On Deck

Lift-Off: Marina-OTB’s skate team member Sterlin Fitzgerald gets some air.

The still-new City of Marina/On the Beach Skate Team dominates state circuit.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

In the back room of Marina’s City Teen Center, members of the City of Marina/On the Beach Skate Team reveal the reason they are currently in first place in the California Amateur Skateboard League’s Norcal Division.

“I skate every day,” volunteers the group’s captain, Anthony Johnson, 15.

“Twenty-four seven,” longhaired team member Billie Rodil exclaims.

“That’s what we do,” rider Sean Byrne blurts out from the other side of the room.

“Even when I’m sleeping,” Rodil says, “I’m thinking of skateboarding.”

With 10 skateboarders from 7 to 15 years old, the City of Marina/On the Beach Skate Team’s passion for the sport has helped make them a sensation within the California Amateur Skateboard League. In addition to being the top team in the Norcal Division, Marina’s skaters currently hold all seven top spots in the category for individual skaters aged 13 to 15.

Outside the Marina Skatepark, the skaters, each decked out in a black t-shirt or hooded sweatshirt adorned with the logo of local sponsor On the Beach Surf Shop, demonstrate tricks of the trade. Rider Sterlin Fitzgerald drops into the park’s concrete bowl and launches off a side while spinning his board beneath his feet like a rotating helicopter blade. The maneuver, a “360 Flip,” is one of Fitzgerald’s favorite to pull out in competitions. “It’s helped me a lot,” he says, “because it’s a really hard trick for most people.”

A few minutes later, rider Michael Smith hops his board up onto a raised box within the bowl and impressively slides across its edge, the front of his deck raised up like a biker doing a wheelie: a “Frontside 50.”

“I have that trick on lock, so it’s really fun to do,” he says.

As the sound of skateboard decks hitting the concrete click in the background, Terry Siegrist, Marina’s recreation director, says that there’s not single team standout.

“It depends on the park,” he says. “It depends on the day. They are consistent. They are always first or second.”

With his hair sprayed out from under his helmet like a young Tony Alva, team rider Rodil thinks some of the group’s success could be attributed to the skaters’ different styles.

“Sean is kind of kickback and relaxed, while Anthony is steezy,” he says.

The City of Marina/On the Beach Skate Team grew out of the ongoing Monterey Bay Skate Jam Series, skateboard contests for local youth organized by Marina and On the Beach that began in 2007. The athletes that stood out at those contests formed the foundation for today’s talented lineup.

But skate talent isn’t enough to participate. Siegrist says each member of the team must maintain a 2.0 GPA at school and be a positive influence within the sport.

“Each of our guys must represent the team respectfully and show leadership at the skate park,” he says.

Last November, the team entered their first ever skate contest in the California Amateur Skateboard League, which was held on their home turf at the Marina Skatepark. They tore the familiar grounds and ended up winning the competition; from there, they were invited to compete in the CASL State Finals, where their rider Alejandro Martinez nabbed first place in his age division.

This season, the team Marina has traveled all over Northern California. Team coach Perry Doig says they usually get together on Saturdays to practice and frequently travel to other skate parks to get them wired before out-of-town skate contests start.

In competition, the skaters are judged on just two one-minute long runs, which are averaged together for one score. Siegrist says that the judges look at the number of tricks performed, how the skaters use the park’s surface, the complexity of the tricks and the number of successive tricks.

On July 8, the Marina team will compete in the California State Games, a three-day San Diego competition put together by the United States Olympic Committee that includes everything from power lifting to surfing.

Kelly Sorensen, owner of On the Beach Surf Shop, has been instrumental in getting the skate team together – amd believes that Marina’s team riders have a lot of upside. “We provide the clothing and the discounts in the stores while trying to promote them to the skate companies out there to get them sponsored,” Sorensen says. “Some of these kids have the potential to turn pro if they keep working on it.”

With the upcoming California State Games and a chance to win the 2010 Norcal CASL Street Series, one would expect the skaters to be feeling some pressure. Think again.

“The way we win is [to] have fun,” Rodil says before he drops into the bowl and decorates it with a few cursive turns. “Just hang out with the bros and throw down.”