The 2018 Vans Park Series Africa Continental Championship went down at The Shred skatepark in Cape Town this past weekend. It’s the first skateboarding event in Africa that gives local skateboarders the opportunity to directly qualify for a place in a world final. The winner receives an all-expenses-paid trip to meet and compete against the best bowl skateboarders from around the world, at the 2018 Vans Park Series World Championships, scheduled to take place next month in Shanghai, China on October 27.
International Park Series judges from The Boardr travelled to Cape Town to run and judge the event according to international guidelines. Ryan Clements from The Boardr explained that their goal with the Africa event is to find the best skateboarder to represent the continent at the world finals. At a riders’ briefing ahead of the contest Ryan said, “our goal here is not to see who can put together the best run, but rather to see which skateboarder creates the best overall impression and ultimately who can best represent Africa on the world stage”.
This is the only event of its kind on the continent, where both a men’s and a women’s contest takes place, and where the winner of each particular event is afforded the same opportunity of attending their division’s respective world championships. Both the men and the women also receive equal prize money.
South African skateboarders from across the country were in attendance, hailing from Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Kimberley and Cape Town. Furthermore, Vans also brought in a couple of talented skateboarders from Indigo Youth Movement in Valley of 1000 Hills. With over 40 skateboarders registered to take part, most participants were South Africans, but competitors from other countries on the continent like Kenya, Zimbabwe and Namibia also took part. This was the first annual VPS Africa event, and hopefully more bowl skateboarders from more African countries will be inspired to take part as time progresses.
It was full-on both Friday and Saturday, with some of the heaviest bowl skating ever to go down on the continent. Check out a full gallery below to see a glimpse of what went down. All Photos by Jansen van Staden and Clint van der Schyf:
Robert Glover backside air
Anton Roux ollies in off the extension
Brett Shaw hurricane
Justus Kotze crailslide
Alan Marola frontside air
Melissa Williams backside grind
Robyn Wolstenholme axel stall
Product toss
Kids getting mind-blown
Kalvyn Mac Millan taildrop
Yann Horowitz boneless to tail
Thabiso Msomi 5-0
Kalvyn Mac Millan tailslide
Yann Horowitz backside lipslide
Yann Horowitz low-to-high up to back smith
Justus Kotze switch smith grind
Stefan Jacobs crailslide
Dave De Witt handplant
Chris Cab front board
Thalente Biyela front smith
Kalvyn Mac Millan stalefish
Dallas Oberholzer low-to-high backside noseblunt revert during the best trick jam
Dallas Oberholzer frontside air
Devandre Gallant back smith
Melissa Williams frontside grind
Kelly Murray rock to fakie
Dylan Rossouw back smith
Ryan Clements and head judge Jason Rothmeyer from The Boardr
Khule Ngubane frontside air
Yann Horowitz taildrop off the railing
Khule Ngubane airwalk to fakie
Joubert van Staden stalefish
Melissa Williams backside grind
Trae Rice front smith
Stefan Jacobs flying!
Kyle Khewsa backside disaster
Homies were hyping each other
Devandre Gallant front smith
Damian Bramley nosegrab to tail
Justus Kotze fakie nosepick
Justus Kotze switch 5-0
Yann Horowitz back tail
Yann Horowitz frontside hurricane to fakie
Yann Horowitz frontside 180 fakie 5-0
Dallas Oberholzer frontside grind
Kalvyn Mac Millan lofty melon over the hip
Thalente Biyela back smith
Thalente Biyela stalefish
Yann Horowitz backside lipslide
2018 VPS Africa Continental Championship results:
Women’s Final
1st – Melissa Williams
2nd – Kelly Murray
3rd – Robyn Wolstenholme
Men’s Final
1st – Yann Horowitz
2nd – Dallas Oberholzer
3rd – Trae Rice
Women’s podium
Mel the champ
Homies were hyped for Yann!
Yann the champ!