Skateistan: Four Wheels and a Board in Kabul

Skateboarders Oliver Percovich and Sharna Nolan travel to Kabul to skate with the local kids, and receive such an enthusiastic response that they soon establish Afghanistan’s very first coeducational skateboarding school., Skateboarders Oliver Percovich and Sharna Nolan travel to Kabul to skate with the local kids, and receive such an enthusiastic response that they soon establish Afghanistan’s very first co-educational skateboarding school. The story begins in 2007, when Percovich and Nolan arrive in Kabul, a city decimated by years of war and social unrest. Though the children are quick to embrace skateboarding, the local laws prohibit young women from surfing the concrete in public after the age of 12. Once they reach that age, the girls are no longer permitted to associate with boys or adult men. Determined to find a means of keeping the girls active and interested despite that restriction, the two foreign skaters hatch a plan to construct a modern skate park where experienced female skateboarders can teach the girls in a comfortable environment. Meanwhile, Percovich and Nolan attempt to use the sport as a means of bridging the gap between the wealthy children of Kabul, and their less privileged counterparts. But just as skateboarding provides two young boys with the motivation to go back to school and local skaters gather to celebrate the Afghanistan’s first-ever “Go Skateboarding Day,” a group of scheming locals make their displeasure known by attempting to sabotage the event. Despite that minor setback, however, the founders of Skateistan soon find enough international support to build their dream skate park, which opened on October 29, 2009. Featured skaters include Kenny Reed, Cairo Foster, Maysam Faraj, and Louisa Menke.