7th Annual “Skate For A Cause”

On May 7th, we were excited to attend the 7th Annual Skate For A Cause event, put on by the winner of this year’s Eric Stricker Memorial Award, the Sheckler Foundation. Ryan Sheckler, Gretchen Sheckler-Hachee, and all of the staff at the foundation do so much to grow and build their mission. Hats off!
The big event, skate contest(s), races and tent festival included, was held at the Etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest. The skies were dark with rain clouds to the north and northeast but beautiful, blue and sunny to the south. The park managed to stay dry for the entire length of the day, so we were in for a real treat! Young and old(er), short and tall, big and small; everyone was out to rip or watch the rippage, and there was a little something for everyone. Whether you came to watch the Legends shred the pool or the new blood skate the big stairs & rail, you were not to be disappointed.
The day started at 10 am. The gates opened to the carnival village (we like to call it “tent city”), and practice for the bowl competition was LIVE. From 11:30-11:50am, The Adaptive Actions Sports crew put on an awesome demo for the crowd! Whether on a board, bike or wheelchair, these guys & girls were so impressive, we can’t wait til the next one!
Founder of Adaptive Action Sports, Oscar Loreto, kickflips for the crowd.
Founder of Adaptive Action Sports, Oscar Loreto, kickflips for the crowd.
At noon, the TRANSWORLD Legends Bowl Contest officially started, and the next hour was full of great skating from our favorites, including Christian Hosoi, Jim Gray, Eddie Reategui, and more. The dark gray bowl at the skatepark (the one with four pockets and stairs in the shallow) was the one selected for the contest, & it got absolutely obliterated! So much fun to watch.

Not too long after the Legends wrapped up (Congrats to the crowd favorite, Hosoi, for winning!), the Lume Cube-sponsored Skater Cross contest got going! It’s not very often that you see a contest like this. Skater Cross is just like Snow Cross for snowboarders in the Olympics, if you’re familiar with that. There are cones set all around a flow course for skaters to race to and within. There’s a one-on-one format that makes sure it stays exciting for all spectators. And people aren’t afraid to get a bit physical with each other. So you can imagine the entertainment of one-on-one real-time racing over concrete humps, corners and obstacles. With opportunity for “slam-of-the-day.” it was hyped up! Congrats to Daniel Vargas for walking away with the Skater Cross win for that day.

Chris Joslin's frontside heelflip in the Red Bull Tech Center contest
Chris Joslin’s frontside heelflip in the Red Bull Tech Center contest
The more traditional contests followed, including the Red Bull Tech Center Best Trick, Oakley Tranny Best Trick, and  Tilly’s Stairs Hubbas Rails Best Trick. The Red Bull-sponsored Best Trick contest entailed a bump to barrier from a large bank in the street course and the bump to rail in the park. So many came out to shred on the course! Some highlights came from Greg Lutzka, Alex Midler, Kane Sheckler, and Kurtis Colamonico. Big ups to Lutzka for taking it home with a few sick backside nosebluntslide variations and then some!
The transition best trick contest was a fun one to watch, with Daniel Vargas and Nora Vasconcellos, Dave Bachinsky, Charlie Blair, and others competing. Oakley fronted some cash to sponsor and everyone showed us their best stuff on the two main quarterpipes in the street course. Charlie ultimately brought it home with a massive frontside flip, blunt kickflip to fakie, backside 360 nosegrab, and many others. Congrats Charlie boy!

The ender for the day, was as usual, the “techgnar” section with the 11 stair, round rail, square rail, and hubba. Although all the action was going down on the stairs and rails, it was one for the books, for sure! Sierra Fellers, Chris Cole, Chris Joslin, Tre Williams and Tony Tave were some of the names

Kevin Romar nollie heelflips in the Tilly's Best Trick contest.
Kevin Romar nollie heelflips in the Tilly’s Best Trick contest.

throwing themselves down the gap. Each person had a mission on a trick or a few, and it was gnarly to see what they all had in store for the crowd. Some highlights included switch backside heelflip and switch frontside bigspin heelflip from Chris Joslin, nollie boardslide and switch heelflip from Sierra Fellers, and switch frontside kickflip and japan air from Chris Cole. But don’t talk our word for it! Check out the coverage below for yourself… Much love to Joslin for taking home first!

Following the big gap finale, the crowd watched as awards (big checks!) were given to the winners and participants from the entire day. The excitement on the faces of everyone present was truly special. A huge part of the greater skate community came out, and the fulfilling feeling of positive impact was palpable. You could feel it in interactions with everyone, and you could see it in their faces and body language. The awards were handed out, and all was good. But even more, the raffles tickets were called, and all the kids got hooked up!
We’ll have the figures on how much money they raised soon enough. But we can tell you from a first-person experience that the Sheckler Foundation does good work, at least through their Skate For A Cause event in Lake Forest.
Stoked for the stoke. Can’t wait till next year’s Skate For A Cause!

Weekend Notice: Orders placed over the weekend will be shipped the following Monday.

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