Cape Town professional skateboarding champion and Guinness world record holder, Jean-marc Johannes, in conjunction with Ziyaad’s Skate School and various sponsors, hosted the inaugural Best of the Bay skate competition at Eyethu Skate Park, in Hout Bay on Sunday December 15.
Instead of the usual annual Christmas Party held for the youngsters, this was the first street skateboarding competition of its kind held at the park, modelled along the Olympic format, split into under-16 and under-10 divisions.
Each entrant had two runs of one minute each, in which they had to perform a “line” of consistent and varied tricks to score the most points and compete for the blunt Full Throttle award for the skater deemed to put the most effort into their skating.
Their performance was judged by a panel that included Johannes, Skate School founder, Ziyaad Davids and Blunt skateboard magazine’s, Miles Masterson.
Coached by Johannes, a 10 times international street skateboarding medallist, and Davids before their runs, the youngsters were understandably worried about performing in front of a skateboarding pro like Johannes, but gave it their everything, performing tricks such as 50-50 grinds, kick flips, big ollies and wall rides for the small but appreciative crowd of parents and supporters.
“You could see how nervous the kids were as for some of them this was their first taste of competition,” said Johannes.
“But it was amazing to see how they lifted their performance levels and gave it their everything. I was really impressed by the high standard of skating and it shows why grassroots competitions like this are so important,” he said.
Johannes thanked all sponsors for helping to make the day a success and commended Davids’ Skate School programme, which, he said, aims to enrich the lives of children from Imizamo Yethu and Hangberg through educational workshops and a regular feeding scheme.
Sponsors for and supporters of the event included Manzi Water, Ziyaad’s Skate School, Hout Bay Rotary, Amped Ramps and Blunt magazine.
