Introducing Skateboarding to Sri Lanka

Pic Courtesy of PUSH Skateboards

Skateboarding has been around for over five decades, first originating among young Californians looking for something to surf when the waves were flat.  However to Sri Lanka, it is still a somewhat novel concept, but the young and energetic duo Hash Bandara and Umanga Samarasinghe hopes to change this. Bringing their expertise in fashion and graphic designing together with skateboarding Hash and Umanga have dared to push limits. The 25-year olds are the owners of PUSH Skateboards, the first store of its kind in Sri Lanka selling skateboarding merchandise. Opening its doors in 2012 to action-craving youth and adults alike, the store offers a wide variety of merchandise ranging from boards, skating accessories and even clothing, keeping the everyday skateboarder fully equipped.

Their journey began when Hash learnt to skateboard from a friend and in turn he taught Umanga how to skateboard. “We used to skateboard the whole day, it just became a way of life for us,” says Hash speaking of how their love for skateboarding began. Having to get their skateboards from elsewhere as it was not readily available in Sri Lanka, it was then they decided to open up a skateboard store creating their own brand ‘PUSH’. The store is located at Horton Terrace, Colombo 7. While the shop features merchandise of their brand ‘PUSH’, Hash and Umanga’s ultimate aim is to establish a skateboard culture in the country.

The duo firmly believes that skateboarding can have a therapeutic effect and ease stress, especially on children. They even conduct skateboarding lessons for students of all ages once a month at various locations in the city. “At the start we only had five to six skaters, but now we have over 50 skaters of different ages attending lessons,” said Umanga, also stating the response received is over-whelming. While currently the demographic is six to 19 years olds, older enthusiasts are always welcome, they both say enthusiastically. The duo also offers individual lessons to those who are interested.

What is interesting is that they design their own skateboards using their knowledge in design. “We draw inspiration from everything around us and designers such as Rah Akaishi and Haroshi also inspire us,” says Hash. Drawing from their various inspirations they begin their creative process by coming up with a theme and sketching the idea out. Mostly influenced by South Asian art, they then develop the sketches on the computer creating the digital images of it. These images are then sent to the factory which are then heat transferred on to the boards. Their entire enterprise is innovative, vibrant and hip.

Hash and Umanga are also currently looking at expanding their venture. As the first step they will launch their online store in February this year. The duo is also looking at introducing their brand ‘PUSH’ in other Asian countries. “We also hope to introduce competitive skateboarding in Sri Lanka and are very excited about it, but for now we are concentrating on teaching kids and teens to skate, and with time we will be working on Skate competitions once they get better,” says Hash. The entrepreneurs also hope to import some ramps as Sri Lanka does not have any skating parks. “The ramps will allow everyone to skate and nail some tricks and even practice for competitions,” says Umanga. When the duo is not busy skating and designing, they also like to mountain climb, surf and listen to music.

You can check them out on their website www.push-skateboards.com or their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pushsk8boards and maybe sign up for some action packed skating lessons.