Board to Death

Skaters can be a rather competitive lot. Spend more than five minutes at any of the Valley’s skateboarding shops or outdoor parks and you’re bound to hear numerous taunts between teenagers who swear their tricks are the sickest around. It’s put up or shut up time for these board-riding braggarts...

By Benjamin Leatherman

March 31, 2011

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Skaters can be a rather competitive lot. Spend more than five minutes at any of the Valley’s skateboarding shops or outdoor parks and you’re bound to hear numerous taunts between teenagers who swear their tricks are the sickest around.

It’s put up or shut up time for these board-riding braggarts this weekend, as the Phoenix AM Skateboard Contest and Junk Jam will help separate the men from the boys. More than 100 top talents from around the Valley and across the nation will square off at Desert West Skateboard Plaza, 6602 West Encanto Boulevard, starting on Saturday, April 2, for two days of trickflips and other masterful maneuvers. At stake is thousands of dollars in cash and prizes, as well as plenty of street cred.

Sat., April 2, 10 a.m.; Sun., April 3, 11 a.m., 2011

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Benjamin Leatherman is a staff writer for Phoenix New Times where he focuses primarily on arts, culture, music, and nightlife. He began writing for New Times in 2003 and joined the staff full-time in 2005. Prior to that, he contributed to magazines such as Tips & Tricks and The Wrestler. Benjamin has earned multiple awards from the Arizona Press Club including an award for sports enterprise reporting in 2009 and an award for statewide arts reporting in 2014. He holds a bachelor’s of arts in journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Contact: Benjamin Leatherman

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