TOM COZENS
(From page 47)
Florida, and the word just didn't get
out the way it should have. Other
than that, I think the staff did a real
What do you do to accommodate good job, it was a good ramp, it was
all of them?
We are switching to a qualifying
system like in tennis or golf. We need
more control to put on a quality event.
We need to say, 'Only so many of you
guys deserve the top slots, so we're
going to run you through qualifying
rounds. Those who make it advance
and those who don't, hey, try again."
There are other people doing con-
tests, and pros can still do demos and
make a hell of a lot of money.
Are you working on anything to get
a bigger turnout for these events?
This year we're definitely going
after outside corporate sponsorship
If you're going to have major events
and you want to get them exposed
to thousands and through the mass
media to millions on site, it takes
bucks. I don't think this industry has
that kind of money. That's not a rap
on the industry, it's just realistic.
We've got a sponsorship proposal
together, and that's being shopped
around now to major outside corpora-
tions. We're looking at different op
tions for TV. I think that that will help
us a lot in 1990 and the future.
How do you think NSA members
and pro skaters can help the NSA?
The biggest help pros and other
members can offer is to com-
municate with us more. Don and I
definitely do listen. I think they have
a lot of respect for Don. They know
he isn't going to screw them over and
that he will listen to them.
How did we end up in St. Pete?
We ended up in St. Petersburg
because Jacksonville didn't happen.
The people there weren't able to get
the sponsorship. I hoped that by
keeping it in St. Petersburg at the
same date, since the Jacksonville
date was published in the magazine,
that it would actually help the turnout.
It obviously didn't.
What changes and improvements
should we expect now?
I think San Diego could surprise
everybody. Hopefully, even if we
don't get major outside sponsorship,
we can get the dates ironed down
long enough in advance so they're
in the magazines. We need the
shops to get more involved promot-
ing the event, just by virtue of making
the kids that come into their stores
aware. If every company included our
flyers when they sent their mailers to
all of their retailers we could swamp
them in a grass roots sort of way. I
think that could help a lot.
Last thoughts on the '89 finals?
In retrospect, the ticket price would
be lower. I wish we had more time
because I think that we could have
generated more support. There was
a lot of confusion, in my talking to
other people from other parts of
98
good street course. The ramp ended
up at a public park in Fort Meyers.
A lot more people out there are
starting to get interested in skate-
boarding-Y's, boys clubs, and
more-and I think that if we can help
those people out, it'll help skate-
boarding in general.
The state groups that are starting
up are actually going to run most of
the contests. That will help us a lot.
That's the way it should be, the way
it was always intended to be-you
have a local group running the thing.
so you know it's an ongoing opera-
tion. It's a legacy that's left there.
How do you accommodate all
those people, when you can really
only have a regional scene going?
By getting the affiliate association
happening. Then they can run
throughout the state, or whatever
their particular area is, and send their
top guys to our qualifier and then on
to the regionals and so on.
DON BOSTICK
(From page 47) of that happening. We
do keep all of the judges scores, so
we can go back and see how each
one scored. Having been a judge
myself, I know it's a little hard not to
I
be biased every now and then, but
getting good, I was getting excited,
and then two days of wetness. The
slalom fiasco, so to speak-I would
have to say I could feel that it was
happening. I knew I should have
been there. About Santa Cruz, I'm
honestly glad it didn't happen there.
It was the wrong place to have a con-
test. I think that San Jose would have
been the right place. We need to be
in San Jose or San Francisco.
Are you saying that it wasn't
coming together very well for the
Santa Cruz contest?
Well, it was coming together, but
we were going to have to build part
of the ramp behind Go Skate then
move it into the arena. Only the back
door leading into the auditorium was
not wide enough to fit eight-foot sec-
tions through. The floor was brand
new, a recently re-done basketball
court, and we were responsible for
it. The place was so small we
wouldn't have been able to allow
skaters to have guests. There were
a lot of problems.
I was looking at a nightmare and
basically all these things weren't go-
ing to happen. Whoever picked that
place didn't look into it deeply
enough. Santa Cruz is a great city,
but for the amount of people we
would attract from Northern Cali-
fornia, I think it would have been real
bad for the NSA.
was really pleased with the judging. SONJA
I didn't get a lot of negative feedback
from the skaters either.
How can the skaters help you?
Well, by giving us feedback on
what they feel and what they'd like
to see. In Hawaii, we passed out
questionnaires. Out of about a hun-
dred questionnaires, I think twenty-
one were returned. I've read those
twenty-one, and the people who
responded had a lot to say. There are
other people who have a lot to say
but don't respond or they tell me their
views at a contest when it's hectic.
What I'd like to say is that we're really
into listening. Like I said, it's been a
learning season for us. I've talked to
so many people, I've learned a lot,
and usually before a contest I'll call
up four or five people and get some
feedback on what I plan to do. We're
open to suggestions.
What improvements do you have
In mind for this year?
I look forward to cutting down the
number of entrants. I think there's
sense to that. I think we'll be able to
get the schedule out to everyone on
time and we'll have more practice.
That's what I'm excited about-the
guys will get more practice on the
ramps and the street courses so we'll
have better skating.
Talk about some of the problems
that Mother Nature dished out.
Virginia was a big bummer. Prac-
tice went really well, the skating was
(From page 49)
Do you feel the judging was fair, or
I was there any way that it could
have been with the rushed format?
All of our judges were exper-
ienced. I picked everyone on the
panel a good time before the
contest-they had all judged district
and regional contests. They were
from all over the United States, so we
didn't have a regional bias. Under the
circumstances, the judging was
good. Judging is a thankless job.
There are always errors.
How was Tower Skatepark to work
with for the finals?
The people at Tower were terrific.
They just gave me the park. They
didn't have capitol in money. When
I first started considering it in July,
they flew me over at their expense
to look at the place. I guess their cash
flow situation changed a lot between
July and November. They couldn't do
some things they said they were will-
ing to do like make the big ramp big-
ger and rebuild a new mini ramp, but
they were totally fair. They said, "Look
we can't do this, we don't have the
cash flow right now, but we'll give you
back the gate to pay for it-just come
do it. So, we made out on that. The
Amateur Nationals made money.
Do any highlights stand out now
that the season is over?
The vertical jam in the Eastern
Regionals, where you've got these
skaters that have got a history, they
never probably skated a pool in their
life, they were born and bred on these
big ramps, that was a fantastic jam.
Where was that?
That was at the Underground
Skatepark, in Huntsville. Tom Boyle,
not just in my opinion, but in those
people's opinion, not in the jam itself,
but in his prelim run, put in as good
as any pro run. They call him The
Rock. You've got Buster Halterman,
you've got Kentucky back there, and
then you've got the skaters that are
always sitting there like you know,
Tom Taylor, those guys that have just
skated for years and years. And go-
ing to the East Coast was just a dif-
ferent scene all together. Dave and
I have noticed this over the years, and
it's getting even more so, they go to
a contest to skate. Or, they go skating
to skate. We don't have trouble back
there. People trashing hotels, etc...
When they skate they're happy.
Yeah. And content and you don't
have to ask them to help. That's the
great thing. Rain plagued us all year,
and the street contest was inside
back there in this armory, where we
had to put the course together that
morning. We had the pieces built.
Mouse, Paul Schmitt and Lenny Byrd
just pitched in and helped, and I
didn't have to ask them. That's what
makes things stand out.
The other thing that happened-
to me it was the ultimate goal of the
program-was to leave something
behind. A park, a street course,
whatever, that the local kids could
skate on whenever they wanted to.
If we're not doing that, then I think
we're really messing up.
Are competitions a big part of
skating for these guys?
Well, competitions serve different
purposes for different people. Kids
like contests, or we wouldn't have
contests. The amateur contests, for
a lot of skaters, probably in the
Midwest more than any other region,
have served to get them a sponsor,
or even just give validity to what
they're doing. Not that the skater
needs validity, but it sure has made
their lives a lot easier with their
parents. Parents need validity on
what their kid's doing if they're
spending a great deal of money. A
skateboard costs more than a
baseball, and so a little trophy or a
plaque or a certificate helps. But I
think it's important to the skaters too.
For one thing, there's a social side
to it, even for the young skaters, and
I also think it's where the future of
skateboarding lies. The pros, yes,
they're the show, we need pros,
we've gotta have pro contests to
some degree, but the amateurs are
the future, the foundation, and if you
ignore them it's going to crumble. I
just don't think it can be ignored, and
I think it should be nurtured.
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