BambooSK8 team ready to destroy the competition (not the forest) at Tampa Am

Oceanside, December 1st, 2011: BambooSK8 couldn’t be more excited for its team riders, Matt Cartledge and Ryan Strader to be competing this weekend against 200 of the best amateur skateboarders in the world at the Tampa Am in Tampa, Florida.
When team manager Nate Wooldridge was asked why it is so important for Ryan and Matt to be at the Tampa Am representing BambooSK8, he answered, “Because it is simply the biggest amateur competition of the year and anybody that is important in the industry is going to be there.” No doubt that BambooSK8 is banking on this by sending their 2 best skaters who are a part of a newly developed team for 2012. It is the company’s goal that strong results in this competition will be the catalyst to bringing the brand to the forefront of the skateboard industry as more skaters will recognize the extra POP and the incredible strength that bamboo skate decks provide for their skaters and fans of the eco-minded brand.
Matt and Ryan who have similar styles are known for being down to skate any terrain whether it is ledges, manual pads, big gaps, handrails, weird obstacles, you name it and they will both skate it. Recently Ryan just landed a frontside 270 to switch frontslide boardslive shuv; a monster of a trick. Matt’s style has been compared to Sierra Fellers while Ryan’s has been compared to Chris Roberts. Ryan Strader is from Austin, Texas and, in addition to BambooSK8, is sponsored by Capital Skate Park, DVS, Good Life wheels, The Shop in Oak Cliff, Silver Trucks, FKD Bearings. The 18-year-old Matt Cartledge is also sponsored by Bunger Sayville Skate Shop, and is from Wantagh, New York.
The Tampa Am is hosted at the Skate Park of Tampa, also known as SPoT. The park has gained recognition over the years from hosting Pro and Amateur events that have featured riders such as Bob Burnquist, Bucky Lasek, and Danny Way. The Skate Park of Tampa has been open since 1993 and has hosted the Tampa Am annually since 1994. This year’s event starts at 9:00 am Thursday, December 1st and goes until 9:00pm on Sunday, December 4th. The Skate Park of Tampa is located at 4215 East Columbus Drive in Tampa, FL.
For more information about BambooSK8 please contact:
Geoff Koboldt – President
info@bamboosk8.com
www.bamboosk8.com

About BambooSK8:
BambooSK8 is an ecologically-based skateboard brand and manufacturer of high quality skateboards made from sustainable bamboo from managed forests. They are social entrepreneurs who believe that giving back to their communities is as equally important as profits. They passionately hope to inspire others to take actionable steps towards preserving our natural environment.

BambooSk8 was proud to help out for the 4th straight year by donating goods and $ donation to the Standup for Skateparks charity event in Beverly Hills at billionaire Ron Burkle’s green acres estate.  I know, you are all asking – who the hell is Ron Burkle?  If you ever shopped at Ralph’s food stores, then there’s one connection.  How about owning a piece of the Pittsburgh Penguins or owning 20% of Barnes and Noble; there’s more!  Anyhow, lucky for Tony Hawk that Ron provides his humble abode to let Tony invite 850 guests at a price of $400 donation each to mingle with celebrities (if you are lucky or brave) like actor Mark Wahlberg or mega producer Jon Favreau or UFC champion Chuck Lidell or rockstar Perry Farrel of Janes Addiction, watch some live music by the Black Keys (yet, literally 20 feet in front of you on a tiny little stage), watch some amazing skating on the vert ramp (amazing that they are allowed to bring the massive ramp and tear up Ron’s yard) with Shaun White, Tony Hawk, Mitchie Brusco, Bucky Lasek, as well as bmx freestyle by Matt Hoffman, get a ton of free shit from a variety of vendors (t-mobile, art of board, dub, nixon, birdhouse, pinks, wahoo’s, best buy, etc.), chat with pro skaters like Mike Vallely, Jamie Thomas, Kevin Stab, etc., and a ton more….  The live auctions this year were off the hook with autographed guitars by Pearl Jam, Taylor Swift, Rancid, Janes Addiction and the coolest one that Geoff bid on and won = the 1950′s Fender Telecaster toured with and autographed by all members of Green Day.  Other auction items included a tricked out Ford Explorer that went for over $40k, a customized triumph motorcycle by Roland Sands that went for $30k, a ton of autographed pro skateboards (paul rodriguez, nyjay houston, ryan scheckler and shaun white) completely framed by sk8ology, as well as the opportunity to get your own pro skateboard made by Tony Hawk’s team for $250.  Our BambooSK8 skate board autographed by the band CHERRI BOMB on Hollywood Records went for $70 the last bid we saw, but hopefully more.  Needless to say, despite the down economy, things were looking up for charity this year as people reached deep into their pockets.  We can all feel good about helping to get skateparks built in low income, at-risk neighborhoods throughout this great country of ours.  The foundation has helped 405 parks get build already in 49 states; Connecticut is the only one remaining.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/sports/Clash_of_Clairemont_V_San_Diego-118251354.html

Mike Rogers from Grind for Life and Geoff Koboldt of BambooSK8 were featured on NBC TV in San Diego at 6:45am to promote the Clash at Clairemont event this Saturday which benefits the cancer charity, 11-6pm, $10/door – www.clashatclairemont.com

Pro skaters to include: Tony Hawk, PLG, Bucky Lasek, Andy Macdonald, Christian Hosoi and many others.

BambooSK8 will be selling limited edition bamboo “clash” decks which proceeds will benefit Grind for Life.  These are perfect for autograph signing – limited to 20 decks only!!!

BambooSK8 was proud to join the Tony Hawk foundation for the 2nd time by attending another charity event in Beverly Hills.  This event took place at Billionaire ROn Burkles humble abode; yes, I said Billionaire.  I believe that only 800 people are allowed to attend based on starting donations of $350 but additional money is raised by numerous auctions such as an autographed fender bass from the Dave Matthews band or a guitar signed by Social Distortion to autographed skate decks to vacations to sport memorabilia to a vehicle (spiced up by DUB), etc.  In addition, around $50,000 was raised for the watts skatepark just from pure donations on the whim.  20 at-risk youth were brought in thanks to donations.  In fact, one  of our little Loopd Eco Tribe skaters made a donation, so I made sure I got him a special autograph from Tony Hawk.  Reality is, this event is filled with a mix of celebrities and rich folks but all of which who enjoy doing their part to help the skateparks, all the while doing the horse-and-pony show for their kids who get to meet Tony Hawk.  I must say Tony does a great job keeping it real and down-to-earth.  In fact, Tony went for a 900 not one, not twice, not even three times but more like 5 times – pulling it off until running off the side of the ramp.  Dude is over 40 and killing it out there for the crowd!  Bucky Lasek, Andy Macdonald, Kevin Stabb, PLG and a few others joined him on the ramp.   About a dozen booths were set up from organizations or companies like Yo Baby / Kick flipper, UFC, Best Buy, DUB magazine, Pinks Hot Dogs, Nixon, etc.  Literally, you walk away with bags of goodies including shirts, hats, stickers, belts, drum sticks, guitar picks, shoes, and tons more.  This year Blink 182 performed, which was really cool to finally see them live – not that they are even remotely talented in light of other musicians, but they have catchy songs and are incredibly funny with their interactions with each other onstage and with the crowd.  Tom joked, “This song was a hit in the 90′s.”  I do have to say that Travis Barker is a mad man on those drums and I have the utmost respect for him, as a drummer and as a businessman.  Many years ago, I looked at buying his house out in Corona… in fact, it was right down the road from me at the time.  Anyhow, other celebrities included Jeremy Piven, Eric Estrada, Vern ’mini me” Troyer (who gave $1000 for TOny hawk’s shoes and deck he skated), Chuck Liddell from UFC, Perry Farrel (Janes Addiction), Johnny Knoxville, Holly Robinson Pete, Tom Green, and a bunch more.  A special shout out to the entire crew that makes this event happen…from the valet guys at the front gates to the mansion, to the food crew, to the security, to the organizers and promoters, to the Tony Hawk Foundation, Ron Burkle, and all the people who generously donate year after year; without these folks our youth might not have a safe haven to go skate at.  It is these skateparks that keeps kids out of trouble and gives them hope for a better life while also keeping them healthy and positive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHgao6mXnhE  – video of Tony Hawks 900

BambooSK8 crew made the trek over to Huntington Beach for another Action Sports Environmental Coalition event with other vendors – sector 9, volcom, AOSA, etc.  This event was ran on solar panels off the biofuel bus that Frank drove down.  We were interviewed by the Sundance Channels people who are producing “Big Ideas For a Small Planet”.  After a few games of skate and awarding bamboo decks to the winners, we all watched some bmx aerials on the quarter pipe and launch ramp as the local skaters skated the variety of obstacles.  The winner of the skate contest was then awarded a bamboo deck and a wide variety of prizes from all the vendors; so he was stoked.  Recycle your brain.  After the event, we headed down the road to the Quicksilver headquarters for an 80′s flashback – Tony Hawk, Tony Magnusson, Christian Hosoi, Steve Caballero, Bucky Lasek, and many more – all dressed in 80′s gear.

I attended Tony Hawk’s charity event at Billionaire Ron Burkle’s Beverly Hills estate on Sunday – for a $350 donation.  On one front, one is mingling with spoiled little rich kids (tons of them) who say to their mommies, “Oh, mom – it’s only $1000 for that autographed guitar in the auction.”  On another front, you realize that it’s these rich families who graciously donate a significant amount of money to help organizations such as this so more power to them.  Anyhow, the event was amazing and very well put together… from the valeting of cars to the food/drink, music by Social Distortion, skate jam with Tony and friends, tons of booths with free stuff, hundreds of auctioned items, etc.  Overall, it’s pretty amazing what Tony Hawk has been able to achieve in skateboarding and what his organization gives back…  It was especially nice to see people donating and bidding on the auction during these tough economical times.  Nonetheless, $75k was raised in a matter of minutes by just generous donations – one lady alone who gave $25k.  $350×800 in tickets = another $280k.  I’m not sure what the auction brought in but there was some pricey tags on items.   What’s important here is that the many kids now can have an opportunity to skate/bike with the help of the organization building skateparks.  Tony mentioned the next one was TierraSanta and even had some kids come on stage who would directly be inspired.  I did my due dilligence by promoting the bamboo skateboards and even made a few pro skaters smile when I asked them when they were going to be skating on bamboo.  They sounded excited at the opportunity – now, we just need to get some solid decks in their hands, which we are working on.  Bamboo skate decks are the future!!     

Andy Macdonald, Kevin Staab, Tony Hawk, Shaun White and Bucky Lasek

Shaun White

Ron Burkles estate

Social Distortion 

Anthony Keidis (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Perry Farrel (Janes Addiction)

Birdman Tony Hawk

Freestyler Matt Hoffman

Freestyler legend Dennis McCoy