Finally, I hooked up with Andy Anderson to hand over the King of the Bowls Trophy. This trophy is a historic piece of art which was just constructed this past year to display all the winner’s names from the past 17 years. It took a lot of custom work by Eve Feaver, Don “Bushman” Wilson, and Kate McTavish (Pixie) to create, and this trophy will be passed on gracefully from King to King each year from now on. Andy Anderson, the youngest of all the Kings at the age of 15 when he won the title, was totally stoked. Finally he gets his trophy, but only gets to hold on to it for a couple months, as the next King will be announced on August 19th at Whistler.
Andy Anderson – I say his name a lot on this website, for many reasons. So Andy was the man last summer, and at the age of 15 years old, won the prestige title – “King of the Bowls”. In order to win this title, you have to dominate 4 competitions over a huge number of very experienced competitors at all the old school bowls – Seylynn Bowl, Griffin Bowl, White Rock Bowl and Whistler Bowl. Andy was finally crowned King of the Bowls about 2 months ago but still had not received his trophy. The trophy was being constructed by Eve Feaver, Don “Bushman” Wilson, and Kate McTavish (Pixie), who each spent a lot of time hand carving, hand painting, shaping metal, and etch burning all the previous winner’s names in the base of the trophy, going all the way back to 1995.
I finally got the trophy to give to Andy and planned to meet him at Bonsor on Sunday to skate. Andy forgot to show up, and didn’t know I had the trophy, so I gave it away to my son Kaelen instead. Sorry Andy.
Give a huge round of applause to your new 2011 Bowl Series Champion, by default…
Just because I found a video of Hippie Mike skateboarding that wasn’t me, I punched in a couple other team rider’s names to see what came up. Ohhhhh, Andy Anderson, one of my favorites to watch. This kid was a perfect addition to the Protest Team, with mad skills in Street Skating, Freestyle, and of course any sort of transitions –
Now we get to experience what life is like through the eyes of Andy Anderson… But the not the Andy Anderson that we already know here in Surrey…
This video is awesome. It’s someone else who shares Andy’s name, and skates just like him.
You gotta see it (through his eyes)
I think we need to get these two Andy’s together one day for a showdown
Hunting around on Youtube and I came across this “Sponsor Me” Video from Protest Team Rider – Andy Anderson. It’s from 2009, so I’m guessing he would have been 12-13 years old. Andy always had so much support from his parents when it came to skateboarding, and it shows. Andy is such a rad skater right now. I don’t know anyone who would complain about having to watch him skate. He’s amazing wherever he goes, land everything he tries, and always brings smiles and laughter with him. Andy always had the skills to be a top ranked skater, even when he was under 10 years old. This video shows the era where he was just starting to get his own style, and was learning how to show it.
Maybe a little too much slow mo & freeze frame, but still a great video to watch.
A couple of us from The Protest Team went out to support the cause at Nolan McLeod’s Fundraiser held at the Tsawwassen Rec Centre on Saturday where there was a huge gathering of people. Some were there to skate the park, some were there to help raise funds, and some were there to cut their hair… and no, Hippie Mike did not shave his head.
When we pulled up at 11am, there was a full crowd of people hanging out beside the centre, music was playing, 50-50 draws, hot dogs; it seemed pretty chill. Nolan was not present, understandably, but you could see how many people cared for the cause. Shadd Trepp had called me up a few weeks ago to request a couple of us to come and skate the park just to give the crowd somewhere to wander off to, and something to watch, and also to help raise some extra funds to donate. Myself, Jaden Easton-Ellett and Andy Anderson were there representing for Protest Skateboards, and other rippers included Andrew Klassen, Graeme Betts, Lanny Deboer and Paul Machnau, along with a couple local rippers. We all just skated and had a good time, Shadd put on some Best Trick Contests with some donated prizing and there was a Highest Ollie Contest that Andy Klassen won.
I believe the skateboarders donated a couple hundred bucks for the cause, but all in all the total amount raised for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation was close to
$25,000!!
Great job to all who came out, and all who helped to raise funds, but we all know that there is never enough – so if you still want to make a donation please contact Kasie
I went and met up with Team Riders, Andy Anderson and Stu Benoit on Sunday to do a little filming. Andy got tied up on the skytrain for a while and it took him an hour and a half longer than us to get to the first stop – Kensington Skate Park. Stu and I had already played a little game of “Skate” and were both pretty much done with that park by the time Andy showed up, so it was all him. He started to annihilate the pool right away with grinds and airs over the deathbox in the deep end. So I started filming. Andy killed the pool, the mini ramp and the launcher in about half an hour but he blew out a bearing and we had to go get another one. Stu finished off his game of Bocce with the boys and we took off, grabbed a bearing at Stu’s and went to Hastings Park.
Both of them start shredding the bowl instantly. Man I wish I could skate a bowl like these guys, effortless tricks on every section, but nothing easy. Stu threw down his usual blunts, tailslides and lipslides wherever he felt like it, and Andy ripped through the bowl super fast hitting every obstacle possible. I told him to clear this gap from the 6 foot hip over the landing to the other quarterpipe coming back the other direction – it’s about 10 feet. Andy told me there was no way.
He landed it within 4 tries.
Then he did it about 5 times in a row – solid.
We filmed for about half an hour at each park, check out the footage.
The Protest Team just keeps getting bigger, but also more and more diverse.
We got bowl rippers, flip trick masters, old-schoolers, new-schoolers and of course myself – who will skate anything and everything. But there was one thing missing, a Freestyle Skateboarder.
Over the evolution of the skateboard era, board shapes have changed dramatically, and the style of obstacles and the scenes of which we skate have changed with it. But there’s one thing that still exists, and that is the freedom of expression. Freestyle Skateboarding is a way of life. It’s you and your board making magic happen together. You don’t need a skate park, you don’t need an audience, you just need passion. I’ve been watching this kid grow for about 4 or 5 years now, and the one thing I always recognized in his skating was passion. He loves to learn and loves to try new things. And with a lot of mentorship from the legendary Kevin Harris, I knew he was only going to get better.
I talked to Ryan on the phone the night before the World Round-Up Freestyle Championships and laid down an offer of having him join the team. I was not surprised at how stoked he was about it. This kid is an amazing person, who loves to skateboard and be good at it, but is also one of the most humble people you’ll ever meet. Reminds me a lot of Rodney Mullen.
In this lifetime, and with the right support behind him, I believe that he will make a memorable mark on the skateboard community world-wide. And I am stoked to help him with that.
I went to the Finals on Monday, May 21st, 2012 of the first ever “World Round-Up Freestyle Skateboard Championships” held at the Cloverdale Rodeo in Surrey, British Columbia. I’ve been watching Freestyle skateboarding for many years so I knew what to expect, but I don’t really follow the names that much, so I wasn’t exactly sure WHO to expect… I knew Kevin Harris would be there since he was involved with making the event happen, but I also knew he wasn’t going to be competing. I knew Ryan Brynelson was going to be there since I just added him to the Protest Team, but I knew he was going to be in the Amateur division. I did not know that Andy Anderson, another one of my riders on the Protest Team was going to show up as a late entry and compete in the Amateur. He did really well too. But it was the big names people came to see, Per Canguru, Rene Shigueto, Darryl Grogan, Stephan Albert, Stephan Lillis Akesson, Guenter Mokulys and the man of the freetstyle board – Kilian Martin, who unfortunately was not competing. There were lots of people to watch, all putting on amazing displays for the crowd. No matter how they placed, they were definitely all seen as champions. The coolest thing about going to a Freestyle Contest as a spectator, is it’s almost like you transferred into another dimension. Freestyle Skateboarding is very rare, and these guys live it so they’re used to it, but any other skater now a days, gets their mind blown away when they’re watching it. It can almost knock you down a couple notches in your confidence level of how good you are on a skateboard, because these guys are frickin’ amazing. I’ve been skateboarding for over 26 years and I am still baffled by half the tricks people do in freestyle. They are definitely one with their boards.
It was an awesome event, with a great purpose.
Both my Team Riders qualified to the finals in the Amateur division with Ryan Brynelson landing in 2nd place, so close to winning behind Shaun Gladwell, and then the unknown wonder who showed up out of the blue, Andy Anderson finishing 5th. Yeah Andy!
Here are the results for the Top 5 in the Professional division:
1st Place – Darryl Grogan (USA)
2nd Place – Guenter Mokulys (Germany)
3rd Place – Stefan Lillis Akesson (Sweden)
4th Place – Rene Shigueto (Brazil)
5th Place – Per Canguru (Brazil)
For the guys who didn’t make top 5, no worries. The scores were all decimal points apart through all 10 riders. Tight competition…
This is just a taste about the World Round-Up Freestyle Championships. Stay tuned in a couple of days and I will have a full story about the event, along with some seriously mind blowing footage…
It was about 2004 when I built the 2×4 skateboard.
I built it to prove to the kids I was teaching that you can balance on anything. But I made the mistake of taking it down to Bear Creek Skate Park the evening I put it together and realized that I could actually skate it. I even did a kickflip off the bank launch on it that first day. It was gonna be trouble…
I started skating this thing all the time. I kept it in my trunk and pulled it out whenever I thought of something to try. I let the kids ride it every Friday at the Skateboard Camps I was running and they all thought it was awesome. All it was, was just a straight up 2×4 – 36” long, gripped on top and sitting on original Gullwing Pros and Powell Peralta Mini Rats. It’s in my laundry room right now, just waiting for another ride. I think the last trick I ever did on it was a switch blunt – indy out on my ramp, or maybe it was the jitterbug. Either way it’s been a year or two.
We had some good times, me and that 2×4 – kickflipped a roof gap on some portables, pop-shovits, manuals and boardslides, all kinds of craziness. I still remember early grabbing the 10 stair at Brookswood Skate Park on it and everyone going wild. One time I showed up at Brookswood for a contest in 2005 and I only brought my 2×4. 75% of the people there didn’t even know it existed, but they’ll never forget it after that day:
First run, I threw down a solid line to start, Kickflip on flat, then a big pop shovit, and then boardslide down the 4 stair kink rail; turned around and blunt transferred over the spine in the bowl to a 50-50 and then a rock fakie; jumped out of the bowl, cleared the path and early grabbed the 10 stair… Killed it!
Second run, started off with the same line, then went back and forth in the flat banks with a kickflip fakie, a fakie kickflip and then pop-shovit body varial; and of course, one more early grab off the 10 stair.
The crowd loved it, and somehow I got 4th place. Nice! I didn’t do it to win, I just did it for the fun, and I was stoked that I had 2 flawless runs.
I was filming way out in Aldergrove Skate Park about a month ago for my “Show UP Mike” contest and this kid showed up and the first thing he said to me was, “Hey, did you used to ride a 2×4? I remember you from a contest at Brookswood.” I just laughed. Good times.
Another great one was this Volcom – Wild in the Parks thing at Tsawwassen Skate Park in 2006. I had ridden my 2×4 at Tsawwassen so many times it was basic. I kickflipped up the step up no problem, early grabbed both sets with different grabs, and some other stuff, but this was a day for historic moments so I decided I was going to boardslide the Blue Rail down the 6 stair. Anyone that knows me knows that I don’t ride rails any more, but here I was hopping on to this handrail on my 2×4 and making it. So I stuck it down, Blam!! I had never even attempted to boardslide this rail on my normal board, so I have to admit I was pretty stoked that I just did it on a 2×4, maybe a little toooooo stoked. I stuck it down again for my video camera so I could watch it myself, and then I talked shit: “Joyce Rail, tomorrow. It’s goin’ down.” Any locals to the Lower Mainland should know the Joyce Rail – long green 6 stair rails, fairly high, out of a tennis court and you need plywood to land on. About 12 of us went out the next day for me to do this boardslide.
First try, got on it and jumped off;
Second try, slid the whole rail and jumped off;
Third try, came up strong, full commitment, knowing I was going to land it…
Nope.
I clipped my front wheels on the bottom of the rail, leaped over the rail trying to clear it and caught my inner thigh on the end. Smash! Faceplant.
It took me 3-4 weeks to massage out this blood clot trying to form in my leg, but it was worth it. I was getting way to cocky with that 2×4 board and needed a good dose of reality as to why I should not be riding it.
The 2×4 skateboard was built to prove a point to kids, but instead it ended up proving a lot about skateboarding to myself. I learned that I can ride anything and still rip it. It helped me express my inner self and I realized that this board would push my limits to another level, and I thank every day I got on it, and every trick I did. I’m sure someday it will rise again, but can’t say when.
Until then, enjoy what might just be the strangest skateboard video part you ever see:
Here’s a write up from the Cloverdale Rodeo webpage about the amazing World Freestyle Skateboarding Competition being held over the weekend. Monty Little is from the Cloverdale area and is one of the main promoters of the event along with the legendary Kevin Harris and up and comer Kai Dunkel. I had Kai, Kevin and Ryan Brynelson here at Chuck Bailey Skate Park almost 1 year ago for the Grand Opening and they were all ripping it, I hope all 3 will be competing at this event. Freestyle skateboarders are a dying breed, but the ones that are still out there in the world practice every day and all seem to able to blow your mind at any time. Check out the video link below to see some of the competition they will be facing from around the world. I’m definitely going to try to get out for the final day of this event. It’s gonna be crazy…
We are Rounding-Up the top pro and amateur freestyle skateboarders from around the world to compete at THEWORLD FREESTYLE ROUND-UP for a chance to win part of the $10,000 in Prize Money. The four day event will be held at the CLOVERDALE RODEO & COUNTRY FAIR, just 25 miles east of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from May, 18 to 21, 2012. Over 77,000 people attended the annual Rodeo and Fair last year making this an ideal high profile location for this contest.
The World Freestyle Round-Up will take place inside a venue on the Cloverdale Fair Grounds, that has an arena setting featuring a 80 foot by 140 foot flawless concrete floor that is ideal for flatland freestyle skateboarding. Several freestylers say it’s the best surface they have ever skated on. Each day there will be several shows featuring freestyle demos and contests in three categories, Best Routine, Best Trick and a 360 Spin Off all using a Battle Format making it more interesting for the riders and audience as well. Several skaters will compete as a group each going one by one performing a routine. If a skater misses a trick, they are out until everyone has skated and it is their turn again. There will be two heats, (20 minutes each) for each show, with an announcer and DJ spinning tunes to keep the crowd and skaters pumped.
The contest also has a new judging system that has never been used before combining the scores from the five judges with the scores from the riders and audience. Note: The contestants cannot vote for themselves.
Contest promoters Kevin Harris, Kai Dunkel and Monty Little have one goal in mind. To create a fun energy packed annual event that will help put Freestyle Skating back where it belongs and move the level of competition up a notch or two. We envision something new and unique to give freestyle a chance to be back in TV, back in major magazines, and back in the forefront of the sports world.
Schedule
Friday, May 18
4 pm to 6 pm Open Ceremonies and Practice Session (6 to 7 Dinner Break)
7 pm to 9:30 pm WORLD ROUND-UP Contest
9:30 pm to 10 pm Contestants meeting
Saturday, May 19
9:30 am to 11:30 am RODEO PARADE
11:30 am to 12:30 pm Practice Session
12:30 pm to 2 pm WORLD ROUND-UP Contest (2 to 4 Late Lunch Break)
2 pm to 4 pm Women’s Rollerderby
4 pm to 5:30 pm WORLD ROUND-UP Contest
6 pm to 10 pm Women’s Rollerderby
Sunday, May 20
10 am to 11 am Practice Session
11 am to 12:30 pm WORLD ROUND-UP Contest (12:30 to 1:30 Lunch Break)
1:30 pm to 3 pm WORLD ROUND-UP Contest
3 pm to 5 pm Women’s Rollerderby
5 pm to 6:30 pm WORLD ROUND-UP Contest
7 pm to 10 pm Women’s Rollerderby
Monday, May 21
10 am to 11 am Practice Session
11 am to 12:30 pm WORLD ROUND-UP Contest (12:30 to 1:30 Lunch Break)
1:30 pm to 3 pm WORLD ROUND-UP Contest
3 pm to 4 pm Practice Session
4 pm to 6 pm WORLD ROUND-UP Finals and Awards Ceremony
Click this link to see Kevin Harris, Kai Dunkel and Ryan Brynelson last May 28th at the Chuck Bailey Skate Park Grand Opening in Surrey, BC
