If you grew up in the 90’s, there is no way you don’t know Tony Hawk. The legendary skateboarder not only innovated the sport (looking at you, 900) but has a video game series to which spoke to a whole new crowd of people. In 2002, he also established the Tony Hawk Foundation to promote healthy, active lifestyle through skateboarding.

THF recently funded a study of skateboarding culture. The key findings from the study include:

• Skateboarding improves mental health
• Skateboarding and skateparks build a sense of community
• Skateboarding encourages resilience
• The importance of race and gender: while skaters of color feel safer within the skateboarding community than in everyday context, female skaters still feel judged in both contexts.

Other research has also proven how skateboarding can help deal with trauma.

The benefits of skateboarding are continuously expressed by our NGO partners, and with some of them working with refugees and other at-risk youth who have experienced unspeakable hardships, we choose to support social skate projects specifically because it makes a difference.