Local skateboarders will be looking to ‘make it count’ June 8, as Element Skateboards brings its amateur contest series to Cochrane’s Zero Gravity Skate Park.
Element Make It Count 2013 International Skate Contest Series has had a busy year, with the tour hitting up talented skateboarders throughout Europe, Japan, Brazil and the United States. The Cochrane leg of the contest is one of only three Canadian stops.
The overall victor from each of the contest destinations will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the competition finals at the Element YMCA Skate Camp in Sequoia Lake, Calif. There, finalists will compete against each other for a yearlong sponsorship from Element.
“This contest is a great way for us to give back to the skateboarding community,” said Greg Jackson, the Western Canadian sales representative for Element Skateboards. “The level of competition should be high — this is the opportunity of a lifetime for many of these competitors.”
Make It Count is open to anyone at any level of skateboarding, with the competition divided into the categories of 13 and under as well as 14 and over. The contest will be in a best-trick style format, which will see the local skateboarding divided into three obstacles for competitors to tackle, said Chad Albert, Canadian marketing manager for the skateboarding company.
The overall winner will be chosen based on their performance over each of the three obstacles.
“Everyone should come down — this is serious entertainment,” said Jackson. “What some of these guys can do is impressive and it often goes unnoticed. (Skateboarding) is the black sheep among the sporting community.”
Canadian team members Brandon Del Bianco, Geoff Strelow and Nathan Roline will be judging.
Entry for the competition is a food bank donation, which will, in turn, be given to the Cochrane Activettes Food Bank. Registration for the event begins at noon June 8, with the competition set to start at about 1 p.m.
