Competitive street and team skateboarding in South Africa is about to gear up a big notch with the Kimberley Diamond Cup Grand Slam competitions being staged in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban in September.

Each Kimberley Diamond Cup Grand Slam event will have a total prize purse of R50 000 and is set to attract South Africa’s best street and team skaters. Top street skaters will also win themselves a wild card entry to the amateur street skating format of the Kimberley Diamond Cup skateboarding world championship.

Skateboarding is one of the most entertaining extreme sports in the world and the Northern Cape will use the Kimberley Diamond Cup Grand Slams to promote the province as attractive destination for mega events, “high octane” sports and adventure tourism, said Mr. Patrick Seboko, head of the province’s Department of Economic development and Tourism.

Mike Koroczinsky, Facility Director at the world-class Kimberley Skate Plaza and venue for the Kimberley Diamond Cup skateboarding world championship, said the Grand Slam events will see South Africa’s skaters push themselves beyond their own limits as they go head-to-head “in pursuit of money and recognition”. He added that skaters will be “spurred on by the one chance to compete with the best skaters in the world, something that was hardly dreamt of three years ago in South Africa.”

Gavin Powell of Boogaloos, activation partner of the Kimberley Diamond Cup Grand Slam events, said each Grand Slam will start the day with skateboarding clinics presented by top local skaters and skateboard give-aways before moving on to the beginner’s competition, a “best trick jam” and the advanced street skating competition. Skateboarding fans will further be entertained to skate teams vying for the top spot and a pulsing musical concert to end of a day of hard skating, he said.

Stuart Walker, 24-year old skateboarder from Pretoria and participant in the Kimberley Diamond Cup Grand Slam in Johannesburg this weekend, enthused that every skateboarder in the country wants a piece of the Kimberley Diamond Cup action.  “It’s a big deal, whether they go just for the spectacle or to take part.  The Joburg Grand Slam is a chance for guys to get in on the biggest skateboarding event in the country. It’s also one of very few competitions with decent cash prizes, so there is lots of money at stake. I’ll be traveling from Pretoria to compete in the All Cities qualifiers with my team, G1Three, and we can’t wait to skate Stoneridge and see old friends.”

Scheduled for Johannesburg (1 September), Cape Town (8 September) and Durban (14 September), these Kimberley Diamond Cup Grand Slam events will give local street skateboarders the final opportunity to make it to the amateur street skateboarding line-up in Kimberley on 27 September this year.

Teams made up of four skaters will compete in a jam-format competition, where their solo scores also count towards their team’s overall score.  The winning team will be determined by the group of individuals with the highest score at the end of the day and will then battle it out for the All Cities title against eight teams from across the country on 27 September.

GRAND SLAM SCHEDULE

• Sunday, 1 September:       Stoneridge, Edenvale, Johannesburg
• Sunday, 8 September:       Canal Walk, Cape Town
• Saturday, 14 September:   Wavehouse, Durban

For more information, visit www.kimberleydiamondcup.com