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Contest at Cosmo showcases the best boarders in Missouri

The Parkside-sponsored event gave away more than $200 in cash and prizes.

Published Oct. 9, 2009

Concealed behind acres of soccer fields and neighboring the LA Nickell golf course, Contest at Cosmo was packed full of skateboarders hoping to make a name in the Missouri skate scene. The event, the second competition at Columbia Cosmopolitan Recreation Area hosted by Parkside Skateboards took over the skate park all day Saturday.

Unknowing spectators were thrust into the announcer position throughout the day, with results of both jokes and humiliation. I was invited to announce a portion of the competition and in doing so received a lesson in skate slang from the contest lurkers.

Merely saying the performed trick is inadequate; one must throw in buzzwords like "gnar," "sick" and "steez." Knowing the skater's stance, goofy or regular, is also essential to accrediting the tricks because switch tricks are more difficult. This proved to be a daunting task for most amateur announcers.

"What I liked more than the last competition was that there were heats, finals and a best trick, rather than just a best trick," Southern Boone High School junior Zack Geers said.

The competition was divided into three skill groups: beginner, intermediate and advanced. The plan was to have skill levels separated into four groups of five and qualifiers be chosen out of these groups, but modification was needed after some skaters went home in fear of their tough competitors.

Judges chose three obstacles of the course for contestants to skate. Once the DJ, whose selections included everything from Wu-Tang Clan to Slayer, was cued, the riders had three minutes to try nailing their best tricks while simultaneously avoiding collisions with one another.

The individual skaters didn't always choose which obstacle they tackled in the competition.

"Making the skaters use different sections of the park will make them better, and that's the ultimate goal," Parkside co-owner Shane Stander said.

Despite Stander's intentions, this process frustrated some skaters.

"I practiced all day on the quarter-pipe and had my run planned out, but I wasn't even allowed to skate it," Jefferson Junior High ninth grader Alex Richman said.

Still, others excelled in these circumstances. One such skater was Shawn Hale from Joplin.

"No one has ever ollied that transfer before in all the years I've been skating this park," Stander said.

Hale, who has sponsorships by Vox footwear, Independent Truck Company and Ergophobia Clothing, took first place in the advanced group and received a $200 cash prize. Second and third places were awarded to Scott Laird and Kino Kaiser, respectively, both from St. Charles.

Parkside holds events such as this to give back to the skate community as well as to scout talent.

"We don't sponsor skateboarders the old fashioned way," Stander said. "We'll often take trips and bring good skaters along, hooking them up with equipment on the way and allowing them to get exposure in other cities, the end goal being sponsorship from a bigger company."

Parkside's new Web site, www.parksideskateboards.com, also gives skateboarders a chance to get free gear through their "Tricks for Treats" contest. Parkside posts a video of a certain, usually difficult, trick to its Web site, and the first skater to bring a video of their execution of the trick into the shop receives a prize. The contest that's on the site now will reward $50 to anyone who can land a half-cab noseslide to backside tailslide.

The contest ended with a product toss, in which products including lanyards, sunglasses, clothing, stickers and skateboards were tossed into a crowd, causing young skateboarders to wrestle each other. No serious injuries occurred in the product toss or the competition.