Skateboarding and academic success link

“There are skills that skateboarders believe they have learned through skating that are incredibly applicable to education,” says Corwin.
The next Olympics which will be held in Japan will have skateboarding as one of the main sport in the event. This is a sign of progress in this sports and although it has taken quite some time, it is well deserved. Skating has been popular and mainstream for the last fifty years and this move to include it has been highly welcomed by both stakeholders of the event and the skating enthusiasts.
This growth has extended to schools where a lot of students have been very active in skateboarding. It is a leisure sport, a challenge to learn and be able to socialize with their peers. These has become an after school activity in many communities with many students, enthusiasts and business people having designated areas where these kids can come and practice their trade.
Researchers have always wondered if there is any connection between skateboarding and academic performance. Skating which requires a lot of time to perfect a certain trick or a manoeuvre has always fascinated researchers with the question of if this resilience, focus and hard work can be transferred into academic.
Zoë Corwin, a college access researcher at the University of Southern California (USC), is collecting this data to find if these skills are transferred into academic. Over 5,000 students have taken surveys distributed countrywide to capture these phenomena.
“There are skills that skateboarders believe they have learned through skating that are incredibly applicable to education,” says Corwin. Corwin collected all these responses from the survey. The data collected from the survey will be submitted to college admission counsellors to show that the skills gained in skateboarding are very important in college.
The data will be released by next fall since not all the data has been analyzed. The data is expected to provide an insight into the mind of a young skater and how it influences their decision making and academics. The data is also meant to be used by college admission board as a way of gauging students in motor skills, social skills and the prospect of academic excellence of a student.