In a year full of big stages, Gilroy native Joey Flores now
finds himself gearing up for the biggest of them all.
In a year full of big stages, Gilroy native Joey Flores now finds himself gearing up for the biggest of them all.
Flores, one of the state’s rising skateboarding stars, will enter the 2004 California State Championships as the No. 1 seed from NorCal for the Dec. 10-11 event.
He earned that distinction by recently winning a year-long competition in the 3A 13-and-over division of the California Amateur Skateboarding League.
“I’m really pumped about it,” the 16-year-old said of the upcoming competition. “There is a lot of pressure, though.”
But pressure is nothing new to Flores, who currently attends San Benito High but grew up in Gilroy and is a frequenter of Las Animas Park.
Back in the summer, he not only finished third at a prestigious Junior Olympic event in San Diego, but also won a competition in Milpitas with a Mountain Dew sponsorship on the line.
Then came the trip to Yuba City, where the CASL title was on the line Nov. 21. Heading into the last of a series of 12 tournaments a host of NorCal skaters competed in throughout the year, Flores held a narrow first-place lead in a points-based system.
“I knew I had to be all confident or I would’ve come in second,” Flores said. “That means I would’ve been first loser. I mean, who likes that?”
So he left nothing to chance, taking first in the season finale to give him a 2,570-2,514 point advantage over runner-up Ryan Wood in the final standings.
Not only that, but he also landed a backside heel flip and won first in the “Best Trick” competition, which qualifies him to compete in a separate tricks contest at the state championships.
That state final, which pits the top nine skaters from both northern and southern California, will take place at Woodward Skate Park in Tehachapi, just south of the skateboarding haven of Bakersfield.
According to Flores, everything is bigger in SoCal, including longer grinds and slides and larger ledges, stairs and hand rails.
He said the expanded dimensions fit his style, though, and cited an October competition in Tehachapi in which he won both the tricks and overall title.
“I’m sure they’ll be a lot of talking involved on both sides,” Flores said, “but I think I’ve got a pretty good shot of doing well. Usually at state somebody from NorCal wins the overall trophy and somebody from SoCal wins the tricks contest.
“To be honest, I want to win both.”
