    
Thursday, March 25th
The day had finally come. This was the beginning of the final leg of the South Beach Diversity Tour Journey. Today the festival begins. Because the Sports and Fitness Festival is 4 days, we tacked on this extra day for open jam session type skating. Skaters from as far away as Boston showed up early to check out the brand new set-up while others played roller soccer and drank Yoo-Hoo until they burst open. Mo Sanders and the whole Diversity Crew spun live music. Of course, Chris Edwards ruled the microphone. With just minor modifications to the street course and the vert ramp, the event was ready to move into full swing.
Friday, March 26th
This proved to be the do or die day for the weekend, as it would be a test to see how far we all would go to roll. The day started out picture perfect, like all others do on South Beach. Not a cloud could be seen. Tons of skaters started showing up at 9, even though the skating started at 12! Everyone was excited for the Festival to swing into high gear. Then, as noon rolled around, things started to change. An event's worst nightmare was closing in. The rains were coming. As we progressed into the afternoon, the downpour continued. Surprisingly, everyone stuck around. They were not going to let this day be one for the books. Once again, Uncle Bob saved the day by supplying the grill and we all feasted on burgers and potatoes while we waited to see what the rest of the evening had in store.
The ESPN camera crew catches Greg Andrews' first place 540 during the best
trick contest.
Eventually, our prayers were answered, and the sky cleared making way for just enough sunlight to dry the ramps before it got dark. The Sports and Fitness Festival was now a ghost town, but the northeast end was alive until 12 midnight thanks to our celebration that the Diversity Festival was still alive. This proved that nothing will ever hold us back. We will skate!
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Chris Edwards interviews Adamas Nelson after his victory in vert Sunday.
Saturday, March 27th
Saturday was the official first day of competition. Between taking care of registration, heat lists, judging sheets, course maintenance, banners and signs, and garbage details, I really didn't get to see much of the warm-ups. However, I figured everyone was busting out because all I could hear where crowd cheers and Chris Edwards hollering into the microphone after every trick. This was going to be good. Funny thing was he wasn't just hollering the usual Pro or sponsored Am names. He was screaming along the likes of Joey and Sammy Chase, Mark Pearson, and Adam Zabowski. Wow, these kids aren't even old enough to be in middle school, but they were definitely ready to rock this comp. Then I received the dreaded news that because ESPN was filming the event, I was going to be the starter. AHHHHH!!! However, little did I know that this would be a blessing in disguise, because it would allow me to see every bit of the dope skating that was about to happen.
First up was the vert competition. 12 and under went first, and they definitely had a few surprises in store for us. First off, every skater dropped in. Keep in mind that there wasn't anyone in this class over 5 feet tall, which made the ramp a little bit over 3 time the size of all of them. Not only did they drop in but they also pulled airs with grabs, a whole bunch of spins, and the Chase Brothers even pulled off some grinds! Rolling into third was little Juan Pedro, who wowed the crowd with his huge back flips. Second place went to Sammy Chase, who threw out flawless 540's and soul grinds. Joey Chase walked away with the title by pulling waist high (head high to him) airs, 540's, 720's, and a bunch of grinds. Big props to all these kids for helping keep build the foundation for vert skating in the future.
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