Skate Parks: discover the best options in São Paulo

One of the most popular sports in Brazil has now been named an Olympic sport at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and the sport has gained even more fans. The sport is practiced mainly among young people, especially in large Brazilian cities. And in the city of São Paulo, it could not be different. In this article, we will tell you a little about how and where the sport began, how it arrived in Brazil and the city of São Paulo and, most importantly, where you can find a good skate park in São Paulo.

Emergence

The practice of skateboarding emerged between the 1950s and 1960s in the state of California, in the United States, where there were many surfers, a sport typical of beach towns.

The goal of creating skateboarding was to find an alternative to continue practicing the elements of surfing when the sea was not in good shape.

When it first appeared, the sport was called sidewalk surfing, something like sidewalk surfing. It soon took over the USA.

And, of course, the sport quickly stopped being practiced only by surfers, but also became popular in cities where there was no sea and surfing itself was impossible, due to the geographical location.

Shortly after, under the influence of magazines from outside the country, young Brazilian surfers also began to practice “surfinho”.

This was the name the practice gained when it arrived in Brazil and practitioners used a type of wooden board with rubber or metal wheels.

According to the Brazilian Skateboarding Confederation, some of the first practitioners of the sport in Brazil gathered at the Skate square in the Sumaré neighborhood, West Zone of São Paulo.

From then on, skateboarding became popular in Brazil and until Rayssa Leal made history at the 2020 Olympics, names like Sérgio Fortunato de Paula, at the end of the 70s, Bob Burnquist, Luan de Oliveira, Sandro Dias and, more recently, Letícia Bufoni collected titles won around the world.

Data on sport in the country

According to data from the Brazilian Skate Confederation, the last Datafolha survey on the sport was carried out in 2015 and, in addition, it indicated the Southeast region as having the largest number of skaters: at least 14% of the households surveyed had a practitioner.

The Brazilian average is 11% and the Northeast region had the lowest percentage in Brazil: 7% of households had a skateboarder.

In total numbers, according to the research, the estimate was 8.4 million practitioners across the country, with 41% of practitioners concentrated in the metropolitan regions of Brazilian states.

Age range and gender of practitioners

As for skateboarders aged 16 or over, the number jumped from 5% to 10% of the total number of people who practice the sport, between 2009 and 2015. This rate should currently be much higher.

Young people aged 11 to 15 make up almost 40% of all skateboarders in the country. The average age of skateboarders is 15. Of these, according to the survey, 81% are men and 19% are women. The lowest average age is in the Northeast, where the average is 10 years old.

The Northeast has the lowest number of women practicing the sport, at just 15%. The North and Central/West regions have the highest number of female skateboarders, at 27%, almost a third of the total number of practitioners.

Social class

The majority of practitioners in total numbers, according to the research, belong to Class C, which saw considerable growth in the total number of participants, rising from 33% in 2009 to 48% of the total in the country in 2015.

However, taking into account the social and economic division of the Brazilian population, most of the practitioners are still concentrated in classes A and B. Taking into account that the population of classes A and B is smaller in the country, they still represent 44% of skateboarders in Brazil.

This profile changes a little in the Northeast region of the country, where almost 60% of practitioners belong to class C.

From sport to lifestyle

Since the arrival of “surfinho” in Brazil until today, the practice has become a “lifestyle” and not just a sport. Practitioners have their own way of speaking, interacting, dressing and expressing themselves.

For many, like graffiti and other cultural expressions, it has become a way to fight against prejudice and express themselves freely around the city, since skateboarding can be practiced almost everywhere in the city. This, in fact, is a challenge for skateboarders.

Many skateboarders, in fact, like to go to “spots”, where there are not necessarily tracks suitable for skateboarding, but the elements of urban architecture serve as obstacles for practicing skateboarding tricks.

Best free slopes and “spots” in São Paulo

Currently, there are dozens of tracks and “spots” for skateboarding distributed throughout the city of São Paulo, which today is the place where there is certainly the largest concentration of practitioners of the sport in the country.

Several specialized portals and magazines searched for and listed several places considered the best or preferred by São Paulo skateboarders for practicing.

Here, we have brought you some of these places, tracks, squares and parks where sports enthusiasts gather in the capital. Not all of them are places created specifically for practicing the sport, but they are widely used by practitioners.

Vans Skatepark Track

It has an area of ​​830 m², as well as walls that reach up to 3 meters high, excellent for practicing park skates. Skaters have access to transfers, handrails and edges as obstacles. The track has an internationally recognized quality standard.

Zilda Natel Park

The place is also known by skateboarders as Pista da Sumaré. With more than 2,000 m² of area, the space has street obstacles, such as ramps, stairs, as well as handrails, in addition to a half pipe, banks, funbox, savannah and bowl .

Cathedral Square

The grand staircase at the entrance to the cathedral has always been a challenging spot for skateboarders. In 1978, the square was given the famous pyramid, which is often featured in skateboarding magazines and videos. The square also has many ledges and staircases of various sizes, with narrow strips of smooth ground, which are great for challenging skateboarders.

Roosevelt Square

After much competition between skaters who never stopped using the area and local residents, in 2014 the square gained an exclusive space for skateboarding, that is, with obstacles adapted for the practice. Stairs, handrails, gaps, benches, edges of different heights, and many options once again make Praça Roosevelt one of the main skateboarding spots in Brazil.

Paulista Avenue

Brazil's most famous avenue, São Paulo's biggest landmark, is also a huge amusement park for skateboarders. With smooth 10-meter-wide sidewalks on both sides of the avenue, skateboarding is a popular activity along the entire street. Many people who work in the area have adopted skateboarding as a means of transportation, not to mention the skateboarders who gather in specific spots on the avenue with “legal” natural obstacles for skateboarding. In addition, the avenue is closed to cars on Sundays from 9 am to 5 pm, which allows skateboarding on spots that were previously impossible due to traffic.

Independence Park

For those who love downhill, it is a must to go down the slope at the bottom of Parque da Independência . Despite not having a track, it has become a hotspot for the city's skateboarders. The city government is planning to build a skate park there.

Extreme sports center

The Extreme Sports Center has a mini U-shaped skate park, benches, a bowl with a 90-degree incline, and a Skate Park with ramps and stairs. The space is 38,000 m² and has other attractions for those who enjoy pakour, BMX, gymnastics, and walking.

Youth Park

Parque da Juventude has a track that is ideal for beginners to skateboard, with an exclusive area for these people. More experienced skaters can practice street and vertical skateboarding. It is also where Pista do Chorão is located, named after the ever-remembered lead singer of the band Charlie Brown Jr.

Mooca skate park

The development of the project, as well as the supervision of the construction of this space, had the participation of professional skateboarders from the region. The street area and the bowl are some of the most fun places to skate in the city. In addition to having some of the most modern obstacles, the track has the best shade, provided by the huge trees of the old club where the spot was built.

Chácara do Jockey Skate Park

Opened in 2016, the skate park has a complete street area, as well as a beautiful bowl spread over a space of 1,400 square meters. The place has already hosted important professional competitions, such as the Vans Waffle Series and the Oi Stu Qualifying Series. People know the track for the quality of the obstacles and the good structure of the park, which also includes soccer fields.

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