The 5th year of The World Round-Up Freestyle Skateboarding Championships, hosted in Surrey, BC Canada by legends Kevin Harris and Monty Little, has come to a close. It was an amazing milestone to make it to year 5 and it was great to see so many of the faces of people who have been there every single year.

The Freestyle World is pretty tight considering how small it really is and how spread out around the globe everyone is, competitors came from 11 different countries, including Marius Constantin from Romania making his first trip to this Canadian contest. There were a bunch of new faces this year, everyone was stoked to be there and all competitors brought huge bags of flow and tech tricks to showcase all weekend long to keep each other, and all the crowds of spectators pumped up.

In the Amateur division local boy Andy Anderson was looking to repeat his win from last year, and with smooth style and perfectly executed choreographed to the music runs, he managed to pull through and somehow defeat the 2 young Brazilians Diego Pires and Kaue Araujo. Both of them came out with a vengeance to take the title and it was a close call between all 3. These guys are really good.

In the Pro division there was serious competition and a bunch of guys that hadn’t been to the round-up before which definitely makes it more interesting for those of us who have been to all 5 years and know the top guys and where they usually place. Young 13 year old Isamu Yamamoto from Japan was fresh off a 1st place finish in Pro at Big Rio and wanted to take his first 1st in Canada. He fearlessly led the competition all weekend and blew minds with all 3 of his runs in the semi-finals, but he slipped up a tiny bit in the finals which means a lot with the calibur of competitors that were skating. Dudes from Spain, England, Brazil, Japan, Sweden, Australia, Germany and more flying into Canada to win this thing and it was anyone’s game. The usual guys that are tough to beat were on their game like usual. Guenter Mokulys, Mike Osterman, Per Canguru, Stefan “Lillis” Akesson…. All legends of Freestyle, but this year belonged to American newcomer Connor Burke as he came out with his 2nd run in the finals and laid down a fast, furious and flawless performance beating out Isamu by 2 points. It was awesome!

The World Round-Up isn’t just about who wins the competition though, it’s really more about having fun and putting smiles on kid’s faces and this year it did just that. A new feature was added to the event called “Pro for a Day” where a kid under 10 gets to be included in the contest by hanging out with all the pros all weekend and even performing demos for the crowds 2-3 times a day. This year the little dude was 6 year old Kaelen Faux from Sunshine Valley, British Columbia. He shredded for the crowd every time and totally progressed each day to the next. It was great to see him smiling and having fun living the life of a pro, watch for a video coming soon recapping Kaelen’s awesome experience being Pro for a Day. And be ready to promote it for anyone you think should try and be the Pro for a Day next year.

As the weekend wound down and the bones of all the competitors began to ache it was time to call it a day for the 5th annual World Round-Up. Once again everyone came out to have fun and that’s what they did. It’s a great family. Enjoy this recap video and feel like you were there!

See you in 2017

Another awesome year for The World Round Up Freestyle Skateboard Championships, this year definitely had its highlights – from local boy Andy Anderson winning the Amateur division, 12 year old Isamu Yamamoto placing 4^th in his first ever Pro contest, Guenter Mokulys taking the trophy home in his 100^th contest, and all the way to the new guy from the United States Derek Elliott busting out an insane, never been landed before, Jawbreaker in the Best Trick contest…

All the regulars were there like Rene Shigueto, Takashi Suzuki, Stephan Albert, Stefan Lillis Akesson, Mike Osterman, Per Canguru, Kaue Arouja, Christian Heise, Guenter Mokulys, and many more, and all the usual behind the scenes guys that help make the contest a success like Monty Little, Kevin Harris, Kolby Harris, AJ Kohn, Russ Howell, Jim Goodrich, Ryan Ellan, DJ Cuz-O, Lyle Chippaway and Tony Lum, and of course myself Hippie Mike doing the filming. It’s an amazing and unique event and as Kilian Martin states in an interview in the video “Freestyle was never meant to be judged” so this makes it extra tough to be the guys with the pens in hand. It’s amazing to watch these guys do the best that they can do in their own styles and hope that that will be better than the next guy and the best that he could do.

In the Amateur division Andy Anderson came out strong proving that he had been actually practicing Freestyle this year, his runs were solid, unique, and fully choreographed to the songs he had chosen. But he was facing 2 Brazilian machines – Kaue Arouja and Diego Pires Afonso. The top 3 of this category was uncatchable and it was definitely a battle to the finish. Somehow Andy took the gold medal by 1 point in the Finals. The crowd was stoked!!

In Pro it was just plain insane. Everybody was having killer runs and landing harder tricks than last year. Mike Osterman and Guenter Mokulys were bouncing back and forth on who was in 1^st over the weekend and both of them wanted the gold. But little 12 year old Isamu Yamamoto from Japan was sitting in 3^rd place after the Semi-Finals and you know he could taste it too…

Boards were breaking, trucks and kingpins were crumbling, and no one was ready to give up. This year felt the most intense for people actually wanting to win it. At his 100^th Professional Contest, the 51 year old German machine Guenter Mokulys squeezed back in to 1^st place during the Finals to take his 11^th World Title. 2^nd, 3^rd & 4^th place were all 1 point apart with Mike Osterman, Rene Shigueto and the little man Isamu Yamamoto. What a contest!!

Guenter added to his victory the next day by winning the 360 spin-off while Diego came out of nowhere in the Longest Coconut Wheelie competition hitting 80 feet long! Derek Elliott made history at the Round Up in the Best Trick Contest by stomping out a JawBreaker which is doing a handstand on top of your nose and top truck while your board is standing vertically on the floor. You need to watch the video to see it…

With true emotions in the air, the entire weekend was a hit. All participants had a blast, all spectators were super stoked, and the Freestyle Family tightened up once again.

Thanks to George Powell for coming out to watch the Finals and support this event, thanks to all the people that dedicate so much time to making it happen, and congratulations to Stefan Albert for winning the Henry Candiotti Award for being the smoothest skater of 2015…

Until next year, check out the vid

AMATEUR DIVISION

1. Andy Anderson – 263
2. Kaue Araujo – 262
3. Diego Pires Afonso – 251
4. Derek Elliott – 237
5. Dillanger Kane – 233
6. Mic Murayama – 226
7. Adam Flood – 224
8. Austin Shelton – 223
9. Daniel Trujillo – 216
10. Chadd Sinclair – 213

PRO DIVISION

1. Guenter Mokulys – 265
2. Mike Osterman – 260
3. Rene Shigueto – 259
4. Isamu Yamamoto – 258
5. Stefan “Lillis” Akesson – 254
6. Christian Heise – 245 / 243
7. Per Canguru – 245 / 238
8. Lucio Lima – 244
9. Jesse Whalen – 243
10. Daniel Garb – 242 / 241
11. Takashi Suzuki – 242 / 240
12. Shen “Dominick” Meng 240 / 225 / 224
13. Jacob Whitt – 240 / 225 / 222
14. Felix Jonsson – 238

NOTE: Ties were broken by using the 2nd
highest scoring runs and in some cases
the 3rd highest scoring runs.

LEGENDS FREESTYLE CLASSIC

1. Lynn Cooper
2. Bert Mathieson
3. Russ Howell
4. Tai Tai

BEST TRICK

Jesse Whalen

BEST HANDSTAND TRICK

Derek Elliott – Jaw Breaker

HENRY CANDIOTI SKATE-4-FUN AWARD

Stefan Albert

360 SPIN-OFF
Guenter Mokulys – 25 Spins

LONGEST COCONUT WHEELIE

Diego Pires Afonso – 80 Feet

CHAMPIONS OF HOPE AWARD

Stefan “Lillis” Akesson

Being the 3^rd year for this event there was a little more competitive spirit in the air but it still came down to everyone just being happy and excited to be present. The first year of The World Round Up was all about showcasing the best Freestyle Skateboarders in the world and setting a precedence for a new world-wide competition, the second year was a reunion of sorts which attracted even more competitors than year one and created a true family feel to this event, and the third year was even better. When these guys fly into town from other countries they are super excited to be in Canada and even more excited to show off what they dedicate their lives to for hundreds of people day after day. Interesting features this year was Shen Meng being the first skater from China to participate in a world-wide contest and little 11 year old Isamu Yamamoto coming all the way from Japan to try and prove that he could be the next biggest thing in Freestyle. Isamu dominated the Amateur competition all weekend and managed to squeeze out the win. Everyone will remember that forever.

So making the recap video was pretty amazing, I love being invited each year by Monty Little and Kevin Harris to film this event and create something special out of it. After getting to know all the competitors from the last 2 years I have made a bunch of great relationships and really respect these guys in a lot of ways. Freestyle skateboarding is such a rare entity and the people that name themselves true Freestylers are very strong people, and they all seem happy just to go skate. This year I really wanted to focus on the feelings and emotions that pass through all the competitors’ minds over the 4 day weekend. Everybody always talks about how awesome it is to be in a room with so many people that they consider family, and I think I know why they are so tight. Think back to when skateboarding was fully not accepted in society, this was when street skating just became a trend and pool skating was all trespassing. All skateboarders were shunned by the community, people judged us without ever knowing us and they put us down for being ourselves and doing something creative that made us feel good and accomplished inside. Now think of the way that the skateboard community feels about Freestyle Skaters, a lot of it seems like we treat them the way that the whole world used to treat us. People diss freestyle but what are they actually dissing? Just other human beings that found something they love to do and dedicate their lives to. I’ll tell you why I love these guys – because no matter how many times they have been pushed down they keep on standing strong, they do what they love and they do it to the best of their ability, and no matter where they are it’s always about promoting skateboarding in a positive way. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

After 3 years at this event I feel blessed to know all of these guys and appreciate that they accept me into their family. With less than 300 freestyle skaters in the world, you know that you are meeting the best of the best, and every single one of them is the most humble, most appreciative, and most supportive person you will ever meet. So sit back and check out this recap video of The 2014 World Round Up Freestyle Championships and feel the love…

Another amazing day at the World Round Up 2014 as the best of the best Freestyle Skateboarders in the world competed for the top places in the Finals of this 3 day event. The atmosphere was positive and everyone was having fun, but you could feel the want of the win in the air. Being the 3^rd year for this event it is beginning to become more important to try to win but all in all it is still about having fun and showing off skateboarding in a positive way to crowds of people that might not know much about skateboarding in general, and they were all loving it all day long. Every competitor was on their game today and there was a ton of flawless runs in both the Amateur and Professional divisions. Talk of the event was around 11 year old Isamu Yamamoto in the Am category and whether or not he could maintain top position and take 1^st place at his first ever world event. Kaue Araujo and Andy Anderson were battling hard to try to take that opportunity away from the little dude but just couldn’t quite do it. Isamu held on with amazing skills and won his first international Gold Medal!! Way to go dude!

In the Pros it was insanity all the way from 15^th right to top qualifying positions but the top 5 owned it and stayed the top 5 at the end. All 5 had at least one flawless run each and it must have been super hard to judge. Rene Shigueto, Per Cangaru, Mike Osterman, Jesse Whalen and Guenter Mokulys laid it down for the audience and blew away the other competitors. It came down to 1 point separating the 1^st place, 2^nd place and 3^rd place spots and ended in a great way with Mike Osterman from the USA taking Gold over Guenter, and leaving Jesse with the Bronze. What a way for Mike to celebrate his 21^st birthday!! Tears were shed, hugs were happening and everyone was stoked. This was another great example of how tight the freestyle world is and how much these guys love eachother. Mike Osterman took home $3,000 for placing on top but he was more excited about the fact that he skated his best and somehow beat the machine.

With demos all day, presentations by Constable Troy Derrick, and plenty of awesome contest runs, the crowd of spectators was constant and all went home with a story to tell. This event is growing and it is great to be a part of it. Keep watch on the site for a recap video coming soon, and check out http://www.theworldroundup.com for all the results…