SKATEBOARDING IN CANADA OWES MUCH OF IT'S EARLY ROOTS TO THE ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS OF MONTY LITTLE AND THE CANADIAN PRO-AM SKATEBOARD ASSOCIATION. THE FOLLOWING G IS A RECOUNT OF SKATEBOARDING'S EARLY DAYS IN CANADA, AS PENNED BY MONTY AFTER RECEIVING A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT KEVIN HARRIS' SKATEBOARD REUNION IN 2002.

I can still remember my first Skateboard, I made it from some old steal roller skate wheels when I was 16 back in 1963. I also remember getting high speed wobbles on that board at 35 mph and wiping out on 1050 North in Bountiful, Utah (I think the blood and skid marks are still there). Shortly after that I saw a short film called "Skate-Her Date-Her" in which the skateboarder's all had Clay Wheels on their boards and did these incredible tricks. . . I was hooked, and still am.

Although I didn't have the money to buy a pair of those wheels I tried to emulate the tricks that I saw in that film. Two years later, and now living in Canada, myself and two other guys went in together and bought a set of Chicago Trucks with Clay Wheels (as I recall it cost us $12.50 plus shipping). Every day after school we would meet in the British Properties and take turns on that board. Later that summer I ran into Bob Hope at the Capilano Golf Course and asked him if I could have his autograph. I had a pen but no paper for him to write on. Bob seeing the problem said "how about I sign your skateboard" after signing it he said "let's see what you can do". Wow skating for Bob Hope and the crowd that gathered around him, say this performing for an audience was fun and could become addictive.

My next skateboard came along in 1974 and had Cadillac Urethane Wheels. . . the skateboard was now truly THE MAGIC ROLLING BOARD. It would be almost a year later until the rest of Canada even knew what a skateboard was or embraced Frank Nasworthy's magic wheels. Christmas morning of 1975 found a Cal-240 Skateboard under most Canadian Christmas trees and a revolution was born. With it came lot's of hype and photo's in the newspapers, but all too often the articles were about how dangerous skateboarding was. Those of you who have ever stood on a Cal-240 would no doubt agree.

It was in the early spring of 1976 that I received a phone call from the North Shore YMCA to set up and run Training and Safety Clinics for Skateboarding. To this day I don't know how they knew I skateboarded, there were so few of us skating at the time. My friend Paul Zalesky and I along with YMCA director Peter Marshal, and later joined by Bruce Mathie, ran the first of many clinics at the Safeway Parking lot in West Van. I met many of you at those YMCA sponsored clinics both in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

That summer was packed with great times from Slalom Racing on Chartwell Drive to the G&S Team demos at Diary Queens. Skateboard shops and Demo Teams started popping up, among them was Harry Greenberg's ROLLS ROYCE TEAM with Boris Delmar, Chuck Romalus, Steve Caldwell, Todd Carter and 8 year old Markie-G. As summers end approached, it became obvious that the caliber of skating had greatly increased as had skateboarding's popularity. . . we needed to hold a contest.

September, 11 1976 started out to be just another quiet morning in Stanley Park, suddenly the silence was broken by the shrill sound of a whistle starting the Cross Country Race as the 1st Annual B.C. Skateboard Championships got underway. This was so much more than just Canada's first skateboard contest, it was the start of so many great friendships and an obsession for skateboarding that we all still share today. That same dedication of friends and volunteers working together is what has made running these contests over the years such fun.

What took place in the next two weeks following that contest changed my life for the better and I think Skateboarding as well. The day after the contest, I was fired from Grouse Mountain, could have had something to do with skateboarding on the paved banked asphalt under the Sky Ride. I went home and told my wife Joy "pack up the kid's we are going to Disneyland." We left that very day and were in Carlsbad, California for the 2nd Annual Hang Ten Pro Skateboard Championships a week later. Can you imagine how exciting it was to see all those skaters that I had only read about and seen photos of in SkateBoarder Magazine. I also attended a one day seminar on How to Build a Skate Park, which would later come in handy. Fortunately for me I returned home to find a job offer in the mail that paid twice what I had been making. Seems the President of Kelly Douglas & Company, Mr. Ray Addington, had been at the Stanley Park Contest watching his son's compete and was very impressed with what he saw. He wanted other kids throughout B.C. to learn how to skateboard safely, and would I consider coming to work for him to achieve that goal. Well as you all know I said YES to Ray.

Over the next three summers, 1977 - 1979, we (meaning myself and many of you) took the SuperValu Portable Contest/Slalom Trailer on the road putting on well over 150 contests. Through Ray's contacts we gained sponsorship in other Provinces and took our Contest Tour half way across Canada and back again. We not only put on thousands upon thousands of miles each year on those tours, we also saw hundreds of thousands of smiles on the faces of contestants and spectators alike as we rolled into town. Our four-man contest team worked hard 24-7 for two and half months each summer never complaining when it came time to set up THE RAMP, well almost never. Rob Leshgold, Bud Watt, Ted Hartley and Bruce Mathie became my Co-Pilot's on those long tours, with young hot skaters like Paul and Simon Addington, Todd Watson, Niko Weis, Al Harrison, Colin Loganhume and others helping to make up the rest of our contest crew.

If running 37 contests in B.C. alone sounds like a very busy schedule, it was. One summer I was only home 7 days in two months. Lucky for me and skateboarding, Joy was very understanding and wanted me to succeed. She would blow me a kiss, matter of speaking, as the crew and I passed through town on our way to another contest.

One of the big highlights of being a part of the crew was spending time with the Skateboard Pro's that joined us on the tour. Names we had only heard of like Russ Howell, Bob Mohr, Steve Cathey, Tom Inouye, and Ellen O'Neal became our good friends and mentors. This also became handy each year when Joy and I took the National Skateboard Champions to California. Steve always arranged a tour of the G&S factory and warehouse. I can still remember Derek Crane and Ken Dales eyes popping out when they saw all those racks of skateboards, wheels, trucks, t-shirts etc. at G&S. Russ was also on hand to take the gang to the Concrete Wave or the Run-Way Skateboard Park. Ellen O'Neal would drop by to skate with the boys and make the female winners feel at home. Great times with good friends.

Some of the other highlights of those early years of skateboarding were organizing and running the Canadian Pro-Am Skateboard Association with Bruce. Lobbying for Canada's first Skate Park in West Van and helping to design four others. Being asked by EXPO 86' to put together a World Skateboard Championship, (now that took a few thousand man hours to pull off, and was definitely not a one man job). Watching GRONK and the RIPPING SQUAD (Kevin, Mike, Rob, Paul, Simon, Niko,Dave, Al, and the Lien brothers Richard and Mike) put on a demo. Five skaters on that small Ripper Half-Pipe all at once, now that is precision and dedication at it's highest level. Or the kind of talent and endurance we saw the day Kevin Harris shattered the old World Record for two-boarded 360's at the Canadian Nationals. I also fondly remember working with volunteers over the years who gave of their time so freely, like Don Harris, Graham X-Peat, Wayne Nakatani, and the parents of skaters who always offered to help.

We had some great times didn't we, and laugh, did we have fun or what. I remember laughing so hard one day at Photographer Jim Goodrich I couldn't catch my breath. He and I ran into Arnold Schwarzenegger and four or five of his rather large body building buddies. Jim didn't know who he was or that in Arnie's's 2nd movie called "The Villain" he played a guy called Handsome Stranger. When I went up to him and said "Hi Handsome Stranger" Jim's face went white. After Arnie and his entourage left laughing, Jim caught his breath and said "That was the gayest line I have ever heard, we could have been beaten to a pulp".

Great memories. . . from the fluid slalom racing of Claude Regnier, Mark Fogell, Mike Blake and Sophie Bourgeois on the streets of my neighbourhood, to the surf-like skating of Don Hartley (THE MAD CARVER) at Seylynn Skate Park. From watching the smile on a young 8 year olds face as he completed his first tick- tack, to the aggressive skating style of PD, Cory, Carlos, TA and the rest of the East Van Crew. All great memories. . . memories shared with friends made over the last 30 plus years. Memories of having fun working and skating together, sharing our passion for the sport of Skateboarding with others.

Thank You for those memories and the recognition you have shown me with this Special Award. Thank You for your hard work over the years, helping to pull off yet another great event, and Thank You, for being good friends.

Your Friend, Monty

(But you can call me Monty Zooma if you want)