Juraj Jurkić, 25 years old: skateboarding is not just a sport for him, but also a real lifestyle, a way of thinking. We interview him today to discuss shortly what skateboarding means in a village like Gračac.
Author: Luana Matosevic
Can you tell something about you?
My name is Juraj Jurkić, I’m 25. I was born in Gospić, but I grew up in Gračac. Gračac is in a spacious valley in the southern Lika.
How did you get your start in skateboarding?
Growing up in a rural area, I didn’t have many activities to choose from, so I learned to ollie with my neighbour on his skateboard. I was 10 years old. After the first successful ollie, I tried to run up and do an ollie once again, but I fell and injured my knee. At that moment I felt the energy and fell in love with skateboarding. Injuries didn’t stop me from reaching the goal, of learning to skateboard. Through time I realized that it is better to learn something than nothing and that in the end, the failures paid off when I met the goal. My desire is to learn more difficult and intense tricks and become a professional skateboarder in the coming years.
Which benefits skateboarding is giving to you?
Skateboarding is not just a board and wheels; you learn much more through it. Skateboarding helped me to enjoy the real world and the nature that surrounds me and to not spend much time indoor using computer and digital tools.
What does “skating” mean to you, if you have to sum it up in only 3 words?
It would certainly be “Skateboard’s life path”.
Mention us a skateboarder that you particularly like.
All skateboarders are great, but the best one for me is Tony Hawk, born on March 12, 1968. His style is unpredictable! Besides skateboarding he is an American pensioner and the owner of a birdhouse company.
Do you think that a skatepark in Gračac would be useful for local youngsters? Why?
I think that a lot of rural areas should have a skatepark because to young people need to be presented and shown something different; maybe through falls and sprains by skateboarding, they will learn to fight better through life.
In general, I think that every rural area should have an alternative amusement park for helping to improve the quality of leisure time.
