Local skateboarders finally have a league to call their own
Royal, SVHS club teams competing
By Stephen Dorman sdorman@theacorn.com

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers LIFTOFF- Kenny Kruptnick, 15, of Royal High flies through the air during a practice last week at Skatelab in Simi Valley.

Skateboarding is not a crime.

Of course, it's never been much of a team sport, either. One local man, however, is trying to change the way skateboarding is perceived at the high school level.

Jeff Stern, a 38-year-old father of three who grew up in Westlake Village and now resides in Thousand Oaks, has started the California High School Skateboard Club.

The club league, believed to be the first of its kind for the sport, is not affiliated with the California Interscholastic Federation and instead operates as a separate entity- similar to the Interscholastic Surfing Federation or Southern California Lacrosse Association.

High school club teams competing during the initial year of Stern's project include Oak Park, Agoura, Westlake, Newbury Park, Simi Valley, Royal and Santa Monica. Five skateboarders represent each team.

"I've checked all around this country," Stern said. "I've checked in Canada. I've checked in Europe. Skateboard clubs have been done all over the place. Forty or 50 people will form a club and compete against each other.

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers FLY BY- Simi Valley High's Roy Canright grabs a rail and soars toward the ceiling at Skatelab.

"But it's never been done where skateboarders have competed with one high school going against another high school. There have even been skateboarding P.E. classes. But it's never been done like this."

According to Miki Vuckovich, executive director of the Tony Hawk Foundation, in the early 1980s there was a league called the Association of Skate Park Owners, or ASPO, where different skaters would meet for interpark competitions throughout Southern California.

"This will probably operate similarly, where instead of skate parks you have schools," Vuckovich said. "It's a very interesting concept, something that will really cater to the skaters who are interested in a skateboard club. Although some, even many, probably won't be interested."

Stern, a student in his final semester at the Ventura College of Law, initially began working on the concept more than a year ago. The idea, he said, was twofold.

Stern's son, Jackson, had been skateboarding for several years, and as he learned more about the sport and watched its athletes perform, Stern was convinced that skateboarders weren't getting the recognition or respect they deserved.

So when it came time for Stern to set up an internship for law school, the idea of opening a nonprofit seemed like a natural fit. Stern was eventually able to earn internship credits for his work with the skateboarding project.

One of the first people Stern contacted about the idea was Todd Huber, co-owner of Skatelab in Simi Valley.

Skatelab features indoor and outdoor facilities as well as one of the largest skateboarding museums in the world. It's also home to the Skateboarding Hall of Fame.

"When he initially told me, I thought it was perfect, a great thing to do," said Huber, adding that several years ago he had contacted a few local high schools about the idea of starting skateboarding teams before quickly being turned down.

Skatelab is allowing members of the teams to practice for free every Thursday afternoon. In addition, the facility will also host all four CHSSC contests this season as well as a preseason kickoff event on April 7. When the season begins, professional skateboarder Steve Badillo will be in charge of the contest judging criteria, which will vary per event.

"I really didn't think (Stern) could do it," Huber said. "A year later he's like, 'Yeah, I did it. Are you still committed to do the location?' And I am because I believe in what he's doing."

Like Huber, Stern's early attempts to go through the local school districts as a way to jumpstart the sport didn't pan out. Stern was told that there were too many liability questions with skateboarding.

But after speaking for a second time with Don Zimring, deputy superintendent of the Las Virgenes Unified School District, Stern's luck began to change.

"Don said it was great if I wanted to set up an organization," Stern said. "But he didn't want me to come onto the campuses and start marketing."

Stern instead went to the local skate and surf shops and began trying to find out who were the best high school kids.

"Once I found out who the best skateboarders were, all the other guys just fell into place," Stern said. "They all hang out."

One of the skaters Stern contacted was Matt Pierce, a senior at Oak Park High.

"I didn't think it would work out," Pierce said. "I've heard people talking about doing stuff like this before, but it never works out. So I wasn't too sure about it. But it ended up working well."

Tanner Fazli, a senior at Royal High, didn't know what to expect when Stern called him out of the blue one day talking about a revolutionary skateboarding idea.

"I was avoiding his phone calls at first," said Fazli, adding that he began to change his mind when he heard there would be free energy drinks available at the contests.

"That psyched me up a little bit," he said.

With the skaters in tow and a facility to utilize, Stern began searching for funding.

Stern's initial idea to cover costs was to charge each team $750 for the season, but that concept never looked like it would materialize.

"The motivation for these guys to go out and (ask for sponsorship money) is not there," Stern said. "They're motivated to skate and hang out with friends. They're teenagers in high school; that's what they want to do."

Stern received a big break after pitching the idea to Nike, who decided to sponsor the CHSSC for its initial season. Stern also landed sponsorships from Xtazy Energy Drink and SOne Helmets. The Tony Hawk Foundation has been an invaluable resource as well, Stern said.

With the season set to begin next month, Stern, who said he spends in excess of 80 hours per week working on the CHSSC, is both nervous and optimistic. He worries that a sponsor might back out and leave him hanging, but he's also thrilled with the plethora of possibilities that lie ahead.

"Right now we're kind of still into that hardcore skate culture," he said. "But we're not that far away from seeing things change. The industry knows that the younger kids are competing. Changing things right now for the younger kids who are coming up is critical."