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Hundreds gathered in American Fork on Saturday for the city's first-ever skateboarding competition.
The city's $600,000, 20,000-square-foot skate park, which opened in September, was the first stop of the national Wild in the Park 2008 tour, which next lands in Houston, Texas.
Nearly 200 teens signed up to compete on Saturday, said organizers. No one was charged an entry fee, and the top contenders took home skating gear, cash prizes of up to $250, and a chance to compete for a $30,000 pot at a national competition in October.
On Saturday, it was all about landing the tricks, as the skater's stunts are called. Dressed in board shorts or rolled up jeans, T-shirts and baseball caps, competitors tried over and over to land a series of stunts. The most watched were those coming down a small slope to jump over eight concrete stairs, either flipping their boards in the air over the stairs hoping to land upright or sliding their boards down a metal handrail.
Those who succeeded in landing a jump were rewarded by an appreciative crowd, which oohed and aahed, cheering raucously for the best jumps. Those who landed on their backside went back to try again.
Preliminary rounds were just being completed by mid-afternoon, with final rounds in three categories still to go. The categories were ages 14 and below, ages 15 and up, and Pro-Am, which stands for the professional- amateur class.
The skaters performed to pounding music and the encouragement of an emcee sporting an interesting skate-lingo vernacular.
"Flippin' over the rail -- ain't no thang like a chicken wing," the emcee called out at one point.
Dakota Hendricks, 14, of Lehi said he had only heard about the competition the day before and simply showed up ready to skate on Saturday morning.
His last-minute decision paid off. He was chosen by judges to compete in the final round of his class.
Hendricks said he was not nervous because he knew that though he had performed well, he was outclassed even so.
"I'm going to go goof around [in the final round]," he said modestly. "The people ahead of me are way too good."
Dominick Primerano, 17, of Highland and Brandon Aston, 15, of American Fork also competed.
"I felt like I had somewhat of a chance," Primerano said of his decision to join the games. He said he skates at American Fork's new skate park almost every day and felt he held his own against the best who regularly practice there. That gave him the confidence to enter the competition.
"It's fun, and it feels good when you land a good trick and everyone is cheering for you," he said of his passion for skateboarding.
"It's the rush," said Aston of why he likes to skate. "I don't know where I'd be without this." |
