Abbie Burns, an English woman residing in Lanzarote, won the first Lanzarote Rookie Fest last weekend. The renowned international series of action sports events for young people and children World Rookie Tour arrives for the first time in Spain, celebrating the start of the skateboard season at the Extrem Center indoor skatepark in Lanzarote.
"We are very excited to host an international championship in our center and to be able to contribute to young skaters from the Canary Islands and Lanzarote having the opportunity to learn and compete with other talents from different countries," says the co-responsible of the installation, Diego Gonzalo Rosende. After some qualifying rounds that gave children of all levels the opportunity to participate in an international competition, the best advanced to the grand final, with 4 girls and 8 boys fighting for the grand prize: an invitation to participate in the grand final of the tour at the famous Mystic Skatepark in Prague next October.
The women's final saw the local English girl from Lanzarote, Abbie Burns, take the victory with a very solid round that consisted of a frontside smith on the flat rail, a backside boardslide and a frontboard on the big rail, a kickflip down the euro gap, a backside 5050, a nosegrind, a kickflip over the pyramid and a kickflip frontside boardslide on the flat rail to finish.
Noa González, one of the two Spaniards in the final and one of the favorites for the podium, fought for a general medal, but in the end an ankle sprain made it very difficult. Finally, the Slovenian Lina Sevčnikar achieved second place and the Canary Islander Paula Jorge Simón surprised everyone by leaving her comfort zone, the ramp, and achieved a very complete round in the street skatepark that guaranteed her third position.
In the case of the boys, the dedicated public was able to enjoy a skateboarding show of great quality. "I think this is the event in which the average age of the competitors has been lower, and despite being so young, the level these skaters have is spectacular," says Meinhard Trojer, representative of the World Rookie Tour.
The victory went to the Belgian Beau Brunclair, but he was closely followed by the Galician Luis Cabarcos, who came with batteries charged after a victory in France the previous week, achieving a brilliant second place. The podium was completed by the also Belgian Noah De Jaeger who with his energy not only achieved third place, but also got the public out of their seats.
The winning round of Bruinclair consisted of a gap backside noseblunt slide, a backside 180 nosegrinfd revert, a 3flip and a kickflip over the pyramid, a bigspin frontside boardslide, a frontside lipslide, a backside 270 lipslide on the rail, a frontside 5-0, and finally a bigspin kickflip frontside boardslide on the main rail.
With this championship, the Extreme Center and Lanzarote manage to position themselves on the map of European skateboarding and hope to host more championships, events and continue promoting the skateboarding culture among children and young people.
This event is possible thanks to the collaboration of the Cabildo de Lanzarote and its Service for the Protection of Children, Adolescents and Youth, the Government of the Canary Islands and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Equality, Youth, Childhood and Families and also the support of Lanzarote Retreats, Bananity and Chacon.
About the Extreme Center Lanzarote
The Extreme Center is the first indoor skatepark in Lanzarote, which is currently in the process of expansion and total reconstruction by its owner and skatepark builder Diego Rosende (Buenos Aires, 1980). Diego started skating at the age of 12 and with his radical and very technical style at the same time, he was considered one of the influential skaters in the local scene and later debuted on the international scene sharing rounds with skateboarding legends such as Bob Burnquist, Steve Caballero, Eric Koston and Mike Valley among many others.
His creation, the Extreme Center of Lanzarote offers a street skatepark area, a bowl and a mini ramp, all built in wood. In addition, the center has a popular skate school for children and adults, a cafeteria and a store.
The World Rookie Tour is the most famous, largest and oldest international series of youth action sports events, with more than 3,000 participants in snowboard, freeski, skate and surf.
It consists of a selection of high-quality international events. It is not only about competitions, but also includes many other activities to help young people grow in the field of professional sports, such as workshops, photo and video sessions, meetings with photographers and international meetings.
