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We then moved on to the final skating events of the day, the 12 and under best trick, and the Expert best trick. The 12 and under class looked like it might be yet another title for Joey Chase, who pulled his 540 bomb drop and the soul to revert, but "Little Man" Juan Pedro showed the small guys can go huge.He pulled off first place by launching a misty flip over the 6 foot spine, clearing the transition, and landing flat bottom. Keep in mind that this kid is only 10 years old and weighs about 50 lbs!!! The Expert Best trick picked up right where the 12 and under left off. Everyone was going huge, and once again it looked like the street champion would prevail here also. Robert Arias nearly landed an alley-oop 360 over the huge start box gap, but he couldn't stick it. All the other skaters pulled out all stops, with Franky Morales landing a double grab corkscrew 540 backwards on the launch box, and Derek Dellatorre pulling a lui kang fakie 720, traveling 4 panels across the big quarter pipe. All the tricks were big, but none of them as big as Greg Andrew's huge bomb drop 540, clearing the entire box and landing flat bottom. His trick was big enough to snag the title.
After the skating events were over, everyone chilled out to some more Bar-B-Q, more music, more open skating, and the dopest Pass the Mic and Breakdance contests ever. I wish I could tell you the name of the guy who won, because he won both the comps, but I was searching for lost keys. All I know is he was a local loiterer who was drawn into the Festival by Mo's spinning. What can we say, the boy is good!
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Chris Edwards hypes the crowd as "Little Man" Juan Pedro misty flips over the Flybox.
Everyone relaxed and recapped what some say could be the event to change the sport forever. For the first time ever since I started working on contests, I must say I was genuinely sad to see that it was over.
Monday, March 29th
The worst part about an event is definitely the breakdown. As I arrived on the site for the last time, I was saddened to see that Chris and the boys where already packing up all the stages and getting ready for their next trip. As we tore down the course, I felt as though I was about to pack away the memories of this past week into the warehouse with the course. After a few hours, I then realized that there was no way to pack away this past week. It was something that will stay in the front of my mind forever as the event that we truly celebrated our love for rolling. I, like many others, will remember the South Beach Diversity Tour stop for the rest of my life.
I would like to thank all of those who helped in making this event a reality. You all know who you are. I also would like to thank my bosses, Joe Leo at SFX for putting up with me and making the street course possible, and Bob from the ASA Am Circuit for trusting me and making this event a reality. Thank you all for believing in me. Also, a huge thanks to my friend Trevor Marx for getting my back for the duration of this project. The biggest thanks of all goes out to the parents for supporting the sport, and the skaters for loving to roll.
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