Let’s face it: When it comes to skateboarding culture, there could be a little less skull and crossbones, and a little more Sacred Hearts.
Five years ago, Lisa Fixler had this realization when her son and his friend, both of whom are avid skaters, came into her house with a skate deck that had the image of a skull plastered on the bottom of it.
“I look down at the ground and I’m like, ‘what is that doing in my house?’ I was just repulsed,” Fixler said “I started talking to my husband and we’re like, ‘why does it have to be that way?’ Go into any skate shop and look at the designs that are available for kids. They are horrifying.”
So, she decided to do something about the skateboard conundrum that had made its way into her home, and thus, Motherboards was born.
Motherboards is a Catholic skate company that also deals in other extreme sports such as snowboarding and surfing. They enlist the talents of artists around the country to create traditional Catholic images with a bit of an edge to adorn their decks and boards. It may seem a bit unusual at first glance, but dig a little deeper and it’s obvious that Motherboards is trying to do something different, both in the extreme sports world and on the evangelization front.
Motherboards already has a team of talented skaters and snowboarders who are representing their brand and starting conversations. One of their skaters is Brother Gabriel Cortés, a Franciscan Friar of the Immaculate based out of Bloomington, Ind., and affectionately referred to as the “skating friar.” Few things compare to watching Brother Cortés tear it up in his grey Franciscan habit.
After a long day of prayer, devotion and his other duties as a friar, Brother Cortés frequents a skatepark near his friary where he’s built strong friendships with some of the regulars.
“I can talk to them about anything. It’s an avenue that I have access to that a lot of people don’t have access to,” Brother Cortés said. “They know me well. And some of these guys, I can tell they have nothing in their lives. Nothing…even moral compasses are kind of absent.”
Fixler recently opened a retail storefront in Arvada called The Retro, where both Full of Grace and Motherboards products can be purchased. But the interest in Motherboards has already expanded far beyond Colorado.
“We get e-mails from people all over the world who are interested in our products. It’s unbelievable. It’s really turned into a worldwide thing,” Fixler said. “It’s super fun for us for shipping off [complete boards] to Australia or to Belgium or to France. We just think, ‘oh my gosh, we’ve got just this teeny little idea and we’re targeting a really narrow group of extreme sport enthusiasts who may or may not be Catholic.’ But we’ve been blessed completely.”
Full story at Denver Catholic.
Good idea…needs to be suggested to a group of perhaps two dozen skateboarders who start at the top of Twin Peaks, the 900 foot high hill in San Francisco, and fly on down the highway at speeds of up to 30 mph. Of course, most of them are skating without protection, no helmets, no gloves, no leg guards, so a fall means a serious injury, probably. Not only do they need the Hail Mary Skateboards, but they need Memorare Helmets also…or maybe images of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Be a rebel, be Catholic!
Ah, Catholic “journalism”
Ah, Catholic cynicism.
Even the secular press runs positive, human interest stories.
Thank you California Catholic Daily for running that.
This is what is wrong with the Church! That Franciscan should be defrocked. We don’t need skateboarding priest we need HOLY Pius priests! And as for the board, why not teach them how wrong the skull is and have a plain board. I hardly think OUR LADY wants her name dragged through the snow!
Keith, do you know Brother Gabriel? That’s an extremely harsh judgment of him. Why do you think skateboarding is sinful for a religious brother?
He may be a very holy man for all we know.
Many Saints did things considered unconventional in their times in order to reach young people. Saint Francis and Saint John Bosco readily come to mind.
And, neither of us know the mind of Our Lady. Given her humility and holiness, I think she would want anything she is associated with made known in order to draw people to her Son. I suspect she prays for skaters and snowboarders more than you and I put together.
Yeah, um the skateboarding friar is something that eight year-olds are interested in for three minutes. Mature Catholics don’t think it’s cool. They think it’s dumb. Before the pandemic, desperate diocesan directors of youth ministry looking for a gimmick would book this friar for youth rallies, and he’d do skateboarding stunts for the kids. It’s not the kind of thing that will keep kids Catholic when they grow into adulthood, and it’s not a model of adult Catholic faith. Instead of gimmicks, dioceses and pastors need to foster parishes that nourish faith every week with Masses that feature excellent preaching and outstanding music, and faithful catechesis that applies faith to the real world that people are living in. 90% of young people leave the church, and a skateboarding friar isn’t going to turn that around. It doesn’t help at all.
Have you evangelized more young people than Brother Gabriel?
The issue is not the skateboard.
The issue is reaching people with the fulness of the Catholic Faith, which comes to us from Christ and His Apostles.
Saint John Bosco did juggling, acrobatics and “magic” tricks in order to get the attention of young people in his day.
If you have a better method than Brother Gabriel, by all means, use it.
This young friar is evangelizing to the best of his ability. It’s too easy to criticize from a distance. What are we doing to reach the next generation?
I taught religion in Catholic high schools until I was driven out by dissident administrators and colleagues who didn’t want faithful Catholicism taught to students and who didn’t want their LGBT agenda opposed. The students were fine; it was the adults in the school who hated the Catholic faith. Don’t try to play gotcha with me about reaching the next generation. I did my part. The church cast me aside, and the bishop wasn’t interested in fixing the problems with his schools’ Catholic identity.
I feel badly about what happened to you. That shouldn’t have happened. I, too, taught at a Catholic high school and encountered opposition to the Faith (and was not rehired).
That said, please check out what these Franciscan friars are doing and pray for them.
And, let us pray for one another as we continue to serve our Lord and His Church.
Kevin T., sometimes the push forward we need comes from what initially appears to be a setback. Now I don’t know you but…you spent 30 years teaching the Faith. Now go live it.
It is true that “mature Catholics” do not need skateboards. Yet, mature Catholics do not appear out of thin air. They come after persons are evangelized and catechized.
If you choose to judge Brother Gabriel and his confreres, before doing so, you should see what the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate are doing. See the links below.
You’ll notice they’re centered on Jesus in the Eucharist, celebrate Mass ad orientem, pray in Adoration, pray the Rosary and pray five hours daily and more.
(If the links don’t come through, simply copy and paste them into your browser.) St. Francis, Our Lady and St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, pray for them and us.
https://youtu.be/T7V3iYeZU0E
https://marymediatrix.com/
You know, as a child of the ’60’s I had a glow in dark rosary given to me as part of catechism class. Not the same as a skateboard I suppose? Did I pray more rosaries because of it? Probably not but this is what I learned and Mom helped me. Candidly, anything that doesnt smack of heresy and provides connection with the Holy Mother is ok with me.
There does seem to be some great merchandise on this website for young people and mostly made in this country, hats and masks especially.
Young people do need to get out all that energy in a good way. If one uses a skateboard, it should be as safely as possible with protective equipment. Do not want any broken necks. I have had a lot of “Thank you, Jesus” moments in parking lots when some young men have gone flying in front of my moving car on skateboards. That is when I say, “Thank you, Jesus, I did not hit him.” Be cautious, be safe. Avoid parking lots with cars and other unsafe areas.