KINGSVILLE, Tx — Looking for something fun to do with the family in Kingvsille this weekend? Look no further. Triple Sea Shred Wear is hosting the third annual Skate Jam, an event aimed at community involvement, friendly competition and to raise money for upgrades to the city skate park on Saturday, June 15.
Event organizer Mathias Isassi said each year the event gets bigger and bigger, with this year organizers bringing on 10 sponsors, 20 vendors, two food truck and six live performances. Vendors will sell apparel, jewelry, etc.
The free community event is a skateboarding and rollerblading competition. There are two divisions for skateboarders: 16 and under and 17 and older. There are about six people signed up for both right now. There are also about 12 rollerbladers signed up as of Thursday, June 13. Isassi said there are even competitors coming from across the state.
AJ Gonzalez is a 17 year old senior and goes to the skate park twice a week with his friends from school. He said he’s been skating for four years, but has really taken it seriously the past two years.
“I started seeing more people my age come to the park and I started making friends my age and that’s whenever I started wanting to progress… like if he did that I wanted to learn that, you know,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez recalls his last two visits to Skate Jam.
“The community comes out, there’s so many people here the whole grass is filed with tents and places you can get food and jewelry. It’s real cool. Meanwhile there’s skating going on. It’s real fun to be here but it’s even more fun to skate and compete,” Gonzalez said.
Isassi said part of the event is to raise awareness for the skating community, a community that he’s been involved with since he was a kid.
“There’s a lot of youngsters devoting their time and energy to this sport. They could be doing anything else, but they’re here,” Isassi said.
Isassi said the skating community is alive and well in Kingsville, but their skate park is in need of upgrades. Some of the money from those that sign up to compete will go towards those upgrades.
“The main goal is to raise money to get lights out here so we can skate at night. It’s super hot during the day, especially during the summer. For those that work, it’s better to skate in the evening, but once it gets dark you really can’t see. So we want to get lights and maybe some shade, that would be good too,” Isassi said.
Those interested in competing can still sign up, even the day of.
The day will start Saturday, June 15 at 10 a.m. with a free basics of skating workshop held by a skater from Houston.
Sign in and registration will be at noon with preliminary rounds starting at 1 p.m. Live music will start at 2 p.m. with the last beat dropping at 8 p.m for the all day event.
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