Hello, I cut and pasted this from a web page- The Supergirl Jam kicks off {Labor Day weekend when, on September 6, the Snowboard Rail Jam and Skateboard Street elements of the Supergirl Jam will hit Venice Beach in conjunction with the opening of Venice's new beachside skatepark. The skateboarders will be the first to compete in Venice's brand new skatepark, christening the unique course with their skill and finesse. Some of the top skaters expected to compete include Vanessa Torres (Anaheim, CA), Elissa Steamer (Fort Myers, FL) and Amy Caron (Huntington Beach, CA). The Supergirl Jam will also feature a demo by some of the world's best inline skaters competing for a $2,000 prize for best trick.Just steps away from "muscle beach," the snowboarders will take on the challenge of conquering a massive snow mountain with more than 80,000 pounds of snow on the beach in the coolest rail-jam competition of the year. Top female snowboarders are set to compete including Supergirl Ambassador Chanelle Sladics (Newport Beach, CA) and Raewyn Reid (Calgary, Alberta"}.
Let it be known that the members of the VSA will not tolerate this event or any others that have not been approved by VSA. The VSA is the sole community organization DIRECTLY responsible for the creation of the skatepark. We will not allow L.A City Recreation and Parks to upsurp the VSA's efforts and or steal the VSA's RIGHT to celebrate organize and produce the Grand Opening of the Dennis Agnew Memorial Skatepark, Futhermore the VSA has reached out many times to L.A City Recreation and Parks to establish some type of repor however the VSA has only been given the cold shoulder. It is aparent that Recreation and Parks is coniving and scheming as all the depart sees is $ signs. L.A City Dept of Recreation should be ashamed of themselves. It is truly unfortunate that the Department of Recreation and Parks has choosen to snub the VSA and angry at being ignored by Dept of Rec and Parks who did absolutly nothing to get the park built and have absolutly no experience in running a skatepark and or program.
We as citizens are fed up with being stolen from by government
beurucracy.For over 20 years the VSA has lobbied and clammored for the skatepark.Futhermore The VSA has created a
way to employ youth and provde youth programing for the greater L.A community as the City of L.A is laying off
and furlowing workers and we WILL NOT be recognition denied our hard work. .
Sincerely, Ger-I Venice Surf And Skateboard Asssociation
Monday, July 27, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Equal opportunity.
To begin, Venice has various activities to take part in among them weight lifting, basketball, handball and roller skating. Each of these activities has a designated area to take part in said activity. L.A City Rec & Parks Dept has continued to ignore the needs of skateboarders and/or communicate with the VSA when a special event permit is issued for an event such as the Ecofest, film permit etc.Specifically, the above mentioned activities were afforded space(note barricade on B.Ball courts) so that their activities could continue without interruption. However skateboarders had their entire area rented out to the Ecofest event effectively closing the area to any skateboarding.Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident and has been a regular occurrence despite many letters and personal objection and complaints from the VSA demanding equal and fair treatment. Furthermore despite the fact the L.A City Rec & Parks Dept had absolutely no interest in the skatepark and did nothing to help secure the park and or funding for the sk8park, the Dept is head over heals in attempting to subvert and sell out VSA's efforts to ensure sk8boarding remains part of Venice culture. This being the case, the VSA will no longer stand by as the Rec & Parks sells sk8boarding out and we demand fair and equal treatment.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
VSA Banner Stolen
The VSA banner that BJ hand painted was stolen from the skatepark, if you see it please recover and return it. Don't get got slipping!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Not For Sale.
Sit down and read for a second as I want to tell you a little tale. 10 years ago a group of local lifelong sk8boarders banded together to lobby the City of L.A to build a sk8park after their beloved Venice Pavilion was demolished. Much as David and Goliath, the fledgling platoon of sk8boarders took on a near insurmountable task, unknowingly entering into the lion's lair of L.A City politics. By 2000 The platoon of sk8rs(by now known as the Venice Surf And Skateboard Association(VSA)) had grown to company size and had held several protests/sk8board demonstrations to arouse public awareness of their battle for a world class sk8park. The first obstacle on the path to construction turned out to be the L.A Kings Hockey organization of all people. It turned out that the L.A Kings had a back door deal to exchange advertising for venture capitol. Imagine, a City Counsel member's Sr Deputy assistant had plans for an ice hockey and ice skating rink where there was once the very alpha centre of sk8boarding culture. Well, the VSA opposed the Kings/City Counsel deal. A showdown came to head in San Diego at a California Coastal Commission(CCC) hearing in April of 2000. Fortune smiled upon the sk8boarders as the CCC deemed the Kings plans not within the parameters of the CCC requirments. Amazingly the City Council switched sides and supported the construction of a sk8park. This small victory was only the beginning of an incredible series of negotiations, campaining and lobbying that eventually led to the 2009 construction of the only sk8park in America on the sand. The VSA has direct involvement in every stage of the process on the road to completion of the sk8park including the design and construction. Through the years the VSA has supplemented it's cost of doing business by providing skateboard and surfing clinics, demos, contests. In addition the VSA is providing mentoring and jobs to adult and youth participants. The VSA has been supported from a core of loyal sponsors that have continued to invest in the future of skateboarding.. However now that the sk8park is nearly done companies such as Redbull and Quiksilver that refused to support VSA efforts, have been throwing $$$ at the L.A City Rec and Parks to get the naming rights to the sk8park. Hey! Attention! Check this out, the sk8park will be named after a fellow Venice Sk8boarder, the legendary Dennis "Polar Bear" Agnew (RIP). The VSA will accept nothing less.
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