Vans Pro Skatepark Series #1 – Melbourne, Australia

Vans Pro Skatepark Series #1 – Melbourne, Australia

 

Final Results

1st – Chris Russell
2nd – Pedro Barros
3rd – Kevin Kowalski
4th – Cory Juneau
5th – Ben Hatchell
6th – Tom Schaar
7th – Ronnie Sandoval
8th – Alex Sorgente

Global Qualifier Series Rankings

1st – Cory Juneau
2nd – Tom Schaar
3rd – Alex Sorgente
4th – Keegan Palmer
5th – Brad McClain

Photos by Lee Leal

 

Video by Vans Park Series

http://www.vansparkseries.com/

We are so stoked to share this news! Vans has announced the formation of the first ever world championships of park terrain skateboarding with the 2016 introduction of the Vans Pro Skate (PS) Park Series! We celebrate Vans for their unwavering belief in transition skateboarding, as they announce this new skatepark contest series with over one half-million U.S. dollars total prize purse as well as donating a “built to spec legacy construction skatepark” to the city of Malmo, Sweden…

Let’s go back in time, just for a second… In 1993, when we started Juice Magazine, finding a skatepark was no easy task. The few spots that offered these luxuries were the original DIYs, Burnside and FDR, along with a handful of vintage concrete parks and their remnants, like Kona, Dodge, the Turf and Derby… The heydays of Big O, Del Mar Skate Ranch, Concrete Wave and Cherry Hill Skatepark were a distant yet fond memory…

Then, in 1999, Vans started a new trend of skatepark construction with the grand opening of the Vans Skatepark in Orange, CA, featuring a much-loved replica of the Upland combi pool, designed by Dave Duncan and built by Rick Carje of RCMC. The Vans Combi was soon followed by a slew of Vans concrete skateparks that paid homage to some of the old skatepark favorites. Vans went huge by creating and funding world-class concrete skateparks in Woodbridge, Virginia, Milpitas, CA, Orlando, FL, Ontario, CA, Orange, CA, Phoenix, AZ, Novi, MI, Houston, TX, Moorestown, NJ, Bakersfield, CA, Westminster, CO, Buford, GA, and Detroit, MI… putting cities all over the world on notice that it was time to build concrete skate structures in their towns too.

In 2005, as the avalanche of free public skateparks began, the private park formula began to wane, and all of the Vans parks were shuttered except for the Combi-Pool Park in Orange, CA, which still hosts daily pool sessions with the heaviest of hitters as well as one of the most beloved events in the skate contest series each year, the Vans Pool Party. In 2014, Vans graciously built yet another top-of-the-line outdoor concrete skatepark in Huntington Beach, CA too.

Fast forward to 2016, and Vans has hosted multiple stellar bowl skating events with the introduction of the Van Doren Invitationals, while the Vans Combi remains one of the finest indoor skateparks in the country, and each year Vans proudly presents the super bowl of skateboarding, the Vans Pool Party, which is one of the best competitions in bowl skating as well as a gathering of the tribe that we all look forward to each May with great anticipation. If you haven’t gotten the point yet, let me spell it out for you. Vans backs transition skateboarding 1000%!

We’d like to say Happy 50th Anniversary to Vans! Cheers to another 50 years and then some! Keep up the great work and congrats on another epic idea in action, the Vans Pro Skate (PS) Park Series, to benefit skateboarding and skateboarders worldwide. We’d like to give a hearty round of applause to the good folks at Vans for always giving back to skateboarding and supporting skateparks. Read on for all the details of this incredible new skatepark contest series…

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Vans Establishes Skateboarding’s First Ever Men’s and Women’s Park Terrain World Championship Series

The inaugural Vans Pro Skate Park Series World Championships will take place in Malmö, Sweden on August 20, 2016

www.vansparkseries.com 

Cypress, CALIF. (February 18, 2016) – Vans today announced the formation of the first ever world championships of park terrain skateboarding with the 2016 introduction of the Vans Pro Skate (PS) Park Series.

Showcasing an international roster of top pros, and a total prize purse in excess of one half-million U.S. dollars, the inaugural Vans PS Park Series establishes the premier global points ranking system for Men’s and Women’s park terrain skateboarding. The 2016 Vans PS Park Series season consists of four Men’s PS Global Qualifiers and one Women’s PS Global Qualifier occurring over five months and across four continents, culminating with the Vans PS Park Series World Championships. The five highest ranked skaters to emerge from the PS Global Qualifier system will challenge the top 15 pre-seeded exclusive PS Park Series elite pros for the title of park terrain World Champion in Malmö, Sweden on August 20. The top 15 exclusive PS Park Series elite pros are also pre-seeded at every PS Global Qualifier event and final qualification for the Vans PS Park Series World Championships is determined by participation in a minimum of three PS Global Qualifier events.

The most compelling and fastest growing, fast-paced discipline in competitive skateboarding today, the Vans PS Park Series uniquely defines the park terrain format by its transitional concrete closed courses from five to nine feet in-depth and being distinguished by having any number of features such as spines, angled hips, extensions, escalators, set-back walls, elevation changes, gaps and transfers, variable grinding surfaces, etc. With the creation of the Vans PS Park Series, Vans seeks to grow participation and promote the culture of skateboarding and the discipline of park terrain skateboarding worldwide.

The all-new PS Park Series World Championship skatepark in Malmö will be the world’s first park terrain built-to-spec legacy construction and is being donated by Vans to the community of Malmö, Sweden for leading the world with their progressive support of the city’s youth through skateboard programming and activities.

“Our goal in establishing the Vans PS Park Series is to further define and elevate the discipline of park terrain skateboarding while providing the preeminent globally recognized path-to-pro platform for Men and Women.” – Justin Regan, Vans Skateboarding

“This year marks Vans’ 50^th anniversary, so it’s fitting that in establishing the Vans PS Park Series in 2016 we reinforce our commitment to driving skate progression for men and women and to fostering new and innovative global platforms for creative expression.” – Steve Van Doren, Vans VP of Events and Promotions

2016 Vans PS Park Series

Global Qualifiers

April 16 – Melbourne, Australia

June 11 – Florianopolis, Brazil

July 9 – Vancouver, Canada

July 30 – Huntington Beach, CA, USA

World Championships

August 20 Malmö, Sweden

*Men’s-only PS Global Qualifier

Follow the Vans PS Park Series on social media or sign up online now for the latest information on Vans PS Park Series event details, elite pros, official sanctions and competition formats.

www.vansparkseries.com

@vansparkseries on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter