KAROL KUDYBA
Sports Writer

Skaters came from all over Saskatoon to Lions Skatepark on Sept. 19, matching kickflip for kickflip and wipeout for wipeout at Steve and Dan’s 3rd Annual Big Game of SKATE.

Riders competed on the park’s unforgiving pavement to win over $2,000 worth of prizes ranging from new boards to the latest Spitfire, Converse and Krooked gear.

The rules of SKATE are simple; it’s HORSE with skateboards. Finish a trick and if your opponent can’t, he gets a letter. The first one to complete the word is out. This isn’t a tournament for beginners though, any trick with a spotty landing or a hand on the ground isn’t good enough to count.

When the tournament came down to the final two boarders, it was Kyle Stratton and last year’s runner up Justin “Chappy” Schwan tricking for the trophy.

Dan Watson, who organized the tournament along with Steve Shaw said that he “wasn’t surprised those guys made it,” but added it almost didn’t happen.

“Kyle was a last minute entry and usually we try to get people to pre-register. I didn’t think he was even going to be here,” said Watson.

Stratton not only showed but also managed to save his best trick for last, finishing off the game and the tournament with a pretzel kickflip. The maneuver requires the rider to barrel roll his board and land with his legs crossed — and Schwan was unable to duplicate it.

For Watson the final sequence wasn’t only the best trick of the tournament.

“Chappy trying the kickflip pretzel. It was the best wipeout. That trick really took the cake,” said Watson.

Stratton was modest in his victory, simply stating that he “practiced a little bit beforehand and sometimes you have your ”˜on’ days.” For his win he left with a new board. He had to find a cardboard box to fit all of his other prizes.

Even though a pair of favourites made the finals, the tournament certainly wasn’t without its surprises.

After winning the earlier youth portion of the tournament and with it a spot in the senior competition, 14-year-old Devlin Graves almost completed a Cinderella story. He fell just short in the semi-finals, but instantly became a favourite for tournaments to come.

But even if he didn’t win both tournaments on Sunday, Devlin certainly didn’t leave empty handed. Along with his own whackload of prizes, he also left with a good amount of street cred.

Even for those who didn’t win just being at the tournament was well worth it, with merchandise was handed out by the armload for all competitors.

Slowly gaining momentum, the tournament will return next year stronger than ever. As soon as the tournament was finished, Lions Skatepark was crawling with entrants, already back on the pavement working on their repertoire for next year.

– –
image: Pete Yee