Street League to include Women’s Division
Street League will be including a Women’s division for the first time ever in Chicago on October 14th. First place prize is $30,000, which beats the mens X-Games purse. Competing in this first group a Lacey Baker Samaria Brevard, Leticia Bufoni, Marisa Dal Santo, Pamela Rose, Alexis Sablone, Alana Smith, and Vanessa Torres. The event will be streamed live online at StreetLeague.com with a condensed version airing on the 18th on FS1 as well as streaming FOXSportsGO. The regular inclusion of a women’s division in Street League should do well to promote both women’s professional and amateur skateboarding. Congratulations ladies!
Press release follows:
LOS ANGELES, CA (September 15, 2015) — Street League Skateboarding (SLS) today announced that the coming SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship – the official street skateboarding world championship as recognized by the International Skateboarding Federation (ISF) – will include a women’s division allowing the world’s best female street skateboarders to compete for the title of SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Champion. This historic announcement not only opens the competitive aspect of the sport up to all the world’s best street skateboarders, but further solidifies the competition framework for skateboarding. With the fast paced growth of skateboarding, an accurately defined and credible pathway for both male and female competitive skateboarders around the world to achieve World Championship status is imperative.
“SLS has been developing a road map for competitive skateboarding that brings the best of the best under one roof,” explains SLS President and COO, Brian Atlas. “Adding a Women’s Division to SLS is the natural next step for League progression and another way SLS is working to grow skateboarding globally. The Women competing in SLS will be on the most elite stage in skateboarding, skating for the chance to be crowned World Champion. It is an important first in skateboarding history that we look forward to further developing.”
Since its inception in 2010, SLS has taken street skateboarding from a disparate collection of independent events to a global competitive platform built on a premium qualification system of amateur-to-professional progression. The development of this Road to Super Crown structure has been greatly strengthened under a unique partnership with the ISF, reinforced by a long-term partnership with Skatepark of Tampa to incorporate the Tampa Pro, Tampa Am and Damn Am Select Series into the SLS framework as talent feeder events. Preceding the official season of arena events, the SLS Nike SB Pro Open takes place for the best international hopefuls to earn their way into the Tour alongside veteran SLS Pros. From its inception as an invitation-only event series for the most elite street skateboarders, SLS introduced their concept to evolve the sport and grow the SLS Nike SB World Tour into a year-round qualification program reaching all of the very best in street skateboarding. SLS’s unique and proprietary ISXTM instant scoring system translates the language of skateboarding to its ever-growing global fan base by considering not just the trick complexity, but the essential skateboarding characteristics of the athlete’s personal style and technique.
For the first time in history, women will have the opportunity to compete in the true street skateboarding contest that defines the only World Champion as recognized by the ISF. Curated in conjunction with the Women’s Skateboarding Alliance (WSA), the women’s division at the SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship in Chicago, IL on October 4th will bring together the world’s most accomplished female skateboarders to battle it out for the title of World Champion and for the highest first place prize purse in women’s skateboarding.
“SLS has grown so quickly in the last six years,” says 2013 SLS Super Crown World Champion, Chris Cole. “Having the opportunity for all elite skateboarders from anywhere in the world, male and female, to compete in SLS is a natural next step for SLS knowing the progression and forward thinking of the League. This will only help accelerate the growth of skateboarding, exposing it to more people.” SLS is the only skater-owned elite contest in the world and is built on a vision to bring the best in skateboarding to its core audience while also making the contest entertaining and understandable for the casual fan. With the inclusion of a dedicated female event, the SLS Nike SB World Tour has unquestionably elevated itself to the most comprehensive skateboarding competition series that the sport has ever seen.
“For competitive street skateboarding, we believe there is no better place to start than SLS,” informs Gary Ream of the ISF. “Not only do they have the support of the top skateboarders, but they have also revolutionized the competition format in a way that is perfect for skateboarding on this global stage – specifically a clear path for a young skateboarder, male and female, to compete their way all the way to Champion.”
The Top Eight male Pros for this year’s SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship have been determined through their outstanding performances throughout the League season, which included gaining Championship Points from a set of two ISF-sanctioned qualifier events and two SLS Nike SB World Tour contests. Reigning Champ, Nyjah Huston is set to defend his title in what will certainly be an explosive Championship taking place at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, IL.
Selected for their professional performance throughout the past year and contributions to street skateboarding as a whole, the female roster competing for the first-ever female title of SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Champion and a $30,000 first-place cash prize purse with one-of-a-kind Nixon watch will consist of Leticia Bufoni, Lacey Baker, Pamela Rosa, Samarria Brevard, Alexis Sablone, Vanessa Torres, Marisa Dal Santo, and Alana Smith. The Women’s contest will be webcast live around the world on StreetLeague.com on October 4th starting at 2:45pm ET. In partnership with FS1, the Women’s contest will also have it’s own dedicated one-hour premiere special telecast on FS1 and FOX Sports GO on October 18th in the USA. The first contest including Women in SLS is shaping up to be a truly historic moment in skateboarding fans won’t want to miss.
Fans in the United States can watch the 2015 SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship on FS1 and customers of participating cable and satellite TV providers may access the live stream of the Tour stops through the FOX Sports GO app for iOS, Android, Windows and Kindle devices, as well as on desktops through FOXSportsGO.com. International fans can catch entire the official live webcast exclusively on StreetLeague.com.
SLS NIKE SB WORLD TOUR DATES AND VENUES:
October 4 2015 SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship | UIC Pavilion | Chicago, IL
FS1 TELECAST SCHEDULE:
2015 SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship: LIVE: Sunday, October 4 (5 PM ET – 7 PM ET) 2015 SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship: Women’s Division Premiere: Sunday, October 11 (4 PM ET – 5 PM ET)
For more information visit StreetLeague.com. For all media inquiries contact Sarah Bronilla at VOCAL: Sarah@VOCALnyc.com or John Stouffer at FOX Sports: John.Stouffer@FOX.com.
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