Luis Diego \u201cLuzo\u201d Zumbado was loved in San Rafael, Costa Rica.<\/p>\n
As a member of the skateboarding group San Rafael Extremo, he encouraged local children to skate\u00a0and tried to establish safe places for them to do so.\u00a0Locals saw him as a protector of youth, and through skateboarding, he had hoped to provide a safe haven away from the gangs that had infiltrated San Rafael.<\/p>\n
But tragedy struck the community when Luzo was murdered by drug dealers while he was reportedly trying to protect his youth skateboarders from an altercation. Moved by their grief, Extremo rallied together, wanting to find a way to honor Luzo and keep his legacy alive.<\/p>\n
Word spread about Extremo\u2019s mission, eventually reaching David Monhait and Zach Adamson. \u201cWhen we heard Luzo\u2019s story, it brought tears to our eyes, and we said,\u00a0 \u2018We\u2019ve got to go do something about this,\u2019\u201d says Monhait.<\/p>\n
As the founders of Divert Collective, which aims to inspire youth through action sports, Monhait and Adamson partnered with a Costa Rica-based group called Journey\u00a0in order to build a new skate park\u00a0in Luzo\u2019s honor.<\/p>\n
Adamson sees himself in some of the kids Luzo helped get on the right track through skateboarding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was somewhat of a rebellious kid,\u201d says Adamson. \u201cI got in trouble at school and got expelled. It got to the point that my parents decided to move me to a completely different environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
After moving from Denver to the mountains of Keystone, Colorado, Adamson began to snowboard and skateboard. It was there that he began channeling his energy into activities that wouldn\u2019t get him into trouble. Instead, he became a sponsored skateboarder and all-American snowboarder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI witnessed friends getting sucked into drugs and gang life and I had a goal to become a professional athlete,\u201d he says. \u201cBut as I reflect[ed] on it, most kids just want to have a positive outlet and be creative \u2014 and not have some coach yelling in their ear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Monhait and Adamson both went on to have successful careers in the corporate sector. They partnered to create\u00a0DivertCity, which Monhait describes as\u00a0\u201ca mix of action sports, and the surrounding lifestyles of it, like photography, videography, music, and art.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of DivertCity, another initiative was born out of it: DivertCollective.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Luzo was killed, it seemed like a big red flag that San Rafael could really use a safe place for these kids to go to,\u201d says Adamson.<\/p>\n
With the help of more than 90 members of the community and the American Ramp Company, DivertCollective built the Luzo Skatepark in San Rafael, which opened in April 2017.<\/p>\n
Ruben Villalobos, a Costa Rican who helps oversee the skatepark, believes it\u2019s more than just a park to the kids. \u201cThis is our home. We care about it, and know how hard it was to get it done,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd now the San Rafael Extremo kids are helping the community by generating activities, participating as local youth representatives, and helping indigenous communities with volunteer programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Villalobos, an estimated 100 kids come to use the park daily.<\/p>\n
Kendall Campos, 15, who has been skateboarding for three years, says of the park: \u201cI like it a lot. It\u2019s helped me feel better to have this community, and it keeps me away from making bad choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adamson and Monhait believe that sports that require creativity \u2014 like skateboarding \u2014 can help kids find their voice and identity. \u201cI think one thing that that gets missed in a sport like skateboarding is that it is a community that respects the individuality of each person,\u201d says Adamson.<\/p>\n
Villalobos agrees. \u201cEveryone is cheering for each other at the park, like when someone is learning a new trick,\u201d he says. \u201cThey share knowledge with each other and there is teamwork involved in helping each other become better skateboarders.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the success of the Luzo Skatepark, Monhait and Adamson plan to build two more skateparks in other parts of Costa Rica.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe plan on having a sustained impact,\u201d says Monhait. \u201cWe\u2019re not here to put on a show, but to really make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Top and share photos courtesy of DivertCollective.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Luis Diego \u201cLuzo\u201d Zumbado was loved in San Rafael, Costa Rica. As a member of the skateboarding group San Rafael Extremo, he encouraged local children to skate\u00a0and tried to establish safe places for them to do so.\u00a0Locals saw him as a protector of youth, and through skateboarding, he had hoped to provide a safe haven…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}