After a stressful week thinking about the huge storm that was supposed to hit Friday night and Saturday morning we decided to roll the dice and push the Rider Cup Queens Qualifier start time back to 3pm on Saturday (8/2) cross our fingers and hope it would be dry.
Words by Steve Rodriguez
Photos & Captions by Sticks & Stones Productions
Video Recap:
Photo Recap:
This is what I was seeing on my phone when I woke up at 9am to a steady downpour
By noon things had changed a bit and the rain had stopped but it was still pretty wet out.
One look at the radar and I knew the storm had passed!
I headed to the park to set up and I was pleasantly surprised to find a dry park with minimal puddles which Head Judge – Dan Pensyl & Event Producer – Amy Gunther were taking care of
By 2:30 the 8 teams we had pre-register were all in the house and it was the usual chaos getting the waivers signed checking ID’s and picking sections
Some Long Islanders were trying to get in the mix but they’d have to wait until next year
We combined teams with eligible New York City residents and culled it down to 6 teams:
Outliers, Land Bolts, Belief, Money Team, Wave Sauce & Team Chadie
Explaining the sections and how it all works- Sections would be the up-bar, Ledge/manny section, titty/mound and out ledge
First round on the up-bar; these teams had this park wired. Nothing but love for each of the teams!
Queens not only has talent but a tight scene
Ledge/manny section first round
Titty/Mound section first round; crushing right out the gate getting props from the crowd!
Next to the out-ledge section:
Next round on the up-bar
Next round on ledge/manny section
Mike in honor of Gershon Mosley on the titty
Steve Lora with the front blunt
Fadles with the nosegrind
Getting the teams together to see who would advance to the semi finals and it was:
Belief, Team Chadie, The Outliers and Team Wave Sauce
Alejandro Batista with the hurricane
Can’t tell from this angle but this wallie grab was huge
Still crushing and still major crowd approval!
The King of Queens Rodney Torres and OG NYC legend Steven Cales showed up to support
Karim absolutely killed the out ledge, probably the best head to head of the day with Humza and highest scores of the day. here with the kickflip front crook, backside 180 fakie nosegrind and front smith f/s flip out
Smith 180 out
Judges Rob Campbell, Dan Pensyl and Joe Tookmanian figuring out who would go to the finals
And it’s Team Wave Sauce and Team Belief to the finals!
I can’t tell you how intense the final rounds were.
We had some of the highest scores and consistent skating yet.
Some shots from the sections
Another epic head to head battle from Humza and Karim; they had Queens hyped!
I think everyone knew who won but some of the crew gathered for the official announcement
And it’s official… Team Belief goes home with the $2000 and a top spot in the Rider Cup NYC finals on August 16th! Team Wave sauce and Team Outliers advance to the finals as well for a chance at the $10,000 CASH and an all expense paid trip to South Africa.
Congrats to Team Belief pictured here with Belief owners Phil and Raffie. Thanks to everyone that came out and skated and supported. Big thanks to the Rider cup and Volcom for making it happen. See you next week in Staten Island for the final qualifier and then on August 16th for the finals at LES!
