Capitola Classic

After only a single half-assed try, I’ve given up on my attempt to pierce the walls of the abandoned Sears building and now find myself standing outside of Chili’s at the Capitola Mall awaiting an answer to my call for help. After a few anxious moments, my iphone shivers within my parka’s spacious pocket. TC’s on the line.

“Terry!” I say excitedly as I begin to pace in a tight rectangle. “I found the building, but not a way in. How the hell do I get in there?” In the time it takes Santa Cruz Boardroom owner and contest director Terry Campion to respond, I hear a cacophony of power tools in the background, along with the heavy thumps, muffled shouts, and labored grunts that should characterize any work site worth its salt.

“Where are you?” he says, breaking up the din. Once I let him know, he delivers his orders.“Hang on, I’ll come grab ya!” 

Next thing I know, I’m following Campion to the entrance to the long dormant commercial space that I’d so sloppily overlooked moments before. He pulls out a set of keys and opens the door to a site that would have sent my thirteen year-old self into fits of unbridled hysteria—a massive, no, a gargantuan space lined with smooth linoleum stretches out before me, and it’s anything but empty.

In anticipation of the next day’s event, the inaugural Capitola Classic skate competition, over a dozen men wearing bright yellow long sleeve work shirts are busy constructing a sprawling indoor skatepark, one consisting of quarter pipes and rails of every description. A couple rows of tents line the perimeter of the course, as well as a bandstand where four rowdy punk rock bands were set to jam the tunes that would help fuel the highly anticipated skateboard showdown.

“Every one of these guys is a volunteer,” Campion informs me as we make our way across the floor. “They’ve all taken the day off work to be here. Most of these guys are trained, professional carpenters making 4-500 dollars a day and here they are, donating their time and energy to make this event happen as well. We’re literally building a skate park, which is a huge investment in time, energy, and money—we couldn’t do it without them.”

As I take in the novel scene before me, Campion begins to explain to me how he got the idea for the event—a street jam format with four divisions: Big Dogs, Medium Dogs, Little Dogs, and Lady Dogs, as well as a game of SKATE and “Best Trick” award.

“When I was 11 years-old I saw the Hobie team here at Sears. At the time I just remember thinking how rad it was for them to let us skate inside on a smooth floor. It was a mesmerizing site,” admits the enthusiastic entrepreneur, who, over the past fifteen years, has previously organized an annual mini-ramp competition held in the parking lot behind the Boardroom’s 41st avenue location.

While an extremely popular event, Campion always had loftier ambitions for his brainchild. Holding an outdoor skateboarding event puts the skaters, and contest directors such as himself, at the mercy of Mother Nature, which makes holding an event during the winter months extremely tricky. He knew there had to be a better way.

However, a wintertime skate comp requires a spacious indoor area, so, in a stroke of genius, Campion dredged his memory to come up with a suitable venue…the abandoned Sears building at the Capitola Mall.

“We’ve had our mall Santa Cruz Apparel store for 17 years now. My relationship with the mall is fantastic, so once I laid out my idea, luckily they bit,” he tells me with a grin. As the whirlwind of organized chaos continues all around us, Campion tells me of the greater good that his skateboard events support and honor—The Santa Cruz Animal Shelter. 

“The reason why we’re doing all of this is more for the animal shelter than anything,” he says. “I have a saying, ‘Dogs can’t get jobs.’” So, if there’s anyone who needs support, it’s them. That’s why the animal shelter has always been our biggest charity.”

On the day of the event, I arrive to find the liveliest abandoned building I’ve ever seen. The open space is packed with talented skaters aggressively attacking the indoor park, with fans of all ages taking in all the action. Disappointingly, it turns out I’ve just missed a live performance of the Curb Creeps, that, in pure punk rock skater fashion, devolved into a riotous scene when an unidentified hooligan set off a fire extinguisher.

It isn’t long until I run into skateboarding fan James Sclar, who is happy to be in attendance with his son, Wesley. “The events that the Santa Cruz Boardroom put on have always been epic,” says the heavily bearded former American Ninja Warrior star. “Seeing Terry still putting it on after all these years is so cool, especially now that it’s being held in this building. My son Wesley even won a skateboard during the raffle! The stoke for skateboarding has been passed down through generations, especially at events like this one where so many skateboarders can come together to have fun!”

For Campion, stoking out kids like Wesley makes all the hard work worth the hassle.“We spend more money than we raise,” he admits after the event. “But here’s how we value it—how much does a smile cost? We laugh about it, but it’s true—on this day, the smiles cost us pennies, so when you frame it that way, how can you go wrong? Put simply, if there’s one kid who decides to become a skateboarder after coming here today, then we’ve done our jobs!”