You’re right about that attraction skateboarding has to teens who prefer more solitary sports, or sporting events they can control. My Karate Sensai is about 20 years younger than I am (58), and he says skateboarding was a great comfort to him after his parents divorce when he was about 11 y/o. He wanted to think about the changes, but at the same time, he didn’t necessarily wish to be separated from everybody all the time.
That is an interesting observation about the attraction of skateboarding to kids in divorce. In my limited experience, that seems true, now that you mention it.