Skateboarding in Tanzania started as early as 2000's by pioneers Baraka Bishota who introduced skateboarding from the United States where he was studying. During formative years Baraka inspired a generation of young skateboarders in Dar es Salaam by organizing skate sessions and even supplying skateboards.

Baraka Bishota started skateboarding in Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in the early eighties. He bought his first pro board in 1986 (Hosoi Hammerhead) with the inspiration of a few magazines, Bones Brigade(skate team) videos and Thrashin (A classic skateboarding movie) with a couple of friends(Kwame Andah & Robert Arnold), he skated for a few years.

After a couple of months being back in Tanzania, he began to teach. Beginning with occasional skateboarding lessons for keen enthusiasts, he continued to teach despite many obstacles. Due to the success and positive response, that's when the vision for Spearhead Skate School was born. Since then he has not looked back as he pursues his dream of spreading skateboarding, rollerblading and other extreme sports throughout Africa and beyond.

In 2011, Walter Mzengi, Wesley Huang and Chris Rawlins founded Tanzania Skate Society, a community based skateboarding organization in Tanzania. The collective organized weekly skate sessions at the Slipway helipad every Saturday. During these times it held contents, filmed skate videos and photographs on our exploits around different spots in the city. We went to skate at University of Dar es Salaam sports grounds, Gymkhana sports ground, TTCL Kijitonyama grounds, Morocco Bus Stand and in the streets of Dar es Salaam city center.

In the same year, 2011, is when we were blessed with the first skatepark in Tanzania built by Skate-Aid in the capital city, Dodoma. It served the neighborhood kids by supplying skateboarding equipments and lessons by volunteers. The skatepark is still in service until today. 

Shortly after, TSS was dismembered and many people went away either moved abroad for studying or got occupied with jobs and adult life. During these years many people took it on their own and went to skate elsewhere possible.

In 2018, Hassan Kisamo and Mark Mugendi had an idea to create a skateboarding company based in Tanzania that will supply skateboarding equipments and gear, by being sustainable and self sufficient and not relying for foreign donations. The company is called Tropic Legacy Skateboards, inspired by the tropical coast of Tanzania and its island. It is the first skate brand in Tanzania, owned and operated by Tanzanian Skateboarders.

In 2020, we saw another skatepark being built in Arusha, organized by Wonders Around The World, Smallsteps for Compassion and built by volunteers all over the world. 

After being inactive as a collective for a few years and seeing the need to organize ourselves as Tanzanian Skateboarders, we founded Tanzania Skateboarding Organization in 2021. A community based organization making skateboarding accessible in Tanzania. 

Make a contribution!

Tanzania Skateboarding is fostering the next generation of skateboarders throughout Tanzania, by providing mentorship, workshops, national and international competetions, skateboarding equipments and build skateparks made possible by donations from friends and partners like you. You can donate to our existing programs.

Skateparks and Skate Spots in Tanzania 

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