Although most college students are content to throw down varial flips while playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, there is a small but noticeable collection of skateboarders at Iowa State whose talent comes not from pushing buttons on a controller, but from dedication and time spent on their boards.

Skateboarders Anonymous, Iowa State’s GSB-sponsored skateboarding club, is where many skaters on campus come together to enjoy one of the more notorious recreational activities of the last 30 years.

Founded in 2003 by ISU alumnus Andrew Pratt, Skateboarders Anonymous was formed to offer skaters an opportunity to find others with whom to skate on a campus, where skateboarders are few.

What started as a small group of friends has grown into an organized club, with more than 20 due-paying members.

As a club, Skateboarders Anonymous offers a range of ways to participate. Meetings are usually held outside Parks Library at 5 p.m. each Monday, followed by skating either on campus or at the Ames skatepark, when weather permits. The club also holds various social functions throughout the year and organizes a trip each semester to a skateboarding destination outside Iowa. Club dues include a discount on club trips and a 20 percent off discount card at Subsect, a Des Moines skateshop.

Payam Imani, sophomore in apparel merchandising, said Iowa State has one of the best campuses for skateboarding.

“Since the campus is so spread out, it’s easy to travel on a skateboard and makes getting to class much more efficient,” he said.

However, skateboarding at Iowa State also has its downsides.

“There are so few other skaters. I feel almost isolated, like I’m the only other person skateboarding at ISU. I like to skate [in] downtown Des Moines just because people understand skateboarding there and I don’t feel like such an outsider as when I’m skating at ISU,” he said.

Heather Hasty, senior in journalism and mass communication and the only female member of Skateboarders Anonymous, feels even more singled out skating on campus.

“People definitely look at me differently when I’m skateboarding, whether it’s curiosity or irritation that a girl is doing something so inherently rebellious and masculine,” Hasty said. “Personally, I just don’t think people are ready for it, probably because there are so few female skaters out there to break the stereotype that skateboarding is a males-only activity.”

Hasty is also the secretary of Skateboarders Anonymous, and along with Vice President Colin Schlei, senior in sociology, helped organize the club’s upcoming trip to the Prairie Village skatepark in Kansas City.

“The ISU campus and Ames skatepark are decent places to skate,” Schlei said, “but to find some really fun and challenging skating, you have to get out of Iowa.”

Hasty and Schlei both attended the Skateboarders Anonymous trip to Oklahoma City in spring 2005, at which the club toured the area, stopping at four different skateparks before renting a plot of campground and setting up tents for the night.

This year, the club will be leaving for Kansas City on March 30 and staying through the April 1 weekend. The trip costs $15.

“Prairie View skatepark is great for transfer skating, which is my big thing,” Schlei said of the upcoming skate trip. “I can’t wait, it’s gonna be a good time. It’s great that Iowa State has Skateboarders Anonymous to give skaters opportunities like this.”