Make It Count Competition at Greenside Skatepark

It's been a long, frustrating, no-internet-access morning...but finally we're back in business!

Sk8terdude was the first person at Greenside this morning, and for about 20 minutes he was the only person in the park.  Slowly but surely the other skaters started to arrive along with a small but dedicated group of parents.

Some, like me, traveled across state lines:  three from Vermont, one from Maine, a handful from Connecticut.  The general consensus is that we may get less press than the soccer moms, but we're no less dedicated!  (And, by the way, there are an awful lot of dads in the room.)  We're a grumbling group.  And although no one is listening, I'm posting our official list of demands in the hopes that future skate competition organizers might take note.

Skateparks and skate competitions seem to be run primarily by a bunch of young guys who don't have kids.  That's great.  But maybe they could take a few pointers from us parents in terms of organization and communication.

Early promotions for this event said admission to the competition was a can of food (presumably for a local foodbank).  But on arrival yesterday, we were told that they would take the food as a courtesy but there would be a fee to enter the event.  That's fine for us.  But what about the kid who gets dropped off in the parking lot and isn't prepared to pay?

The Element pros headlined to appear changed at least three times that I know of.  Again, maybe not a big deal for most people, but what if you traveled here specifically to meet your skating "idol," only to find he is a no-show?

Let's talk registration, too...  The pre-event advertising talked about pre-registration on Friday night, with giveaways, at the local Chipotle Grill.  Only it turns out the "local" Chipotle is an hour away from here...so they didn't run the pre-registration last night.  And this morning, instead of registering skaters as they arrived, the organizers decided to wait until noon to open registration.  I'm not sure why it is preferable to have a big line of people trying to register all at the same time instead of getting as many pre-registered beforehand as possible, but so it goes.

That said, the park has filled up nicely.  The older skaters look like a solid bunch and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do.  And Sk8terdude is really excited, a little nervous, and completely out of his league, even if he doesn't know it!