Magaly Anteola continually fanned herself with a yellow envelope, anxiously waiting for her son to finish contending in the Gatorade Free Flow Tour skateboard competition. [Sunday is] my only day off, and I'm in here sweating,'' said Anteola, whose 13-year-old son, Antonio, has been skating for a year.
Fans hanging from the 20-foot ceilings in the indoor MIA Skate Park in Doral didn't provide much relief from the sweltering Sunday heat and stench. Hundreds of children and teenagers with family and friends in tow still crowded the venue for six hours, hoping to ride their skateboards to a free ticket out West.
The event, in its sixth year, is one of a series that is touring the country, with the winner earning a spot in the finals in Salt Lake City in mid-September. That winner gets a shot to skate against the pros in the Dew Tours PlayStation Pro.
``That's all I could ever ask for,'' said C.J. Dixon, the winner of this year's event in Doral. ``It's a good chance to get noticed, and hopefully it will help me get to where I want to be on a pro level.''
Dixon's ambitions aren't too far-fetched. In 2007, at age 13, Chaz Ortiz won the Free Flow finals. This past June, Ortiz competed in X Games 15, a competition in which pros typically showcase their skills.
IMPRESSIVE TURNOUT
The number of kids, the level of skateboarding, was really high here,'' said Brett LaCour, one of the tour's organizers. ``The vibe was awesome. The event also offered a chance for junior skaters to show off their skills. Michael Schmidt, 11, took first place in that event, with his parents cheering him on from the sideline.
He's been skating since he was 4 years old,'' Fred Schmidt said. We enjoy watching him. Dixon completed front-side lips and nollies, an ollie off the nose of the board in which a skater pops the nose with his front foot while his back foot slides to the tail to lift the board.
LaCour, who has seen skaters compete around the country, noticed the intensity in Doral. During brief breaks, the park was packed with youngsters nearly running each other over to get on the ramps and side rails. During heat sessions, the parking lot was littered with skaters trying new tricks. After Sunday's competition finished, it was difficult to clear the skate park.
Jamie Foy, a 13-year-old from Lyons Creek Middle School, constantly lifted himself off the floor after hitting the ground on failed attempts through three heats. Foy placed second in the main event, and D'Andre Pendergrass, an incoming freshman at Miami Dade College, finished third.
THE SKATING LIFE
Anteola's son was constantly on the go. He would skate, then return to the bench where his mother was sitting for a sip of Gatorade. Antonio, a student at South Miami Middle, is a fixture at his local skate park.
We'll probably go home after this and do something I want to do -- clean his clothes,'' she said with a laugh.
But she knows better. Although her son didn't take home the prize this year, he is building his own mini skate park at home in her driveway for future success.
``We have six ramps now,'' Magaly Anteola said.
``We just threw a piece of furniture out, so I know there's another one coming.''