Words: Peridot Communications
Cape Town can prepare itself for a three-day takedown when the Kimberley Diamond Cup presented by Kumba Iron Ore hits Canal Walk from 29 – 31 August. The KDC Grand Slam powered by 5fm will offer three days of non-stop skateboarding action in the Mother City with R50 000 worth of prizes as well as an all-expenses paid trip to compete in the Kimberley Diamond Cup world skateboarding championships up for grabs.
First-time skaters will be able to hit the decks at the Central Promotions Court next to the food courts on Friday, 29 August, as part of the Skateboarding for Hope community outreach initiative. This programme is a collaboration between the Northern Cape Provincial Government and Kumba Iron Ore as part of their commitment to youth development. This programme has benefited thousands of South African youth as the road show travels throughout the country to promote skateboarding as a healthy and affordable leisure activity.
Beneficiaries from the Canal Walk Foundation will be able to learn more about the sport of skateboarding and copy some moves during the free skate lessons between 13h00 and 18h00. Open skate sessions will run from 10h00 – 13h00 and from 18h00 – 21h00.
On Saturday, top skateboarders such as Wesley Schroeder, Jean-marc Johannes, Khule Ngubane, Shuaib Philander and Alan Marola are expected to take part in the KDC Grand Slam preliminary rounds, where they will battle it out for a place in Sunday’s finals and a chance to compete against some of the top skaters in the world in Kimberley in the Northern Cape in October. Warm-up sessions start at 10h00 with the qualifiers taking place between 12h00 and 17h00 and 5fm DJ Warras providing the vibes.
On Sunday, 31 August, it will be full-on action with 5fm DJ Steph B on the decks to provide the vibes, while the skateboarders pull out all the stops to score the final wild card entry to the Kimberley Diamond Cup world skateboarding championships, presented by Kumba Iron Ore.
28-year-old Alan Marola from Durbanville is amped for the Cape Town event. The skating bug bit him over fifteen years ago when a buddy first introduced him to skateboarding and since then he has been perfecting his skills on the streets of the Northern Suburb town and its local skate park. Marola owns his own decor business Pure Creations and creates functional art such as wall-mounted lights when he’s not on his board.
Looking forward to the Canal Walk event, Marola is confident that this will be the biggest Grand Slam event of the year. “Cape Town is definitely where it is happening at the moment and the local skate scene is unquestionably bigger than Johannesburg or Durban at the moment with a lot of events and skaters even moving down to the Cape to be part of the action. KDC has had a huge impact moneywise as the cash prizes are definitely a huge motivation for most skaters. You could actually foresee making a living out of skateboarding, which is a huge encouragement. I’ll absolutely have a special trick up my sleeve to impress the judges for the wild card,” mentions Marola.
For more information, visit www.kimberleydiamondcup.com or follow KDC on Facebook at KimberleyDiamondCup or Twitter @KDiamondCup.
