Two years ago, junior Michael Pennycook began riding longboards through the streets of Carmel. The hobby started as a fun way for Pennycook to cruise around town while hanging out with his friends.
“I thought it was a cool hobby to pick up since you can hang out with your friends and go places while performing a physical activity,” Pennycook said.

Little did he know that he was at the beginning of a trend about to take off in Carmel.

Although it technically started in Hawaii in the 1950s, longboarding, a surfing variation of skateboarding where riders can cruise, race down hills or perform tricks, became popular in California back in the 1970s. Surfers wanted an activity they could participate in when surfing conditions weren’t ideal.

What they came up with was a board with a longer and wider base than a skateboard, allowing for a more comfortable and relaxing feel like surfing. Although the hobby originated on the West Coast, many riders do not find it hard to believe longboarding reached eager participants in the Midwest.

Nate Hodorek, twelve-year longboarder and owner of Life Longboards in Warsaw, Indiana, said he always thought the hobby would reach the Midwest.

“It was catching on everywhere in the country from Maine to Montana,” Hodorek said. “Naturally since it is so fun, it would catch on here too.”

Part of the reason cities outside of the West Coast began hearing about the new hobby was how fast longboarding went viral on YouTube. In the last decade, thousands of videos were posted showing off the newest longboards, craziest tricks and fastest races. The YouTube videos inspired many potential longboarders into committing to the hobby.

Senior Trey Wetzel said he thought the YouTube videos were intriguing.

“The YouTube videos drew a large audience to the sport,” Wetzel said. “Some riders wanted to try what they were seeing on these videos.”

The videos on YouTube not only attracted an audience, but they also created a medium through which riders could compete with each other.

“Riders could submit their videos into contests or giveaways,” Wetzel said. “This created fun competition and also promoted the activity at the same time.”

With the hobby growing so quickly, the question remains if the sport can continue the same upward trend this spring. Hodorek said he thinks longboarding will continue to grow, but not at the same exponential rate.

“I think longboarding will grow, but not at the level it has in years past which is a good thing since everything can’t boom at the same time,” Hodorek said. “You don’t want to kill your favorite band by listening to them too much, so the same thing applies to longboarding.”

Pennycook agreed with Hodorek that the sport can continue its upward trend in the next few months.

“A lot of kids think longboarding is cool and, as popularity grows, so will participation,” Pennycook said.

Even if the upward trend does not continue, all three of these riders believe everyone should give the sport a chance. With similarities to snowboarding and surfing, longboarding has benefits that exceed relaxing while performing a physical activity.

“Even though the main reason I longboard is for fun, there are other benefits that come out of the activity,” Pennycook said. “It helps relieve stress and increase your balance which can help with every sport.”

Hodorek recognizes the benefits that come from longboarding, but he said, in his opinion, that the pure enjoyment of it should be enough for someone to give it a try.

“They are so easy to keep, maintain and carry around from place to place,” Hodorek said. “Simply put, longboarding is so fun, and there is nothing not to love about it.”