Spectacular feats in the bowl
by Deb Williams
Bondi hosted the 5th annual Vans Bowl-a-Rama on February 21at the skatepark on the beach foreshore, where an incredible array of talent delighted the enthusiastic crowd.
First place and the $10,000 prize went to Bucky Lasek from the USA, with Omar Hassan second ($5000) and Nathan Beck coming in third ($3000).
The world famous event saw a crowd of about 4500 throughout the day. By 9.30am, half an hour before the start, there were at least 150 fans waiting to cheer on the participants.
Positive thinking seemed to work and the rain held off. The Masters opened the tournament: first up was Kevin Starrs, and Sasha Steinhorst showed off great skills. Local Rob Lorifice took his turn followed by Newcastle’s Johnny Bogarts.
The Beach Road Hotel hosted the international participants, Jed’s Café fed them and Oakley and SDS looked after their styles and accessories while Mountain Dew took care of their thirst. A free BBQ hosted by Vans and Mountain Dew went through 5000 cans of soft drink.
Bowl-a-rama, like skateboarding, is the fastest growing sport in the world. The iSkate Australia skateboard instruction company has just started its programs at Bondi Beach Public and Rose Bay Secondary Schools, likely to continue this trend.
And if the rumour that Waverley Council is planning to tender out this event is correct, they may be in for a shock. Insiders say without the support of World Cup Skateboarding there won’t be an event; instead it would see Bowl-a-rama hosted in another location.
