United States  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA Utilizing skateboarding and other talents to aid in the building of community. World Class Professional Skateboarder Event Organization, Design, Entertainment, Educational Programs, Community Outreach Web Site: http://www.ajkohn.com/
SPONSORS: One Skateboard Company, Tork Trucks, Bones Wheels, NS Bearings, Etnies Footwear, Jo-Jo Watches, Wahoo's Tacos, Franklins Paine, Parks and Recreation of Philadelphia, The Collective Philadelphia
Biographical Summary
Personal Statement Since I can remember I have always been into the arts, sports, performing, building and making a difference in my community. It was something that was inherent as well as nutured throughout my life. Having ideas and dreams and trying to make them become reality has been a real thrill in my life! Sometimes it doesn't turn out exactly as planned but the adventure and what was learned has always been worth it! Skateboarding has it all! It is a great form of exercise, physical artistic expression, graphic art and music affiliation and had a sense of community belonging even if it was just in the sub culture! As soon as I saw it, I wanted to do it and once I started it changed my outlook and the way I saw things forever! I started skating around at about 10 yrs old on an old banana board however by the time I was 12-13 I started to learn tricks and developing my own style. At the time I was primarily a "Street" skater as the only half pipes where at a skate park 45 min. away so I took the the back of my garage cobbling make shift obstacles and then taking them to my street out front of my house practicing for hours upon hours everyday possible. I started wanting to get better and started traveling to surrounding towns, meeting up with others and skating all the spots I could. I finished my Bachelors Degree in Industrial Design and began working as a Project Manager for a small innovative Toy company. In addition to my responsibilities I also designed and developed new products as well as brand extensions on current lines. I eventually got laid off (although I still consult for this group) and joined an event production company performing cirque du scare type events. I was hired to coordinate stunt performers, input on set design as well as performing as a full time performer and I loved it even though it was a seasonal gig. While I was doing this gig I was getting more involved in the skateboard scene in Philadelphia since the Love park closing in 2001 I was very involved petitioning, fundraising and was starting to organize local events, started an after school skateboard program and eventually starting my own brand One Skateboard Company officially in 2006. Currently I am booked for several promotions and various events throughout the year including my contest series and annual Freestyle Championships. I continue to teach new students skateboarding and always welcoming more, as I love to impart my knowledge and love of this healthy lifelong activity! Be well and be free! Do what you love and you will be happy for all your days!
AJ Kohn AJ Kohn skating at the World Freestyle Round-Up in Cloverdale, Canada |
Dr. Bill Robertson El Paso, Texas Dr. Skateboard is Bill Robertson, a Ph.D. in Education and a skateboarder for over thirty-five years. Bill has done hundreds of demonstrations nationally and internationally in festivals, events and in academic settings. He has performed for thousands of students in elementary, middle, and high school levels throughout the United States, in Canada, Mexico and into South America. Bill has been an educator for over twenty years. His academic areas of expertise are science education, curriculum development and technology integration. He also teaches and does research in the areas of problem-based learning and action science. Dr. Bill Robertson has 5 degrees from 5 different institutions. Bill completed his Ph.D. in Multicultural Teacher and Childhood Education with an emphasis in science and technology at the University of New Mexico in 2000. He obtained a Master's degree Science Education from the University of Colorado – Boulder, a BA degree in Spanish from UTEP, a BS in Biology from Northern Arizona, a BA degree in History from Duke University. Dr. Robertson received a number of awards, including the prestigious University of Texas Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Award (UTROTA) and was nominated by UTEP for the U.S. Professor of the Year Award. In 2008, he was selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar and worked for the six months in Santiago, Chile at the Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencia de la Educación (UMCE) in the Department of Physics. 
Community ChampionAs a skateboarder, Bill has had a career that spans five decades and has been an accomplished amateur and professional competitor. Over his career, he has had three professional skateboard models put out with Walker Skateboards, Casper Designs and JET Skateboards. Bill has won 3 Master’s Freestyle championships and held the title of US Master’s Champion in 2013 and 2014. He was elected to the Freestyle Hall of Fame in 2010. Over the years, Bill has combined his academic career with his passion for Skateboarding. Through the “Physics of Skateboarding”, Bill showcases physics and mathematics concepts in unique ways that demonstrates service within the community can be tied closely to teaching and learning. His demonstrations are presented in both English and Spanish at elementary, middle and high schools in El Paso, across the United States and internationally in locations including Chile, Argentina, Mexico and Canada. The overarching theme about Dr. Skateboard is the appeal of skateboarding and other action sports as teaching and learning vehicles for families, young people and adults. It also gives parents and educators a reliable and safe site where they can explore extreme sports while providing a learning opportunity to explore science, mathematics and physics concepts. Bill was featured on a TEDx Talk for his work with Dr. Skateboard’s Action Science.
Dr. Bill RobertsonDr. Skateboard E-mail: drsk8board@gmail.com Web site: www.drskateboard.com |
Reno, Nevada Ed Nadalin was one of the very best Freestyle skaters in the mid-70's. He worked for a Huntington Beach company that made urethane wheels and often skated at Huntington Beach pier. He was the featured skater in "The Magic Rolling Board" where he danced on his skateboard wearing a tuxedo. Ed gained the nickname "Mr. Fluidity" and was well respected by all skaters. |
Germany  10 Times World Champion Freestyle Skateboarding Age 49 – Germany Sponsors: Sk8 Kings, Pro-Sk8, Decomposed 
Biographical Summary
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Oceanside, California / Iraq Marine, Father, Freestyle Skateboarder "After 24 years away, I started skating again in July 2007 when my 6-year old son challenged me do the Butterflip! It was so fun re-learning the trick that I decided to skate again for health, creativity and fun. I flowed my boy a deck and now we skate together and have a blast. I was searching for something just for me again and skateboarding came back into my life at just the right time. In the past 7 months, I have made 20 videos, learned so many New and Old School tricks and came out with two pro models with Decomposed Skateboards."
Keith Butterfield is now a 42-year old man that recently broke back into the (now underground scene)
of FreeStyle skateboarding. After 24 years away, Keith enjoys skateboarding once again.
Keith was a top pro skater in the early 80’s with a signature model out called the Vision Trickster.
In the early 80’s, Keith won 16 out of 16 international amateur freestyle skateboard contests.
This got him noticed, hyped up and eventually sponsored by the likes of Vision sports, Tracker Trucks,
OJ, Wheels, Santa Cruz Skateboards, Bucci Sunglasses and a few others.
He is in many Thrasher and Transworld magazines that, in the early 80's, covered FreeStyle
on a regular basis. Keith is known for creating a popular freestyle trick called the “Butterflip.”
Transworld Magazine published the "Butterflip" in 1983 as a trick tip.
Keith also turned pro that year and stayed in the top five in the World until 1985 when he vanished from the scene.
In the late 80's, Keith landed a roll in the ABC Sunday Night Movie Of The Week called, "Brotherhood Of Justice."
He also landed a roll where he gets killed on the beach by a vampire in the cult movie classic “The Lost Boys.”
Keith went on to do many things to include competitive skim boarding, amateur surfing,
vert riding and eventually joined the United States Marine Corps in 1990.
Currently, Keith is on his 18th year in the service, serving a seven-month tour of duty in Iraq
as a Company 1st Sgt. Keith has been married for 17 years and has three children.
"Even though FreeStyle competitions are rare today, and the public is basically unaware of freestyle skateboarding,
it still offers me the same joys as it did 24 years ago. It gives me something that is all mine.
It's always there for me and never talks back. It gives me tons of joy and keeps me lean.
Moreover, it's a great opportunity to set a good example for my kids, other kids and allows me to mentor kids
from around the world."Email: keith_butterfield@yahoo.com YouTube Videos: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1514728481523 http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1514695240692 Stationed in Iraq April 16, 2008 - Sick in Baghdad |
Canada  SKATEBOARDING IN CANADA OWES MUCH OF IT'S EARLY ROOTS TO THE ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS OF MONTY LITTLE AND THE CANADIAN PRO-AM SKATEBOARD ASSOCIATION. THE FOLLOWING IS A RECOUNT OF SKATEBOARDING’S EARLY DAYS IN CANADA, AS PENNED BY MONTY AFTER RECEIVING A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD in 2002 AT A SKATEBOARD REUNION PARTY AT KEVIN HARRIS'. I can still remember my first Skateboard, I made it from some old steel roller skate wheels when I was 16 back in 1963. I also remember getting high-speed wobbles on that board at 35 mph and wiping out on 1050 North in Bountiful, Utah (I think the blood and skid marks are still there). Shortly after that, I saw a short film called "Skater Dater" in which the skateboarder's all had Clay Wheels on their boards and did these incredible tricks. . . I was hooked and still am. Although I didn't have the money to buy a pair of those wheels, I tried to emulate the tricks that I saw in that film. Two years later, and now living in Canada, two other guys and I went in together and bought a set of Chicago Trucks with Clay Wheels (as I recall, it cost us $12.50 plus shipping). Every day after school, we would meet in the British Properties and take turns on that board. Later that summer, I ran into Bob Hope at the Capilano Golf Course and asked him if I could have his autograph. I had a pen but no paper for him to write on. Bob seeing the problem, said, "how about I sign your skateboard?" After signing it, he said, "let's see what you can do." Wow, skating for Bob Hope and seeing the crowd that gathered around him! This performing for an audience was fun and could become addictive. My next Skateboard came along in 1974 and had Cadillac Urethane Wheels. . . the Skateboard was now truly THE MAGIC ROLLING BOARD. Christmas morning of 1975 found a Cal-240 Skateboard under most Canadian Christmas trees, and a revolution was born. With it came lots of hype and photo's in the newspapers, but all too often, the articles were about how dangerous skateboarding was. Those of you who have ever stood on a Cal-240 would no doubt agree. It was in the early spring of 1976 that I received a phone call from the North Shore YMCA asking if I would set up and run Training and Safety Clinics for Skateboarding. To this day, I don't know how they knew I skateboarded; there were so few of us skating at the time. My friend Paul Zalesky and I, along with YMCA director Peter Marshal, and later joined by Bruce Mathie, ran the first of many clinics at the Safeway Parking lot in West Van. I met many of you at those YMCA-sponsored clinics both in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. That summer was packed with great times, from Slalom Racing on Chartwell Drive to the G&S Team demos at Dairy Queens. Skateboard shops and Demo Teams started popping up; among them was Harry Greenberg's ROLLS ROYCE TEAM with Boris Delmar, Chuck Romulus, Steve Caldwell, Todd Carter and eight-year-old Markie-G. As summer's end approached, it became obvious that the caliber of skating had greatly increased as had skateboarding's popularity. . . we needed to hold a contest. September 11, 1976, started out to be just another quiet morning in Stanley Park, suddenly the silence was broken by the shrill sound of a whistle starting the Cross Country Race as the 1st Annual B.C. Skateboard Championships got underway. This was so much more than just a skateboard contest; the national TV Show W5 was there to document our contest, which they televised a few weeks later. This contest was also the start of so many great friendships and an obsession for skateboarding that we all still share today. That same dedication of friends and volunteers working together is what has made running these contests over the years such fun. What took place in the next three weeks following that contest changed my life for the better, and I think skateboarding as well. I was working at Grouse Mountian at the time, and the day after the contest, I was fired by my supervisor, which could have had something to do with skateboarding on the paved banked asphalt under the Sky Ride. I was about to drive away with my tail between my legs when I remembered that the President of Grouse Mountain, Gary Keefer, was interested in putting a skateboard park at the bottom of the mountain. I went to his office and told him that a National Skateboard Contest was taking place that next weekend at the Carlsbad Skateboard Park in California. There was also going to be a skatepark seminar, and if he covered my expenses, I would attend both and report back to him. Well, he cut me a cheque for $500 on the spot. I went home and told my wife Joy, “I got good news and great news." "What's the good news?" she said. "I don't work at Grouse Mountain any longer, pack up the kids; we are going to California." We left that very day and were in Carlsbad, California, for the 2nd Annual Hang Ten Pro Skateboard Championships a week later. Can you imagine how exciting it was to see all those skaters that I had only read about and seen photos of in SkateBoarder Magazine? I also attended the one-day seminar on "How to Build a Skate Park", which would later come in handy. Fortunately for me, when I returned home to report my findings to Gary, there were six pieces of mail waiting for me at his office. Who would be sending mail to Monty Little at Grouse Mountain? As it turned out, all six were job offers from people who had seen the W5 show on skateboarding that had aired while we were in California, and the only thing they knew about this kid called Monty Little who organized the contest was that he worked at Grouse Mountain. One of the job offers paid twice what I had been making and came with a van. It seems the President of Kelly Douglas & Company, Mr. Ray Addington, had been at the Stanley Park Contest watching his sons compete and was very impressed with what he saw. He wanted other kids throughout B.C. to learn how to skateboard safely, and would I consider coming to work for him to achieve that goal. Well, as you all know, I said, "YES" to Ray. Over the next three summers, 1977 - 1979, we (meaning myself and many of you), took the Super-Valu Portable Contest/Slalom Trailer on the road, putting on well over 150 contests. We gained sponsorship in other Provinces and took our Contest Tour halfway across Canada and back again through Ray's contacts. We not only put on thousands upon thousands of miles each year on those tours, but we also saw thousands upon thousands of smiles on the faces of contestants and spectators alike as we rolled into town. Our four-man contest team worked hard 24-7 for two and half months each summer, never complaining when it came time to set up THE RAMP, well, almost never. Rob Leshgold, Bud Watt, Ted Hartley, and Bruce Mathie became my Co-Pilots on those long tours, with hot young skaters like Paul and Simon Addington, Todd Watson, Niko Weis, Al Harrison, Colin Loganhume, and others helping to make up the rest of our contest crew. If running 37 contests in B.C. alone sounds like a very busy schedule, it was. One summer, I was only home seven days in two months. Lucky for skateboarding and me, Joy was very understanding and wanted me to succeed. She would blow me a kiss, matter of speaking, as the crew and I passed through town on our way to another contest. One of the big highlights of being a part of the crew was spending time with the Skateboard Pro's that joined us on tour. Names we had only heard of like Russ Howell, Bob Mohr, Steve Cathey, Tom Inouye, and Ellen O'Neal became our good friends and mentors. This also became handy each year when Joy and I took the National Skateboard Champions to California. Steve always arranged a tour of the G&S factory and warehouse. I can still remember Derek Crane and Ken Dale's eyes popping out when they saw all those racks of skateboards, wheels, trucks, t-shirts, etc., at G&S. Russ was also on hand to take the gang to the Concrete Wave or the Run-Way Skateboard Park, and Ellen O'Neal would drop by to skate with the boys and make the female winners feel at home. Great times with good friends. Some of the other highlights of those early years of skateboarding were organizing and running the Canadian Pro-Am Skateboard Association with Bruce, lobbying for Canada's first Skate Park in West Van, and helping to design four others. Being asked by EXPO 86' to put together a World Skateboard Championship - now that took a few thousand man-hours to pull off and was definitely not a one-man job. Watching GRONK and the RIPPING SQUAD (Kevin, Mike, Rob, Paul, Simon, Niko, Dave, Al, and the Lien brothers Richard and Mike) put on a demo. Five skaters on that small Ripper Half-Pipe all at once, now that is precision and dedication at its highest level. Or the kind of talent and endurance we saw the day Kevin Harris shattered the old World Record for two-boarded 360s at the Canadian Nationals with 1,132 spins. I also fondly remember working with volunteers over the years who gave of their time so freely, like Don Harris, Graham X-Peat, Wayne Nakatani, and the parents of skaters who always offered to help. We had some great times didn't we? And laugh, did we have fun or what? I remember laughing so hard one day at Photographer Jim Goodrich I couldn't catch my breath. He and I ran into Arnold Schwarzenegger and four or five of his rather large body-building buddies. Jim didn't know who he was or that in Arnie's 2nd movie called "The Villain," he played a guy called Handsome Stranger. When I went up to him and said, "Hi Handsome Stranger," Jim's face went white. After Arnie and his entourage left laughing, Jim caught his breath and said, "Hi Handsome Stranger, that sounded like a pickup line; we could have been beaten to a pulp." So many great memories, from the fluid slalom racing of Claude Regnier, Mark Fogell, Mike Blake, and Sophie Bourgeois on the streets of my neighborhood, to the surf-like skating of Don Hartley (THE MAD CARVER) at Seylynn Skate Park. From watching the smile on a young 8-year-old boy's face as he completed his first tick-tack to the aggressive skating style of PD, Cory, Carlos, TA, and the rest of the East Van Crew. All great memories, memories shared with friends made over the last 50 plus years. Memories of having fun working and skating together, sharing our passion for the sport of skateboarding with others. Thank You for those memories and the recognition you have shown me with this Special Award. Thank You for your hard work over the years, helping to pull off yet another great event  and Thank You for being good friends. Your Friend, Monty (But you can call me Monty Zooma if you want) 2002 TO PRESENT DAY Since 2002 Monty has remained active in the skateboard scene, running the occasional Expressions Sessions at Seylynn Skateboard Park and helping with skatepark designs. Then in 2012, Kevin Harris approached him to organize and run an annual freestyle contest at the Cloverdale Rodeo & Country Fair. Thanks to Monty, Kevin, and their crew, The World Freestyle Round-Up Contest, now in its 10th year, has become the largest freestyle contest in the world. 
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Sweden 
30 YEARS ANNIVERSARY AS A SKATEBOARDER 2008SKATEBOARDER, ACTOR AND DESIGNER. WORLD CHAMPION, EUROPEAN CHAMPION AND SWEDISH CHAMPION IN FREESTYLE SKATEBOARDING. 30 YEARS ON A SKATEBOARD AND NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN. Lillis saw a skateboard for the first time in his life 1977 and knew that moment that he wanted to be a skateboarder. It took him, however, one complete year to convince his parents to buy him a skateboard. Finally, the summer of 1978, Lillis stepped on his very own skateboard. Why skateboarding attracted him, he has no idea of, he just knew that it was something he had to do, something that was already a part of his life. These days he talks about the freedom, the creativity, the expression of one's self through skateboarding, integration of body and mind and pure and crazy fun. But back then in the late 1970's, it was simply his destiny. And still is. Lillis also has an intense interest in acting and is part of a local theater group, Skokloster Teatersällskap, where he trained under the guidance of Swedish actor and director Willy Tappert. Lillis has had the lead roles as Lars Hård in the play "Lars Hård" by Jan Fridegård and as Mascarille in "The Pretentious Young Ladies" by Molière and Jean in August Strindbergs "Fröken Julie". His debut in front of the cameras was for the pilot of "1251 - Folkungarnas tid", where he is portraying the 1300th century Swedish king Knut den Långe. Being a fan of Star Trek, Lillis is happy to have landed the role as the android Commander Andrew in the Norwegian fan based Star Trek movie Gatekeeper. Filming is scheduled for 2011. Lillis is also a very creative Web and graphic designer. He goes to great lengths to come up with the perfect balance between form, function and simplicity. ACCOMPLISHMENTS - A COLLECTION OF SOME CONTEST HIGHLIGHTS, TELEVISION SHOWS, DEMOS AND MORE. Contests Highlights
Shows at schools, hopping malls, festivals, clothing stores, sports stores, shoe stores, trade shows and more. Stefan LillisÅkesson E-mail: stefan-akesson@telia.com Web site: http://www.stefanlillisakesson.com |
Elko, Nevada Photos by: Cassie Crosby Witter Cheng was born in Brunei, a tiny country in northern Borneo. He later moved to Australia, and is now living in Elko, Nevada. His current endeavors are flooding the scene with freestyle decks though his company: https://www.decomposedskateboards.com/
Decomposed Skateboards Freestyle related skateboard toys for days that will bring you back to the 80s. Rodney Mullen has a time machine and brought back what skateboarding missed. Decks, wheels, trucks, skidplates and other accessories can all be found in this crypt. Riders on his team include, Gunter Mokulys, Tim Morris, Joe Humeres, Russ Howell, YoYo Schulz and Daryl Grogan.
Witter has competed at the last two World FreeStyle Championships held in S. California.Overview:
I started street skating in the mid-80s, and started freestyling in the late 90s.
My influences are Tommy Harward, The Mutt, Frank Lee, Pierre Andre, Per Welinder, Primo, Ray Barbee, and Mike Vallelly.I started with a GT plastic banana board, then several 'Walmart' type boards, then Santa Cruz, Powell Peralta,... when popsicle shapes came, my first one was a Stereo Jason Lee. I started freestyling seriously after I snapped my knee doing stairs back in Australia. Goals.... Bobby Boyden, Capital Skateboards, Lillis, Bill Robertson,...etc did a great job with introducing freestyle to the 20th century. I'm here to make sure I continue with their duties.
Witter ChengEmail: weeeeeter@hotmail.com Website: https://www.decomposedskateboards.com/ |
Germany The following was taken from an interview done with Joachim 'YoYo' Schulz. YOYO has been my nickname for ages now, because my other name is hard to pronounce in the US and is too long.
When you started to practice the freestyle skateboarding, and where you live right now?Y.S.- Well, I started to ride a skateboard more than 25 years ago. I don't know the exact date, but still have my very first skateboard in my little skate museum. Skateboarding is and was always having fun, so I would not call it really practicing for any special event such as Freestyle. Skateboarding is Freestyle. Me and my friends went out to do some routines, but not over and over. I remember that at the beginning of my contest career, we set up our routines during the trip to the contest and write down the lines and tricks. Basically back in the late 70's and 80's, most skaters skated everything, so Freestyle was just one element. These days I live with my wife and three kids near Frankfurt in a small town called Schwalbach. Who were your sponsors, on yesterdays and today? Y.S.- Tracker Trucks is still my sponsor since 1982. I was on Walker Skateboards, Speed wheels Santa Cruz and Life's A Beach Clothing in the late 80's. Right now I am working together with Witter Cheng from Decomposed Skates. He sells the decks in the US and I sell some over here in Germany and Europe. Check out the products at http://www.decomposedsk8.com/ What do you do today, besides skateboarding? Y.S.- I have never made a living off skateboarding / Freestyle. Being in Europe is different than in the US, especially in the 80's. Skateboarding has always been a hobby not a profession, although I had and have Pro models. The standard was and still is very high in Europe and that's why I believe that people deserve Pro models in Europe as well.Today there are some European (street) skaters that can make a living off skateboarding and that's a good sign. My current job is in the service organization of the German Telekom, named T-Systems. I take care of service logistics in the distribution of computer spare parts to and from our technicians. Did you invented any trick? If so, what are they? Y.S.- Well, I am known for my YOYO Plant for sure. I invented this trick some twenty years ago and only a handful of skaters have ever managed to pull it off. It is a rolling street plant where you don't take your feet off to push yourself up in a one armed handstand. There are different variations of this trick as well. I know that today Terry Synnott does YOYO to HOHO plants in his routine as well as regular yoyo plants. What musics do you use to play when you are in a contest? Y.S.- It just depends. Back in the 80's it was mostly Depeche Mode as far as I remember. These days I listen and skate to different kinds of music, depending on my mood etc. Sometimes even top 40 stuff if it's skatable and has some good beats to do tricks to. It also depends on the style you have, so everyone has their own preferences. Todays kids seem to be seduced by the "skate and destroy" style. But at least I noticed that most of them even don´t know anything about the existence of freestyle skateboarding, it´s best athletes, and stuff. The videos and magazines are one of the greatest keepers to the continuing of this kind of mentality... While freestyle is on another corner (skate and create). Do you think that it will take much time to people turn back their attentions to the freestyle way of skating, and then we could have the possibity of having freestyle reaching close to the mainstream again? Y.S.- I am very aware of what's happening, but I also see a lot of kids going more into Oldschool stuff. A reason for this may be the Dogtown & Z-Boys documentary as well as a new magazine called Concrete Wave from Canada and the 80's revival in general. I see more and more kids getting into Flatland these days, not calling it Freestyle though. But after some time they will realize what they are doing and Freestyle will be a bigger part again. Remember: Freestyle and Slalom are the roots of skateboarding. First do some turns and then master your skateboard doing tricks such as wheelies and walk the dogs.Most street Pros can do some Freesytle moves, so they definitely know the basics and the history. Back in the 80's most major Vert Pros even competed in the Freestyle events....... What´s the point or fact that kept you freestyling all these years? (well, you could be a street skater...) Y.S.- I never stopped skating throughout all the years, I just skated less on a regular basis. For the last six years I got back into skating and Freestyle a little more. Freestyle has always been my roots and I like it so much, because of the creativity. Not that street can not be creative, but as I am getting older street skating is just too dangerous getting hurt very badly. Notice all the torn ligaments from street skating in lo-top shoes??? I never tore any ligamnets and Freestyle keeps you flexible; even at age 40. 
By the way that the marketing is running, can the kids dream of being sponsored by freestyle companies?Y.S.- Sure they can dream about it. First they have to buy boards, so that todays little Freestyle companies start to grow and then maybe they will get sponsored. But please do not take a sponsorship as a goal to reach in skateboarding. When the time is right it will happen, otherwise just forget about it and ENJOY skateboarding. It's all about fun and not competition and sponsorships in the first place. And about the freestyle contests, are they growing up, or they are just some curiosity to attract more people on street or vert events? Y.S.- We have organized some ``Only- Freestyle`` events here in Germany with big success and not just as a sideshow event to draw some crowd. The success is determined by the skaters that participate in these events and just recently I have seen some new young talented skaters to get more into Freestyle, so things look promising. Do you think that the product line is growing, besides Tracker, Nicotine, Decomposed and others..? Y.S.- There are some companies working on new designs as I write this. It is just a matter of time and things will happen for sure. The main factor is money needed for development of new wheel molds . It is so much easier to press and shape a deck than to make a new wheel. I cut my Freestyle decks out of kicknose street decks for the last 10 years, so these things are fairly easy to do, but I simply can not pour my own wheels... What contests made your best moments as a skater? Y.S.- Getting second place at a Pro Contest in the US back in 1987, and the last World Championships 2005 in Brazil, because so many old and new people showed up and the whole atmosphere was truly great. Holding my very first Pro model from Walker in my hands was a great experience as well. Every time I land a new trick, even in my age, gets me stoked! Enjoy life! Later, YOYO E-mail: skateyoyo@nexgo.de Web Site: http://www.yoyoskates.com |
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