THE Marianas Surf Skate League’s first skateboarding competition — the Marianas Skate Series, which will be held at the skate park in Garapan on May 27, Saturday — will kick off at 9 a.m. with a youth clinic for skaters 12 years old and below. Local skateboarders will teach basic techniques during the clinic which will end with a race.
The next event is a “Jam Session” for beginners who will compete freestyle for a set amount of time.
The final event will be for the expert skateboarders who will compete in an Olympic street skate format called “2/5/3. Each of the competitors will have two 45-second runs and five tricks to perform. They will be judged on creativity, degree of difficulty, and execution. Prizes will be given to the top three winners.
The Marianas Surf Skate League or MSSL, which hosted the very successful Boogie Down bodyboarding competition at Obyan Beach in Dec. 2022, is a non-profit organization that aims to promote surfing and skateboarding in the CNMI through events, competitions and youth clinics.
“We want to see our athletes compete internationally,” said MSSL Chair Ed Manibusan. “We also believe in protecting our environment, marine safety, and living a heathy lifestyle through our sports. We want to help attract more people to the CNMI, and we want to make these competitions annual events.”
“Doing a skateboarding event is one of our missions at MSSL,” he added. “We want to represent the culture of skateboarding. We’ve always had a skateboarding community in the CNMI but, like surfing, we’ve never given opportunities to highlight these talented athletes and express themselves through competition.”
Manibusan noted that “surfing and skateboarding are now Olympic sports. We need to promote these sports more and that is MSSL’s mission: to see our athletes compete internationally. And to promote exercise through these sports.”
In addition, MSSL intends to adopt the skate park and raise funds to replace its broken solar lights, repair and resurface the concrete skate surface, and replace the rusting railings.
“We are looking for donations and volunteers for this project and for our other events and programs,” Manibusan said.
MSSL would also like to thank the sponsors of the Marianas Skate Series: Marpac, Pokka, Boarderline, All Star Sporting Goods, DLNR-Division of Parks and Recreation, MVA, the Saipan Mayors Office, DFEMS, Saipan Surf Company, Salty Skin Pacific, Local Bones, and Caravan of Food.
For more information, email marianas.surfskate@gmail.com or go MSSL’s Instagram account @marianas.surfskate.league/.
