Evan Binge of Fourways in Johannesburg became the first South African skateboarder to win a wildcard entry for the amateur contest at this year’s Maloof Money Cup skateboarding world championships.
Binge pulled out all the stops and impressed the judges with his skills on the first stop of the Skateboarding for Hope tour at the Boogaloos Skate Park in Randburg. This community outreach initiative is a joint collaboration between the Northern Cape provincial government and Maloof Skateboarding with the financial backing of Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore. The road show promotes skateboarding as an easy, affordable and accessible sport as part of the run-up to the annual world championships event in Kimberley.
The Maloof Money Cup skateboarding world championships presented by Kumba Iron Ore will be hosted in Kimberley in the Northern Cape is September and is widely considered to be the greatest skateboarding contest in the world and the only world championship event. The three-day skateboarding extravaganza showcases the pinnacle in global and local skateboarding talent.
Over the next five months, the Skateboarding for Hope road show will travel throughout South Africa with retail partner Boogaloos to host skateboarding clinics, demonstrations and contests in key centres. In addition, the provincial government also stage a further series of activations in the deep rural areas of the Northern Cape Province. The events help to promote skateboarding as a sport and to identify emerging local skaters. For many children, the road show is their first exposure to the sport and it has touched the lives of thousands of youngsters to date.
This year’s scintillating Skateboarding for Hope line-up will feature numerous activations nationwide outside of the Northern Cape, including three new large scale Grand Slam events in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. These new events are in answer to a tremendous demand for more large scale skateboarding events to service the rapidly growing skateboarding community in South Africa. The Skateboarding for Hope events will be in seven of the country’s nine provinces.
During each activation, top local skaters will show off their tricks and share some tips with young skateboarding fans, while other amateur skateboarders will pitch their street skills against each other in an attempt to win a wild card entry into the amateur championships in Kimberley in September as well as cash prizes and skateboarding merchandise. As part of the community upliftment aspect of the tour, underprivileged children from nearby communities and local children’s homes are also invited to attend the various activations.
Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town will host Grand Slam events, where the best skateboarders in South Africa will compete for significant prize purses. The Grand Slam events will further raise the level and profile of competitive skateboarding in South Africa, while also building the fan base of the sport.
The Skateboarding for Hope Tour will hit the road on the following dates:
Saturday, 18 May: Menlyn Park Skatepark, Menlyn Park Centre, Pretoria
Saturday, 15 June: Maloof Skate Plaza, Kimberley
Saturday, 22 June: Wavehouse, Gateway Shopping Centre, Umhlanga, Durban (GRAND SLAM)
Saturday, 6 July: Loch Logan Mall, Bloemfontein
Saturday, 13 July: Skatelab, George
Saturday, 27 July: Riverside Mall, Nelspruit
Saturday, 17 August: Melrose Arch, Johannesburg (GRAND SLAM)
Saturday, 24 August: Kings Beach Skatepark, Port Elizabeth
Saturday, 31 August: Boogaloos Stoneridge Skate park, Edenvale
Saturday, 8 Sept: Canal Walk Shopping Centre, Cape Town (GRAND SLAM)
Follow the Skateboarding for Hope tour on Facebook at Maloof Money Cup South Africa and Boogaloos SA for the latest updates.
URL:
Twitter:
Facebook:
YouTube:
Author: Ronelda Visser from Peridot Communications. Originally distributed by MyPR.co.za.
No of Images Uploaded: Two
To gain access to Two image/s please Like, Tweet or +1 this article:
Images:
Evan Binge in action during his wildcard winning performance at the first Skateboarding for Hope contest in Randburg. Photographer: Boogaloos
Gavin Powell of Boogaloos with kids from Sparrow Ministries, who took part in the first Skateboarding for Hope community outreach events. Photographer: Boogaloos
