by Giancarlo Zavalaga
My weekend started on Thursday Dec 3rd, got to Tampa and went straight to the Skatepark for the art show and DEL’s performance to find out they had free beer (PBR) and Vodka with red bull for everybody so I get off to a good start. The exhibition was alright, 90 different types of bottles with weird designs… on the other hand DEL’s performance was insane, I’ve been listening to DEL since I lived in Peru and I couldn’t believe that I was in front of him, same style, same hip hop feeling; Then I went to the other side of the Skaterpark to watch the Ams practice.
Giancarlo and Tolentino
On Friday I went to DEL’s official concert for the 17th anniversary of the Skatepark of Tampa, it was crazy , the audio was awesome and A PLUS from Hieroglyphics was on the stage with him. The concert was at Czar in Ybor City, which is 5 minutes from the Skatepark of Tampa, Ybor City is like 10 blocks of bars and clubs, the night ended up with a big party and AGAIN free beers so dont ask me how I ended up that night hahahahaha.
Saturday I went back to the Skatepark for a bit, to watch the practice and to try to learn more tricks. The practice was crazy, there were like 40 people trying to Skate at the same time so I couldn’t Skate that much :/. Sunday was the day of the finals and I woke up with a hangover from the night before but I said ‘fuck it’ and decided to go to the skatepark early in the morning so I could see the whole thing. I was there by 10am, lots of cameras, lots of skaters and guess what? more FREE alcohol hahaha, I didnt wanna drink anymore though, I had plans to meet with my old friend Daniel from Peru (AKA legañita) it was cool seeing Daniel, he was on tour in Florida with the 5boro team, we started talking about Skateboarding and reminiscing about all the awesome people that we know from our homeland, Peru.
The finalists.
I was ready to see Nick Tucker and Corey Kennedy; Corey was late and as soon as he arrived his run started, for my surprise Corey didn’t land any trick, but he almost blow my mind trying to do nollie heelflip late shove it over the pyramid, he was so close (maybe next year Corey!). Luan de Olivera blew my mind with his consistence, style, creativity and usual perfection in landing his tricks resulting on his 2nd consecutive year winning the contest.
The results were: 1st place Luan de Oliveira, 2nd Ben Hatchell 3rd Nick Tucker, the highest ollie prize went to Luis tolentino with a 44.5 inch.
I saw a lot of Skaters from different countries trying to reach their dreams and having fun on the way; but none from Peru, which is a bummer since there is so much talent over there but the lack of resources and bureaucracy makes it very difficult for a young Skater to get a Visa and travel for a contest far from home but things are changing quickly, Skateboarding is bigger than ever in Peru and you know guys that the Choncordia family is here to support you when the time comes.
Anyways, that was my weekend, see you at Tampa Pro if im still living in Florida.CFL.
