The skating scene in Ghana reflects the rapid expansion and youthful energy of its capital city, Accra. One of its main progenitors is Sandy Alibo, along with the members of Surf Ghana, a collective of locally based skateboarders, surfers, and creatives. In 2016, Sandy founded Surf Ghana, inspired by her passion for skating and her experience supporting extreme sports management in Europe.
Words By Richaela Iyanti
“I worked for several years in Europe’s extreme sports industry and I saw the benefits of introducing sports to youth and how it can encourage them to gain confidence [and] empowerment, and increase their well-being,” Alibo said, explaining her belief in board sports as a force for social change.
Surf Ghana has three main goals:
1) Democratizing access to skateboarding and other board sports for all Ghanaians,
2) Providing opportunities for Ghana’s youth to practice board sports, and
3) creating Ghana’s first safe and well-built skatepark.
“Surf Ghana wants to use the practice of skateboarding, surfing, and board sports as a stepping stone for education, social inclusion, and empowerment of all young people in Ghana,” Alibo added. Since its inception, Surf Ghana has built awareness for this mission by setting up skate clinics and competitions at local music and art festivals.
The Birth of Skate Tour GH
One of biggest events organized by Surf Ghana, however, is its first multi-city tour, Skate Tour GH, which launched in 2018. Skate Tour GH introduces skateboarding to youth from all different ages, backgrounds, and areas, through a mix of skate lessons, competition, music, and art. Skate Tour GH also aims to provide a supportive learning community for kids. “The kids learn really fast,” Alibo said. “We share smiles, laughs and happiness with kids, who sometimes don’t go to school and work already. I love the way they get addicted to practicing skateboarding and teaching each other five minutes after they’ve learned.”
Last year, Skate Tour GH taught a total of 600 kids from all areas of Accra to skate, as well as from cities as far away as, Busua, Cape Coast, and Kumasi. Skate Tour GH 2019 is shaping up to be even more successful, thanks to a sponsorship from Vans. The tour’s ambitious goals for 2019 is for Surf Ghana members to teach 1000 boys and girls to skate, across 800 kms of terrain and 9 villages, in just 14 days!
Women and Skateboarding in Ghana
While Surf Ghana’s programs cater to skaters of all demographics, they especially encourage women to become more involved in skateboarding, via their local outreach and tours. Alibo said that, “Women skateboarding in Ghana are few, but at every tour stop we invite all the girls and women to try. Men from our collective totally support this idea and in every contest, they call on women to participate.” Because skating is very new to Ghana, she added, support for both women and men participating in it pretty even.
Skate Tour GH is building a strong foundation for the future development of skateboarding and other action sports in Ghana, which carries social benefits far beyond just getting exercise, Alibo said. Skating builds confidence, and provides Ghanaian youth with a positive and inclusive social activity.
“We believe this project has a huge positive impact in the Ghanaian community and above all has encouraged the youth to practice board sports.,” she concluded. If you are interested in helping Alibo and the Surf Ghana collective reach more kids with Skate Tour GH, and achieve their goal of building Ghana’s first high-quality skatepark, support their campaign.
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Richaela Iyanti is a writer from Brooklyn, NY who focuses on the experiences of women and people of African descent in skateboarding and action sports culture. She enjoys skating and thinks Getting Nowhere Faster is a skate vault classic. Keep up with her on Twitter.
Photos courtesy of Joshua Odamtten (@ganyobi1), @arnzechukwu, and @rooky_rider. Here are a few bonus shots:
