Extreme Youth Skate Event Builds Momentum With Community

It was an interweaving rush of bicycles and skateboards, with riders smoothly dodging each other while performing tricks on the ramps at the Gilroy Skate Park.

But when the horn sounded at Gilroy’s third-annual Extreme Youth event on Saturday, the speeding mass cleared, leaving all eyes on the one rider remaining to face the park alone.

“He’s 5 years old … his favorite trick is ‘fat wheelies!’” said the announcers.

A nonstop roster of skateboarders and BMX riders rode in this year’s Extreme Youth event, an annual expo that drew more than 1,500 people to Las Animas Veterans Park, said event organizer Steven Hayes.

“We’re trying to shed a positive light on these kids,” said Hayes, who started the event three years ago with long-time friend, Mark Tarasco.

Participants were separated by age, with some as young as 3 years old. Each was given the chance to show off his or her skills in front of judges and peers.

Tarasco, a Gilroy police officer, and Hayes, a Gilroy firefighter, both grew up lobbying their city councils for places to skate. , the men said that Extreme Youth was designed to highlight the positive community aspects of a sport that is often marginalized or vilified.

“It’s the once-a-year Little League day for skateboarders and BMXers,” said Tarasco. "It’s the one day of the year where they get to show what they can do."

Live music complemented the skate competition, along with booths and demonstrations from police, fire and other community groups. CALSTAR 2, the busiest of the 10 helicopter ambulances the company operates in California, landed at the park and gave visitors a chance to explore the machine.

The California Highway Patrol, which had a booth at the event, had an exhibit that showed the disastrous result of not wearing a seat belt during a vehicle rollover. Gilroy CHP spokesman Jaime Rios operated the machine, giving presentations throughout the day.

“Look at all the kids that are here,” said Rios. "This is the target audience we want to reach. It’s better to be proactive than reactive.”

Nearby, Gilroy police Cpl. Brian Dutton was showing off the BearCat armored police vehicle and the equipment used by the joint Gilroy/Morgan Hill SWAT team.

“I think it’s great that Mark and Steve have created this event, and that police and fire can get together with the community,” he said.

While the past two years were popular, Hayes said the growth of community support helped to define the third edition of the event.

“This was like the community involvement year,” said Hayes, “We’ve never been thanked before by parents. Now we had parents coming up to us and saying, ‘My kid looks forward to this all year.’”

“I think this is really cool,” said Desiree Vaca, watching her 3-year-old son Joseph ride his skateboard in the park.

Steven Fernandez, a 14-year-old participant, said he was at Extreme Youth for the second year.

“It’s pretty chill out here,” he said.

“It gives people a chance to get their name out there,” said BMX rider Connor Riland, 15.

Prizes, many of them donated or sold at cost to Extreme Youth, were given to the winners of the different competitions. Gilroy’s Sunshine Bicycles and Santa Cruz’s Boardroom provided everything from complete boards to bike parts, with other prizes including video games and apparel.

But it wasn’t just the winners who walked away with a prize; there were awards for the “best fall” and “best trick,” and the handful of participants who broke their skateboards walked away with a new deck, Hayes said.

Many of the participants stayed behind to help clean up after the event—and they, too, walked away with a prize.

“These kids—they cleaned up the park," said Hayes. "I think it’s good for the community to see that. Almost all these kids walked away with something.”

After noticing the unusually large group riding Razor scooters during the “free skate” sessions, Hayes said they added an impromptu scooter division.

Hayes, whose involvement in Extreme Youth influenced his nomination as the department’s “firefighter of the year,” said he’s already started to think about the event in 2012. Yet he and Tarasco have other goals in mind, too, including an indoor skate park in Gilroy. 

“Ultimately, our goal is to have a city-sponsored program,” he said, “A place they can go at night … because, if it’s dark out, you’re a hooligan.”

"Getting positive attention from a firefighter and a police officer—and seeing that these two guys understand—you can see how much it matters to the kids," said Nahal Dadrass, Hayes' fiancée.

To support the work of Tarasco and Hayes on behalf of young people in Gilroy, you can make checks out to Extreme Youth and drop off the check or mail it to Extreme Youth, 7070 Chestnut St., Gilroy 95020.

Looking for photos of yourself or your kid? Check out Rick Rasmussen's photo gallery of the event.