Teen opens skateboard shop
Brittan Chance knew local skateboarders needed help, so he opened a skate shop.
Chance, 19, is no stranger to riding the concrete. He has been skateboarding for about three years, and whenever he broke a board, he would have to bum a ride to Fort Walton Beach to buy a new one.
Chance opened Excalibur skate shop about two months ago and said he hopes the store will be a positive outlet for Freeport teenagers. He worries people get the wrong impression about skateboarders and tend to look down on them.
“People said skating leads them into drugs,” he said. “No. It’s people denying them to skate that leads them into drugs.”
Chance said he also wants the small shop on U.S. 331 just north of State 20 to fill a vacuum for skaters. The shop, with its black and white walls and bench made out of broken skateboards, doubles as a hub for the local teenagers. Chance said everyone meets at the shop after school, then heads out and skates.
Chance’s business partner, Robert Davenport, 43, said he backed the shop because his two children skateboard, and skaters needed a place to call their own. Unlike baseball, football and basketball, which youths sign up and play, no one knows how many skateboarders are out there, Davenport said.
“I’ve seen a big need for it (a shop),” he said. Skateboarding is “a lot like golf. It’s a self-competition sport.”
Chance, who says his passion is surfing, was introduced to skating by a brother.
“When the waves are flat, what else can you do?” he said.
But skating is so much more than riding around and doing tricks, Chance said.
“Skating is only half the fun,” he said. “The rest is hanging out with friends, the camaraderie.”
To help boost skateboarding in Freeport, Chance was scheduled to hold a skating competition Dec. 29 in the parking lot of the Freeport Community Center, but it was rained out. He said he has re-scheduled the event for Saturday.
Chance went before the Freeport City Council to get the green light for the competition. He said council members were worried about someone getting hurt, which Chance said he hears a lot from local store owners who chase skaters out of parking lots.
“Liability is the crutch they all use,” he said.
But Chance was not deterred. He drew up liability waivers from the Internet and told council members the city would not be held responsible if someone got hurt.