Today the Rob Dyrdek Foundation will hosting their annual benefit at the Fantasy Factory! The Foundation assists municipalities and non-profits with the design, development, and construction of legal Skate Plazas as well as assists with the creation of community and educational programs that promote and encourage the sport of skateboarding. Their hope is to encourage construction of legal street skating areas, be that through large urban skate plazas or single skate spots. Today the official builders for the Foundation and all Safe Spot Skate Spots, California Skateparks, will be attending the event along with other skatepark and skateboarding advocates. For more information about the foundation, benefit, or ways to donate go to the Rob Dyrdek Foundation Website.

The calm before the storm

Under the strange circumstances of Hurricane Irene wreaking havoc on the eastern seaboard and the Street League Skateboarding championships being moved ahead one day, Sean Malto held off Chris Cole and the seemingly unbeatable Nyjah Huston to take home the $200,000 and the title of 2011 Street League Champion. A large crowd came out in spite of the weather warnings and transit closures to cheer on the world’s best skateboarders at the Prudential Center in downtown Newark, New Jersey. The course was highly challenging and the leaders changed on nearly every trick attempt due to the intense level that all of the skaters were competing for the title.

To the winner go the spoils

During the Tech Section battle Ryan Sheckler, Paul Rodriguez, and Chaz Ortiz got off to fast scoring start with Chris Cole right at their heels. Nyjah Huston kept pace as did Sean Malto with amazingly varied approaches to the flat bar rails, the ledge / planter combos, and the up and down rails. To everyone’s surprise, Ryan Sheckler and Mike Mo Capaldi ended up being eliminated as the scores continued to climb with everyone upping the difficulty on every trick attempt. Mikey Taylor, Shane O’Neill, and Billy Marks all advanced to the line section, along with Cole, Rodriguez, Ortiz, and Malto, who lead going into the Line Section with an 8.6.

Ryan Sheckler

Shane O’Neill

Billy Marks

Mikey Taylor

On the Line Section, the eight remaining skaters fought it out, upping the ante. Chaz Ortiz used the huge launch kicker to his advantage, tossing up huge backside 180 flips to flat. Sean Malto kept everybody guessing with switch lines and was a perfect 5 for 5. Chris Cole’s power moves took him into the lead. After a few misses Nyjah Huston started to pour it on with his patented combination tricks. Mikey Taylor stayed in the hunt putting together solid runs. Paul Rodriguez put together some of his most powerful skating in the 2011 Street League season to stay right near the top. Shane O’Neill and Billy Marks threw down a couple of amazing lines, but fell just short of making it to the Big Section finals.

Hurricane Irene couldn’t keep the fans away

Chaz Ortiz

Paul Rodriguez

Chris Cole

Cole fans

The Big Section finals featured some of the most exciting and technically difficult tricks yet seen at any Street League event on a monster 11-stair set with drawn out hubba ledges and a tough and fast center rail. Mikey Taylor put the ledges and rail to good use, scoring well on 2 attempts. Paul Rodriguez threw down nearly everything switch and landed 2 very high scores landing bolts-perfect. Chaz Ortiz put down 4 clean tricks, taking a solid shot at the win. The top 3 skaters all remained in contention for the win, right down to their final tricks. Chris Cole held the lead for a while, and had a shot at taking it all right down to his final trick attempt. Chris ended up taking 3rd place and also won the best trick award for the 3 sections by scoring a huge 9.6 for his 360 flip to 50-50 on the hubba ledge. After taking the first 3 Street League events of the year, Nyjah Huston was almost expected to easily take the finals. Nyjah made his case during the Big Section finals by scoring a perfect 7 of 7 tricks to put the pressure on Sean Malto. Malto, however wasn’t going to give it up. Sean had taken a heavy slam in Glendale AZ at tour stop #3 and couldn’t skate the finals that day, so he was out for redemption in New Jersey. His perfect 7 for 7 trick count in the finals sealed his victory and a $200,000 payday. After the finals had finished, Chaz Ortiz laid down a one-man demo in the Wonka Free Ride best trick event to take home $10,000.

Nyjah Huston

Sean Malto

Congratulations Sean!

Chaz Ortiz, winner of the Wonka Free Ride best trick contest

Joe C of CA Skateparks and Sen Malto 2011 Street League Skateboarding champion

Street League 2011 is a wrap, and all 4 events were truly spectacular. We can’t wait for Street League 2012! Congratulations to all of the skaters and Rob Dyrdeck for putting on an amazing series.

IMPORTANT CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE

The event has been moved to TOMORROW – SATURDAY AUGUST 27th at 3PM – doors open at 2PM Prudential Center. However, the contest will air on ESPN2 at the scheduled time on 5PM ET on Sunday.

Due to the category 2 hurricane Irene which is due to arrive in New Jersey over the weekend, the Street League Skateboarding championships have been moved up to Saturday August 27th. The CA Skateparks crew has been working non-stop down at the Prudential Center to get the course completed a day ahead of schedule. Here are a few sneak peeks at the construction progress.

course overview

tech section rails

tech section bench/ledge/planter combo

tech section up and down rails

line section rails

line section jersey barriers

line section kickers and ledges

big section

almost ready.

For the first time in Street League history… inside the Prudential Center… Newark, New Jersey will see something they have never seen before…

 We have incorporated the first transitional feature ever inspired by a jersey barrier, originally receiving its name from New Jersey itself. Similar to the 2010 finals in Las Vegas, Nevada, the New Jersey Championship has a larger big section than the previous events. New Jersey’s 5ft, 6 inches tall, 11 stair big section will produce the most spectacular main event we never seen before.

Street League 2011 Stop #3 is going to be the most intense event to date, with highly-challenging features as well as some of the largest hubba rails ever constructed. The California Skateparks designed-and-built course is now complete and the practice sessions are getting hot at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale Arizona. The skaters are adapting quickly to the unique set-up and it’s sure to be a weekend of powerful skating. Rob Dyrdeck wanted to challenge the most elite street pros in the world, and they are definitely answering. Stay tuned for updates and photo’s of this weekend’s action.

Chaz Ortiz

Chris Cole

Nyjah Huston

Paul Rodriguez

Ryan Sheckler

Tommy Sandoval

Sean Malto

For this Stop: III in Glendale, Arizona at jobing.com Arena, the design was heavily influence by modern Arizona architecture and the red, black, grey, tan and cream colors in the Street League Arizona graphic. Drawing from the angular line work of the letters A and Z, the decorative paving pattern was designed in harmony with the artistic elements in each section of the plaza. The design team gathered inspiration for their vision from indoor malls, entry plazas and industrial complexes to create the setting for jobing.com Arena. Implementing an angular theme, the design includes floating stairs, stacked ledges and planters, cantilevered detailing and an interesting paving patterns, giving this year’s AZ design a unique style with a modern southwest flavor.

Head to Street League online to gather more information and to purchase your tickets.

Phoenix, Arizona get ready for your new skate spot coming on Wednesday, July13th! This new Safe Spot Skate Spot in Phoenix, Arizona at Cesar Chavez Park will hold a grand opening ceremony at 10:00 AM at the park. Rob Dyrdek Foundation and California Skateparks teamed up to donate the Street League Skateboarding course along with an additional donation from the Rob Dyrdek Foundation to built it.  Our crew has been battling the Arizona heat and working through the night to bring the skaters in Arizona this new skate spot, in high demand.  Lead designer and Tempe resident, Colby Carter, designed this park with the influences  and inspirations of the Arizona environment.  The donated features are from the 2010 stop in Street League Glendale, Arizona. This opening will happen just three days before Street League 2011 hits Glendale, Arizona for the second time.

Address: 7858 S. 35th Avenue,  35th Avenue and Baseline Road  | Phoenix, Arizona

Park Hours: 5:30 a.m. – 11 p.m.

Stayed turned for a sneak peek of the new Street League course for next weekend coming soon.

STREET LEAGUE 2011 Kansas City is coming June 11th and 12th.  CA skateparks has been busy designing and preparing for construction of the courses.  The endless hours of work on the KC set-up are sure to provide fans with the most exciting skateboarding yet.

Purchase Tickets:

http://streetleague.com/events-2/stop-2-kansas-city-mo/

The newest CA skateparks / Rob Dyrdek Foundation Safe Spot Skate Spot project (Stoner / Shreveport, Louisiana Plaza) will make a featured appearance in Rob Dyrdek’s MTV show Fantasy Factory Monday, May 23 @ 10 p.m. PST.  Season 4, Episode 8 chronicles the grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony and shows the town’s appreciation for the team’s generous contribution and effort to re-design & re-build the plaza.  The original plaza was built to standard public works construction methods and not up to par with the skate park industry.  Now Joe Ciaglia along with the team at CA skateparks personally attended to each detail of the construction to insure a quality finished product this time around.  Tune in tonight and don’t miss this show for more surprises!

Our crew is beginning to arrive in Seattle to start an astounding 4 day build of the first STREET LEAGUE 2011 event! Tickets are still available but going fast. Don’t miss out on the epic skating!  Click here to purchase.