Valley Village, California
Holy crazy! Every year, the éS Game of SKATE at Val Surf gets bigger and bigger and more kids get hyped and more hyped. It was hot, it was crazy and it was a huge success! We handled it, though, and got through 400-plus skaters all battling for a chance to win a free trip to compete against the Big Leaguers at the ASR Amateur World Championships.
Kids started showing up when I got to the shop at 7:30 a.m. It was insane. They practiced all day long in 90-plus degree heat all the way up until the event started at 2:00 p.m. These kids are the reason why we do these things. Grass-roots skate contests and events are so important to them. The great thing about the éS Game of SKATE is that any and all kids can enter…and they want to do it. Every kid has a chance to participate, have fun and do well.
A big thank you goes out to Hime and Jason from éS for doing this for Val Surf year after year and always doing a great job. Also, thank you to Mark Waters for helping us promote the event and choosing us as a host every year. Thank you to Justin Eldridge for supporting the event and stoking the kids with autographs. Thank you to Casey and Heather for holding down the fort. Thank you to éS for allowing the winner of our game to go to the Amateur World Championships and for allowing us to host such a great event.
Thank you to Daniel Abadi, Valentino, Richie and Steven for judging. Thank you to the kids who threw their trash in the trash cans strategically placed around the course and not on the ground or in the planters. A huge thank you to Victor Vasquez for shooting these photos and being the only person who ever sticks with me from beginning to end for set-up and clean-up. You rock, Vic. Until next year, thanks to the kids!--Brandon Richards
View the brackets from this game. Click on 'em to enlarge.
