When core skateboarders think of the autumn season, their minds may go to a couple of things: 1) Winter weather is coming! (obvious bummer) or 2) SOTY season is here. What is SOTY season, you might ask? SOTY is an accepted acronym for Skater of the Year, made famous by the now largest American skateboard magazine, Thrasher Magazine. As the name would imply, it refers to the top-performing skateboarder of that year, in the eyes of the decision makers at Thrasher.
Since 1990, Thrasher has been awarding a trophy, along with all of its accolades and bragging rights to its own SOTY, each year. A professional skateboarder’s sponsors will usually reward said skater with financial incentives and bonuses, but the glory of the award is what really incentivizes the modern skateboarder to strive to win. If the main goal of any skateboarder is to become “professional” (have signature products with their name on it because of their shown skill), the next step in their career would be to potentially win the coveted SOTY trophy. Some even say that their sponsors (in more recent years) play a role in how attainable SOTY is for them in their career. Maybe a skater’s sponsors spend money in advertising with the magazine; maybe they have a shoe release or multiple videos come out that year. The modern-day SOTY comes by means of a formula, but the main ingredient has always been the same: the quality of skateboarding that they do.
The blessing of Thrasher SOTY has become a cultural staple within skateboarding (especially in America). It has also grown and evolved, along with skateboarding itself. Over the last ten years, we’ve seen a few unprecedented feats as it pertains to Thrasher Magazine’s Skater of the Year (SOTY) Award. The trophy went to its oldest ever skater (Anthony Van Engelen [37 years old at the time]), first New Yorker (Tyshawn Jones [TWICE!]), and even first college-educated skater (Mark Suciu).
So who might it be this year?! What do you think? In a world of skateboarding that is constantly expanding, becoming more inclusive and pushing boundaries of all types… Will it be Jamie Foy for the 2nd time? Could it be Tiago Lemos, the South American powerhouse? Could it be fan favorite Rayssa Leal? Or even her two-time Olympic medalist counterpart, Yuto Horigome? In reality, it could be anyone that “drops” an impactful video anytime in the next six weeks and represents the Thrasher mentality.
And that is truly the excitement of it all. It could be anyone standing on that stage at the Skater of the Year party in San Francisco. Anyone could make their mark on Thrasher Magazine’s list of heroes and become an inspiration for even more skateboarders in our global family.
