Tell us about how you got into skateboarding?
We have all had a unique experience when it comes to falling in love with skateboarding. While some of us started at an early age, others discovered it later in our lives, be it firsthand or through our children who can continue to reap the benefits that skateboarding brings to all of us.
Christian – Chairman
Well, it all started when I was three years old. My Grandma (Lola) took me to a skate shop named Impressive Sports in Spring Valley, where my uncle (Tio Rey) worked at the time. It used to be on the grass lot across the laundry mat in the Spring Valley Shopping Center right next to Albertsons. I got my first board when I was 3yrs. old- It was a Z-rider and then later a Rodney Mullen Board, but the one I really remember was at 13, when the same Tio got me a Maple Black Cat Board. It was the coolest graphic I had ever seen. Then I was hooked on skateboarding and there was no going back!
Felix – Head of Media
For me it was middle school, I got my first skateboard from a neighbor. He was doing Switch Stance Ollies, which I used to think were called Switch Dance Ollies. I Was like, “what the hell?” I learned how to ollie from him, but I never really skated any other time until after ninth grade in high school because I sold my skateboard and then I saw some guys skating and I was like, “Oh, can I see your board? I want to try to ollie. But I don’t have a skateboard- I don’t skate.” They told me, if I could ollie, I could 50/50, so I 50/50 a box, and thought, “Oh S**t! I can do it!” And then they got together, and said, “If you can skate, you should skate.” So, they made me a Frankenstein Board, and that is how I got into skating again. Now, I have been skating for 20 years. I was never the best, but I loved it, and it is something fun to do. I have met so many cool people like Chris, Diego and Christian and that is my Skateboarder Story.
Bonnie- Treasurer
What got me into skateboarding is learning about how greatly it impacted my husband, Felix’s life. It really did save him. It is such a unique community where people of all levels of society can come together for a shared love. Now seeing my kids developing that same love, and really exploring the mental benefits just strengthens my journey to skatepark advocacy.
Lezlie - Co- Chair
My father brought home a wide Real ‘Fish Deck’ Skateboard, with purple grip tape. I attempted to ride the skateboard, with the help of a neighbor and classmate, Ebony Maynor who is rushed advice was that the best way to ride a skateboard was to stay on the skateboard. Solid advice because it worked. That lasted only until the rain came. Unfortunately, I had not realized the board was not waterproof, damaged until it was not rideable any longer, we disposed of it.
It was not until 2017, I made the decision that if I was going to be an active member in the skateboard community, I might as well really practice my skateboarding skills. Christian, Gavin, and I took our skateboards on a wonderful trip to London, Paris, and Atlanta. Till this point, it has been one of the best decisions of my life! I enjoy everything skateboarding has to offer. From the potential for creativity to the community it provides. My son gave me the board that led me to be a part of this movement in the present day. The least I can do is give him a future park of which he is proud.
How did you produce the name (Spring Valley Skatepark)?
To answer that question, we must go back to 1977. Which is where the old skatepark on Jamacha and
Sweetwater Rd. used to be. We adopted the name from our 1st Generation Skatepark, Skateboard
Heaven. A lot of OG’s like Steve ‘Salba’ Alba, Dave Andrecht, Doug ‘Pineapple’ Saladino, Steve Cathey, Dennis Martinez, and the Z-Boys from Dogtown skated it, while people such as Jim Goodrich and Jim Alesi captured it, even BMX ‘Godfather’ Bob Haro were there, in fact, which was his home park! We wanted to pay homage to them while having it be something modern, letting it be its own entity. Gerald Rivas tried to spark the same idea about eight years prior to ours. We continued the movement because even though skateboarding has a home in Spring Valley, there is nothing in the area that highlights that aspect. We feel a park could help rejuvenate and beautify the place making it a good setting for families and the rest of the community. Spring Valley Skate Park would really put us back on the map!
Is it hard to build a team? What does it take to be part of your team?
We really got to give it up to God because our team came about very organically. The people that showed up to the first meeting have not stopped showing up. They do not only spread the word; they live the lifestyle. When we got together in April 2018 for our very first Committee meeting, we put out a Bat Signal, Kanten Russell and Terry Burke-Eiserling- the superheroes of skateparks showed up!
It takes a lot of dedication, sacrifice, passion, and love overall. A love for skateboarding and the community. It has been 100% a team effort, we cannot stress that enough. You need to have high energy and positive people that believe in the goal. To get to that finish line, you must really believe that this park is on its way to be built. We’ve also picked up support from people rocking’ our shirts and attending some of our meetings. At the first Public Meeting we had so many skateboarders and non-skateboarders all in the same room voting for the Spring Valley Skatepark. Wearing the SVSP shirt and showing love is the best way to be a Spring Valley Skatepark Advocate. That is our team, all the people who support us.
With the industry being flooded with new pros that we never heard of from smaller brands. What is your opinion on that?
Since the beginning of skateboarding, a lot has changed and that is not necessarily a terrible thing as we are growing and evolving. Even though some people might not think you are good enough, you got to be happy to just be skateboarding. There might be a point where a lot of people want to see your name on a board, not just your family and friends, but also people who you may have influenced or inspired. There is so many who are just now learning about skateboarding and if they saw it from an influencer they follow as opposed to seeing someone at a skatepark, that is a win for skateboarding. There is a place for everybody, even a place for influencer skateboarders who have the following, they may not be pro, but they are good, and people enjoy watching them skate. There is a market for it, especially with the Olympics coming along. There is going to be a lot more skateboarders rising. It is all love. skateboarding is big enough for all of us. It is going to blow up one hundred times platinum and everybody gets their time to shine in a way. We cannot be mad at that. You just got to support your favorite skaters.
What makes (Spring Valley Skate Park) different than other brands out-there?
SVSP snowballed from wearing the t-shirts. People are always coming up to us even when we are not out skating. “There’s a skatepark in Spring Valley?” “Not yet, but…” Which is cool if you think about it because it is a ghost park, a park that is not there yet. We are grabbing old bones from a skatepark that would be 44 years old! It predates our generation. It is cool to think that we built a brand that has the word ‘skatepark’ but there is no skatepark yet.
At this point it feels like we are in a lane of our own. We are not keeping up with the joneses. We are not marketing ourselves to be in competition with anybody else. We are the first in whatever territory this is. All we are trying to do is get a skatepark built in our community. We have someone with a background who has run a streetwear brand and we have taken what we can from that and implemented it into advocating to build a skate park. It has gotten people talking, even mothers who do not skate want to advocate for this dream park. At that first meeting we were given a timeline of 10 years, and we were down for the marathon, but we feel the shirt cemented us into getting this park started after only a few years of advocating. It has been the best advertisement for us, because everybody wants to be a part and it gains exposure, not just Instagram or Facebook but to see the shirt in the wild, people are stoked. It is tangible and within reach. You hold it in your hands and are like ‘whoa this is real.’ It is not just a page; it is substantial and genuine from true skateboarders and their significant others.
Since some of us have been skating for so long we know a lot of people in the skateboard community, and they are able to verify the legitimacy of our movement. Simply wearing a shirt when we go out, helped to get us to where we are today!
Do you or do you have someone produce the graphics for (Spring Valley Skatepark)?
So far, we only have one design, Christian’s Tio Rey designed for us. He has a Cal Arts Degree and has done countless graphic design work, for companies such as Osiris, Adio, Planet Earth and Rhythm in its golden era. He is responsible for this super dope design that we have today which is impressive because if you investigate the details, you can see the pool coping from the old skate park and some little obstacles were implemented. There is a handrail which gives a street skate vibe as well. It encapsulates what a cool skatepark would look like, in a little circle. That has been the logo, it is tried and true so far. This is what people recognize. And we want to keep that until the park is realized, just push this design hard. We approached the design in a street brand mentality, like how Obey had Andre the Giant in 1989. We placed it everywhere, where all can see it and has naturally drawn more interest. We are not a brand because our focus is not the point of sale. We hand out stickers, shirts and occasionally pins. We are using the same tactics- Guerrilla Marketing. We have even imprinted it into our own brains like, when we see a shirt with a circle on it, our first thought is, “Oh, is that an SVSP shirt!?”
Do you think it is hard being from (Spring Valley) to get your brand out-there compared to some brands from Cali?
Not at all, mainly because California is the Mecca for skateboarding, and we live here. There is so much love in California, there will always be people willing to support the little guys. Genuine skaters who want to see parks pop up help spread the word and it takes off from there. Friends and family who support us wear the shirt. It is not hard to get the name out there, but to get it out of California it is a little more challenging because it is a skatepark in California, but it is for everybody, outsiders will be coming from all over to skate and they will be welcomed. We have a little CA in the logo, and I think anybody from California would be proud to wear anything from California. On the other hand, I could not imagine if we were not based in Cali though, our efforts would not have taken off the way they did if we did not have the history to back it up. We are really blessed to have that in our history. It is a part of us, it only makes sense to restore a first generation skatepark.
Let us say: I am a shop owner, you come to my shop & you want me to carry your brand. How would you get me to carry (Spring Valley Skatepark) in my store?
So, we are firm believers in supporting and encouraging local businesses. Thanks to Terry’s advice we had written out a plan of action, to hopefully get into skate shops to raise awareness of our advocacy work for SVSP and potentially add our shirts to shops inventory, but before we could even ask, they reached out to us. So, we feel just writing it down means we were able to speak it into existence! When you put something out into the universe, with good intentions it really comes back to you when you believe in what you are doing. You end up getting what you give plus more. And we are just very blessed to have Local and Slappy’s reach out and be as supportive of us as we are of them. Wanting to spread the SVSP movement throughout San Diego they accepted us with open arms. They were incredible as were the donations made by their patrons. People who care will always make it a point to show you. And we are very thankful in that aspect.
What is a (SVSP) day like?
Our monthly meetings are usually at the skatepark. We just start with skate sessions and during our sit downs to catch our breath we share our thoughts on what is to come. Felix is always good at getting content on the spot, be it on his GoPro or phone, he is on it when it comes to content creation along with Lezlie. They have a way to capture moments, and candid shots we otherwise would have missed. The first meetings were very by the book, in terms of advocacy, renting rooms at the library or the rec center with the head honchos but had turned into more laid back get togethers. We observe the environment and what we want to bring to our community, talk about what we want to see and the possibilities of new skateable art features, not obstacles but architecture- new architecture to skate. That is pleasing to the eye of a spectator as well as the skaters. Kanten has been impressive about listening to our suggestions and tweaking it to input into his overall designs to where we are all happy. Our goal is usually to skate a little, get an edit out of our session and show the world through our actions and our words what we are up to and get a bite to eat at a local spot because we are hungry after a session, and we also want to support our communities.
Thank you for talking with us & wish you the best of luck with (Spring Valley Skatepark). Is there anything you want to say to someone that wants to start their own brand?
To start a brand, there is never “the right time,” but it helps to have a team who share the same passions with you, people whom you can feed off each other. Thrive from that! It all comes from the love of skateboarding. We want to see a skatepark and a community be better. If you do not want to do it alone, find other skateboarders or a local business that can help you start off, but make sure that if you are going to have a team, make sure that they share the same love for it. That is what kept us going, we all love skateboarding and want to see skateboarding be accepted 100%, not only when convenient.
Do it for the thing you love and not just for what you can profit from. If it is in your heart to really go for it, it is there for a reason, so do not ignore it. Everything thrives when you are thinking of how those around you can benefit from your choices. Follow your heart to its content for it is going to take you through an amazing ride and when I say ride, I mean you are going to feel all the emotions on the way to your goals. There is a book called ‘The Alchemist’ where the main character learns how to turn lead into gold and that is what it is like when you turn your passions into reality. Converting that passion into something rewarding is going to be challenging work, and take a lot of sacrifice, even sleepless nights, but you will not regret it. It is an amazing time to learn to skate! In our case it has been a movement of love for Skateboarding, our suggestion is to find your movement and go for it. We truly wish everyone out there much success in all endeavors.\
Shout out to Devon Sanford for the music to our videos, Jim Goodrich for the photographs of Skateboard Heaven and True Sk8board Magazine for the interview! Much Love & Peace!
