The West Coast’s skateboarding scene is booming with skill and stoke culminating in ramped-up competitive comradery filling Tofino’s skate park for July 20’s Tuff City Sk8 Competition.
The competition’s 14th annual appearance was its first since 2019, ending a four-year drought brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was hugely received and I’ve heard nothing but positives so far, so we can only build on it and go bigger and better from here on out,” event organizer and MC Jason Picton told the Westerly News after the competition. “Next year should be pretty shocking because I think we brought a lot more bodies and eyeballs to it.”
The event’s divisions are split by skill level rather than age, creating a diverse range of novice, intermediate and advanced youth and adult competitors.
“It’s open to everybody and we try to cover the gamut of all the different skill levels,” Picton said. “It’s a celebration of skateboarding for the community and the West Coast. It’s showcasing what skateboarding is and the local talent. It also gives kids that are up and coming in the sport a chance to shine, or at least feel like they’re getting involved with something and gives them some structure and building.”
Ucluelet’s Willow Hopkins, 12, took home the Women’s Novice division’s top honours and was all smiles as she spoke to the Westerly after her win.
“I was very surprised, but really happy at the same time,” she said. “I just tried my hardest and went with the flow…It was really, really, fun.”
Hopkins said she has been skateboarding for about four years and found a solid crop of similar-aged skaters to grow with.
“I love how if you fall you can just get back up and I love skating with my friends,” she said. “They’re really good and I feel like we all push each other and just all love to skate.”
Willow’s mom Jenna Hopkins was delighted to see the Tuff City Sk8 Competition return.
“We’re so happy it’s back. We’re so happy that the community got together and found this amazing event for everybody,” she said, adding she was thrilled to see Willow take her division’s top prize. “We’re so proud of her. She goes out and has fun with her friends and kills it.”
Jay Rosene, whose daughter Ryan competed in the event, said he was stoked to see a huge turnout for the event’s return.
“This event is so awesome. Skateboarding is a very big thing for these kids and all the adults. What a beautiful thing to do on a Saturday in Tofino in the summer. Everybody gets together for a little healthy competition and everybody seems to go home happy,” he said.
“I’m just stoked to see everybody here…There’s so many kids skateboarding now too. The growth of skateboarding is just booming right now. The more the merrier.”
Tao Currie, 9, who spends his summers in Ucluelet and winters in Pemberton, won the Men’s Novice division and said he was just happy to be skateboarding.
“I was pretty confident, but it was fun just skating too,” he said. “It’s just awesome because it’s a skateboarding event.”
Tao’s mom Maria Thomsen rated the event a “10 out of 10.”
“It’s good for all the kids to get together, show their talent and have a little bit of healthy competition and encourage each other,” she said.
Ivyoak Spencer, 6, travelled from Victoria to participate in the event and delighted the crowd with her unique, barefoot style.
She told the Westerly she had a blast at Tofino’s skate park and prefers it over her hometown Victoria’s facilities.
“There’s lots of ramps and drop ins,” she said.
Her mom Candi Spencer said the local event offers solid competition in the young skaters age range.
“There’s a lot of good competition out here, especially the Ukee girls in her age range,” she said.
Ukee mom Jessica Hicks touted Ucluelet’s Tuesday skate night events as a key reason for the ramp up in skill level.
“We have an awesome skatepark and all the girls are just awesome,” Hicks said, adding the sport offers a welcoming and nurturing vibe to newcomers. “The community is really amazing. There’s lots of mentorship and they’re just really stoked. There’s a ton of support for it.”
Mavi Terhune and Keaton McCallum took the Women’s and Men’s Intermediate Division crowns and Evie Pritchard and Kyten Traviss took the Advanced Division’s top honours.
Picton noted Pritchard is just 12 years old and Traviss is 14, reflecting an onslaught of rapidly rising potential in the sport’s next generation of skaters.
“The youth skillset is just shocking. It’s crazy how talented these kids are and how fast they pick things up,” he said. “It’s just amazing what they’re able to do now.”
Picton grew up in Tofino and was part of the team of organizers that began fundraising for a new skate park in 2000, with their efforts paying off in 2005 with a grand opening celebration on Canada Day in 2005 that included the town’s first annual Tuff City Sk8 Competition.
Picton recalled being in high school at the time and motivated to help fundraise to replace the park, which prior to 2005 was a rough place to learn.
“It was all asphalt and it had definitely gone beyond its lifespan. It was pretty rugged. It was very, very rough ground,” he said. “It just looked like a drainage ditch. It was fine for what it was at the time. There’s a lot of people that grew up skating there, locals that are still skating there…But, it had gotten to the point where it really wasn’t safe and it wasn’t even being used really. The ground was way too rough and beaten and cracked.”
He said he and other fundraisers sold clothing and placed donation jars around town while also hosting parties at the Tofino Legion as well as movie nights to gather support for the cause. He added that petitions began circulating as well and the drive was enough to gain support from the district office to go ahead with the replacement.
“We knew that it was going to be popular if we put the effort in,” he said. “I’m just really happy that it gets used as much as it does. It justifies all the hard work that we did.”
He added though that the crew was careful with the planning of the new park having seen other communities end up with less-than-stellar facilities.
“Lots of communities got skateparks built, but they essentially weren’t skatable or rideable so it was a huge waste of money and time for everybody,” he said. “Unfortunately, that happened to a lot of cities. They got skateparks, but they weren’t that great and they weren’t that useable.”
He said Tofino was lucky to score New Line Skateparks to work through the process and build a proper facility.
“Doing it right the first time around was huge. That’s why it’s so popular. It’s accessible to the whole community and it’s also usable. It’s made for skateboarding. It’s quite easy to build up your skill level and take your time to figure things out,” he said. “It’s a proper skatepark and a great facility. If you want to get into skateboarding, it has all the building blocks of what you need to progress.”
He said skateboarding is rising in popularity, noting it’s now an Olympic sport, with a myriad of different events for skaters to showcase their skills and build off each other.
“It’s kind of cool to see it’s becoming more of an accepted activity amongst all ages and different walks of life…It’s a very welcoming and encouraging sport, which I think is the draw for a lot of kids. They can get into it and progress at the level that they feel they want to progress at,” he said. “We all like getting together to do it too. It’s not a scheduled thing. You can practice on your own terms and approach it the way you want…It’s accessible, especially in places like Tofino where recreation is around, but it’s not always as available as it is in bigger cities. It’s been neat to see the younger kids all getting behind it and getting into it.”
He added skateboarding was a huge part of his own youth and that being involved in fundraising for the replacement park and hosting the skate comp is his “love letter” to the sport.
“Skateboarding gave me an outlet. It gave me a creative outlet. It gave me structure. It gave me an insight into another culture,” he said. “You get exposed to different kinds of music and fashion and art and different ways of thinking. It’s just like any other sport, you get into the weeds of it and it’s like its own little world. Then, you can relate to other people that are also in that world. You instantly have a connection with another skateboarder even if you’re different kinds of people. It’s just a camaraderie building type of a sport.”
He said the Tuff City Sk8 Competition is “very well supported” by local businesses, adding that Tofino Brewing Company has been a stalwart supporter and Surf Grove Campground “stepped up huge” this year, adding many local resorts and restaurants donated generously to the event.
He thanked event judges Kevin Sansalone, Ryan Taron and Will Creba as well as volunteers, Tia Traviss, Reed Timmins, Scott Rae-Arthur, Mike Reagan, Dave McConnell, Danby White and others for making the event possible.
“This wouldn’t happen unless they all helped out,” he said.
He added volunteer first aid attendants were also on hand throughout the event to handle any injuries that popped up.
Tofino Mayor Dan Law spoke to the competition’s success during July 23’s regular council meeting.
“It’s just wonderful to see the action in town and all the wonderful events. The skate comp was so well attended. There’s so many great things going on. It feels like a very full town and a very exciting town and I’m just happy to see so many people having such a great time,” Law said.
