KEY POINTS:
They're reviled by retailers and pedestrians, have a language of their own, wear distinctive clothing and like to flaunt the rules whenever possible.
But now skateboarders may be dragged into the higher echelons of world sport: officials are considering showcasing it at the London Olympics in 2012.
A proposal from the International Olympic Committee to make it an Olympic sport has some skaters worried their sport's "cred" could be curbed.
The IOC wants to modernise the Games with disciplines that appeal to young people.
Already, thousands have signed an online petition opposing the idea, among them several New Zealanders.
And the feeling among those riding the ramps and rails at the sonsk8 indoor park in Glen Innes is that true, or "core", skaters will have nothing to do with rules, let alone an international sporting body.
"Olympics ? ... whatever, man," said one shirtless young man, who did not want to talk because "I never have enough time to skate".
Another skater, 25-year-old Todd Henry, a temp at Chubb Security, felt skateboarding should be left as it is.
"It's not structured and that's one of the reasons why so many people like it."
His friend Adam Wharekawa said "probably everyone" at the skate park would prefer their sport to stay underground.
"You can't even skate streets without getting hassled by the cops, man," said the 17-year-old landscaper. "People don't really understand what we do, and that's what makes it kind of cool."
But former New Zealand pro skater Andrew Morrison sees both sides. "Skateboarding is one big contradiction: a lot of people want it to be organised, and then there's another 50 per cent who would just cringe at the thought of that.
"My personal opinion is half of me would think it's great while the other half would think 'nah man, let's keep it core and keep it real because that's not what skating's all about'."
The 39-year-old, who skated professionally between 1989 and 2000 in Europe, Japan and the United States and was ranked eighth in the world in 1991, said the "many varied expressions and opinions" in skateboarding would make any contest hard to judge.
"It's not like gymnastics where you have routines. Some judges won't like particular tricks while others will."
"It could be for people who are keen to win medals or prizes, but then you'd probably have parents going to skate parks yelling at their kids to win."
He said many of the world's best skaters never even entered events.
"The guys who do go into things like X Games don't necessarily have that respect and find it hard to make a living, but ... some of the best will randomly enter these events."
Mr Morrison, who runs a skateboard distribution company in Birkenhead, said if the sport made it to the Olympics there could be only one event and it would have to be judged by skaters.
"I would definitely like to see vert [half-pipe] there."
