Skateboarding at Venice Beach, California

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Skateboarding at Venice Beach, California

Go Skateboarding Day has been celebrated since 2004, and is intended to promote and encourage the unique athletic skills that skateboarders possess. The sport caught on with surfers in California in the late 1940s and early ‘50s, as a way to ‘surf’ when the waves of the Pacific weren’t rolling in big enough to support traditional surfing. Today, it’s a professional sport and a major industry. But don’t let that diminish the charm of thrilling skatepark scenes like this, where skaters can hone their skills the same way ball fields are full of hopeful athletes.