer 2004, skateboarders modified the original plan, selected specific equipment and chose the location of the obstacles.

In the end, the Jackson skatepark was built with several 18- to 20-foot-wide ramps and an island with rails, stairs and a drop.

Skateboarder Tommy Jones, 19, said the park is the best in the area but he would like to see it grow. "I don't think the Jackson skatepark is up to par," he said, "and it could use some more stuff."

The park's popularity has sparked talk of adding on. "It's been so well received that we're definitely looking at expanding it," Anderson said.

The United States has an estimated 25 million skaters and 700 skateparks. In 1996, there were only 12 skateparks.

"There is a very high interest in skateboarding in this area, and it's growing in popularity. It's not a surprise that our skatepark is heavily used," Anderson said.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246