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When I went there was just 1 guy there skating from oakland, and he blazed me some really nice weed thanks buddy. He was really nice I was just trying to buy some weed and he didnt want to sell me any but gladly blazed me some up for throwing 5 on it!
He took me to hubba hideout and i ollied the stairs first try, we met this little kid there called "Lil Dre" (lol i am sure its not the lil dre that is on adidas etc. did not look asian at all. apparently he is on the FTC Video "Thin Line Between Love and Haight") they were giving me props and they were like "man you are pretty good! you could get sponsored!" lol like in Canada you have to be insane to get on anything. you wouldnt get on shit unless you are putting down like NBD flip trick down that. It is just a different world. Maybe these guys were just clown but i feel like its way easoier to get a low level sponsor to sort of get your foot in the door if you live in SF vs. some small ass town in canada. there is just no scene where im at. thats what i noticed was so much fun about going to SF theres just awlays so many people to meet skating + just shoot the shit and have a good time.
Sorry for the detour of the topic on hand, but you're in the KW area right? I went to school there and never really found all too many skaters around (though admittedly I was more concerned with drinking and living the "college experience" than I was with skating at the time). Am I wrong, or is Bryan Wherry from there? I feel like I remember seeing a lot of him in SBC way back when and Kitchener seems to stand out in my head when I think of him.
Yes Bryan is from Kitchener
Check it out I have one of his boards on my wall from Studio:
it took me a long time to realize that there is zero scene here and that is kinda why skating got a bit stale for me from 2010-2020. i went to a mini ramp jam in Hamilton February 2019 right before Covid hit and i met this guy from ST Catherines, a similar size town to mine with good skateparks. I said like sounds like you got a pretty good thing going on there and hes like "no man. i come to hamilton cause there is zero scene there." i never really understood how important that is. i went to events here and there but i just kinda had tunnel vision and did my own thing and never really talked to people i didnt know. I never put time into building spots / DIY etc. never did anything to help grow the scene in any way. this past year i have put lot of time into making new spots to help try and repay in hopes it will grow the scene here somewhat.
I went to SF in 2006 just to bring this back into perspective because ppl like Wherry, Darrell SMith, lots of sick skaters from my area were going there to get footage, right before the wood / knobs went on. I met people in SF skating a tiny bit but i only spent a small part of my trip skating as i was there with other friends to see a Wu Tang concert kind of thing. having a place to hang out / meet up at is so huge. the "new spot" back then was that place with those black pyramids and the balls that busenitz always skated. like that spot was cool and all but it was not great for getting footage, unless you are wherry lol. I hope they are able to keep that spot even if its just like 1 day a week like the LA Courthouse kind of thing. its really important to continue to grow skating in the area and it keeps it contained to a safe place. Then new skaters can come and be like "hey do you know any other good spots?" etc.
it is also just such a beautiful backdrop there with the ocean... the only real downside is your board can shoot onto the road and its a very busy street. if people could put up some sort of barrier that might make it a lot safer / city feel a lot better about skateboarding going on there.