Shop owner, skateboarder excited about Olympic skateboarding

Some Windsor skateboarders are giving their nod of approval to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games for its inclusion of skateboarding as an Olympic sport. 

Sasha Senior, owner of Bliss Skateboard shop in Windsor and Wheatley, said it has been amazing to see women competing in the skateboarding events. 

"I think it's really awesome because me, growing up as a skateboarder in the early 2000s, there weren't a lot of females that skated," Senior said. 

"Now seeing where it's in the Olympics and there is a women's category and it's not even older women taking the podium, it's teenagers that are taking the podium. That is amazing." 

In 2016, the Olympic Committee announced that skateboarding would become an Olympic event in 2020. This is the first year the sport has been included — and athletes ranging from ages 12 to 46 have been competing in it. 

Senior opened Bliss skateboard shop in 2020. Despite the restrictions caused by COVID-19, she found her business was busier than she anticipated. 

"Last year was crazy. We got super busy," Senior said. "It's been a lot of love from the community and it's been good for the first year.

Bliss skateboard shop was the first of its kind in Windsor. Since then Senior has seen tremendous growth and interest in the sport. 

"Oh my God it feels like we're breeding skateboarders over here," Senior said. 

Carson Vuk, a customer of Bliss, has been active in the skateboarding community since he took up the sport last year. Within that time frame, he has noticed an increase of skateboarders in the Windsor-Essex community. 

"There is definitely growth. Two new shops besides Bliss have joined the fray since I started, which was a year ago and the scene is expanding a whole lot," Vuk said. 

Vuk said has been awesome to watch the skateboarding events during the Olympic games this year.

"I know some people don't like it because it's putting skateboarding into the mainstream but I personally think it's cool. It's showing skateboarding to a wider audience and it's not a bad thing that more regular citizens start skateboarding," Vuk said.