Tags: anthony medina, brady johnston, cedar parks, chris fleener, donate & skate, donate and skate, kevin little, mason richard, micah yeager, rob zbranek, texas
The first ever Donate and Skate charitable rollerblading event took place in Cedar Park, Texas on April 16th 2011. The goal of the contest was to provide rollerblades to those interested in the sport, but who might not have the funds readily available to buy brand new skates. Instead of a contest entry fee, competitors donated used skates, wheels or frames. Then, during the contest, the nice staff of Rec N Roll Skateshop helped match up the pieces and assembled skates for those in need. It was great seeing so many kids excited about picking out their own parts and trying on their new skates. A few brave kids even tried rolling the skatepark for their first time – it was a beautiful sight!
Written by Kevin Little
Photography by Kevin Little, Greg King and Juli Applewhaite
Edit by Anthony Medina
The turnout for the contest was huge. With skaters such as Rob Zbranek, Brady Johnston, Jason Howard, Logan Harlan, Mason Richard, and Chris Fleener, you know some amazing skating went down.
Rob Z started the contest off right with a royale on the tall square rail to a huge drop into the bank as his first trick. The stage was definitely set for the rest of the day’s madness.People flew all over the park and hit things previously never thought of before. Logan "Dench" Harlan's launch from the super steep quarter to topsoul the underside of the railing or Mason Richard's 540 out of the skatepark into the basketball court below are prime examples.
In addition, Dorian Deshay showed off his consistency and laced tech trick after tech trick. He also stomped huge 540's and fakie 720's off the stair gap. Brady Johnston also could have put on a clinic on how to skate a down stair square rail. He landed full cab souls and acids first try and laced true kind grinds and hurricane topsouls like it was a walk in the park.
In addition, Chris Fleener came through with some of the craziest stunts of the day. He threw humongous 720's over the island gap and one massive 360 from the big bank to the steep quarter pipe about 25 feet away, which earned him best trick of the contest. Travis Reynolds landed a huge launch to royale from the bowl to the down stair rail, as well as landing triple switch-ups on the same rail.
Scott Wells and Mason Richard battled it out and gave the judges hell trying to keep up with all the tricks they landed. Scott’s consistency ended up being the deciding factor and he deservingly took first place. Mason Richard and Travis Reynolds took second and third place, respectively. Scott received a typical winners bath in champagne by Ryan McCarty, and we wrapped up the contest with a huge product toss to the ravenous kiddos.
The Donate and Skate event was a huge success! We put a lot of new kids and adults into rollerblades. In addition, the contest showed them just how exciting rollerblading can be. We even converted a few skateboarders in the process!We are planning on organizing more Donate and Skate competitions in the future and encourage other skaters to hold similar contests of their own to help get more kids interested in rollerblading. We hope to see you at the next event!
-Kevin Little, Organizer
Thanks again to all our sponsors for their support with the contest: Rollerblade, Sic Apparel, Razors Skate, Ground Control frames, Trust MFG., Rec N Roll Skateshop, Jug Footwear, Remz skates, Valo Skates, Eisenberg's Skatepark, Intuition Skateshop, Eulogy Wheels, Create Originals Frames, ONE Magazine and Be-Mag Magazine.
Results:
Want to know more about the Donate and Skate project? Well, check their website and facebook then and consider a donation! Check the gallery below for more pictures!
Sick event, looked awesome.
Brady that 3 sweaty was the best one I have ever seen. ever!!
Very good idea. I hope this event will be extend in the world.