Average Joe to Skate Pro in no time at the Free Flow Tour. © Krushskatepark.com

Free Flow Tour: Skate

The division between pro and amateur skateboarders is different than any other sport in the world. I suppose this has something to do with the "pay your dues" mentality of skating, but think of how many skateboarders are both amazing and famous, but still skating on the "Am Team" for their sponsors. 
 
Because of this, there are many instances when the lines are blurred. Ams will,, from time to time, put together video parts equally as large and respectable as their pro counterparts, they will do tricks & win competitions with runs that most pros would be damn happy with, same with magazine photo spreads & interviews. 
 
It is this exact divide that makes the Free Flow Tour so great. I’ve never heard of any of these kids. This, we can all agree on, is honestly & truly an AM CONTEST – and even better, the Dew Tour is pushing them like they’re already rock stars. But that’s not to say that the level of skating isn’t high. I don’t need to get into it, but it is. All the tech flip-trickery combos & back lips, etc. It’s all there. 
 
I would imagine that as a young, up & coming skateboarder it is slightly discouraging to see people like Lindsay Robertson on the DC Am Team when you yourself want to be on the DC Am Team. How the hell are you supposed to keep up with Lindsay Robertson? Between this and the serious lack of real Am contests (one where no one skating has a pro model deck/signature shoe) it is a breath of fresh air to have the Free Flow Tour pass through your town. This is one that everybody can skate. 
 
And it probably did roll through your town, or will most likely – between it’s 18 stops, from Brooklyn to Encinitas, Orlando to Oregon & most places in between, if it does’t stop somewhere near you then you’re probably not reading this anyway because you probably live in the middle of nowhere with no phone, internet, heat, or running water, and in a place like that there are probably no paved surfaces anyway, so you probably don’t even skateboard and would have no interest in going to something like this anyway. So don’t sweat it. As for the rest of us, we’re covered. With 18 stops you could probably skate to at least five of them…the country’s not that big. 
 
Peoria, AZ (see I told you this thing goes everywhere) just went off with 11 year old Tyson Bowerbank taking first place. So now we’re more than halfway through the tour and building up to the last two blowout stops: Portland, OR (8.17.06) and Orlando, FL (10.12.06), which are the Free Flow Tour Finals and the PlayStation Pro, respectively. If you can catch any of the stops still left on the tour, catch them, otherwise just wait a year or so and then buy any issue of any major skate mag and open up the front cover. One of these kids will be staring back at you. 

- Cody Allen