Tampa Pro starts up this weekend in Florida, with pro park contests at the Skatepark of Tampa and pro/am vert contests at the Cuban Club in Ybor City that continue the SPoT's 15th anniversary celebration. We caught up with SPoT masterminds Brian Schaefer and Ryan Clements to find out how they made Tampa into an unlikely skate epicenter and turned SPoTlight Productions into the go-to team for running international contests as diverse as the Damn Am series, Slaughter at the Opera, the eS Game of SKATE, Red Bull's Manny Mania, the Vans Downtown Showdown, and many more.
Over the last few years I've come across a lot of ways to run a skateboard contest, from X Games and the Dew Tour to backyard bowl jams, the Brooklyn Banks, the DC King of... contests... With everything out there now, you guys seem to be universally respected among skaters for running the best contests in the biz. What do you think sets the SPoT contest model apart?
Ryan Clements: I think people can probably tell we come from a genuine viewpoint and actually care about how things turn out. We’re skaters, the people who work for us are skaters, the people who run the companies we work with are skaters, and we skate and hang out with skaters every day. We care that the kids in the crowd are stoked and we care about running the kinds of contests the skaters actually want to skate in, and because of that model we’ve become a destination point for so many people.
Brian Schaefer: I think it’s also the longevity of what we’ve done. We have a bit of history here, more so than just about anything else out there. We’re now one of the oldest running skateparks, we are the longest running contest in North America, and we are now running some of the biggest events in the industry outside of our skatepark. So the respect is there. We’re very deep within skateboarding, all around the world, and everybody can see that, no matter what, we’re trying to make the events right for the skaters.
You're now involved in a year-long series with all the Damn Am events and then Tampa Am and the other contests you’re doing through SPoTlight Productions. Why was it so important to you guys early on to invest so much in amateur skateboarding in this way?
Ryan: We just decided to throw a party for the ams one year in the cold of winter and it took off on its own from there. That’s probably not the answer you’re looking for, but that’s how it started. It gained so much momentum and all of a sudden it became a big deal for people all around the world to come to compete in Tampa, of all places. We've done our best to try to hang on.
Is it even possible for a skater to go pro these days without first passing through Tampa Am or the other events you guys run?
Ryan: With very few exceptions, they all end up part of it in one way or another, by default.
Brian: There are always going to be the dudes out there, like Stevie Williams and the DGK kids, who won’t skate in any contest no matter what, and it’s still possible to go pro by that route so we don’t really see everybody. But for the majority of skaters coming up… we’re in a very fortunate position where most of the ams now come through the channels of the Damn Am contests, Tampa Am, and the other unique events we do.
Speaking of unique events, you're just back from running the Slaughter at the Opera contest in Sydney, Australia and scouting locations for a new Damn Am Down Under event. Any crazy stories from that trip?
Brian: Where are you getting your information from?!? What happens down under stays down under.
Ryan: That whole trip was really productive, and we think we found a good spot in Melbourne to introduce a new Damn Event in 2009. Slaughter at the Opera went really well, and we got to spend a lot of time skating and visiting skateparks all over the place, so it couldn’t have been better.
What are you looking forward to this weekend for the pro contest? Any predictions?
Brian: Andrew Reynolds. We want to see Andrew Reynolds skate in the contest, and we want to see Andrew Reynolds win the contest. You never know with these pro contests, because nobody wants to register ahead of time, so you never even know who will show up on the day of the contest. But Sheckler’s coming. Koston and the posse will be here. A bunch of other guys are going to show up and hopefully there will be some surprises. It’s going to be a good contest.
I see on your website that you finally killed the vert ramp, and as always there are a lot of jokes about the death of vert. What’s going to replace it?
Ryan: Nothing! It's going to be a graveyard back there!
Brian: A really good vert ramp. We’re going to have the Red Bull vert ramp set up at the Cuban Club in Ybor City for the contest, and then it will have its final resting place here at the skatepark. We’re also having the Tampa Am vert contest this weekend as well as the pros. I think every single kid that rides vert is coming. So, you know, we have over 30 people signed up.
Do you guys talk as much trash while the pros are skating as you do during the am contests?
Ryan: Blame Vern Laird! I think he’s gonna pipe down a bit as emcee for the pros and the guys who have been around for a bit. We prey on the weak and the new! Um, please don’t print that? Or if you do, blame Vern Laird!
Assuming you survive this week, what’s up next?
Brian: Spring Break Yo’self is next month, on April 12, and then the Damn Am events go pretty quick all through the summer, starting in June. Check out our website for the full schedule of everything we have coming up. It’s going to be a big year. We're doing nearly 20 big events in 2008.
– Colin Bane
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