Zaturdays: The Pros of Tomorrow

If you tried to make a drawing representing the path one should take if they’re trying to turn pro in skateboarding, you might as well just scribble all over the page. There are almost an infinite number of ways to come up, but NONE of them have ever been a reliably direct route that anyone could follow and guarantee they’d come out on the other side a professional. Here’s a small sampling of some of the more common ways to turn pro: -Send in a video to your favorite company--get sponsored--turn pro. (While the most typical and straightforward, this one almost never pans out.) -Start your own company--turn yourself pro. (Perfect if you don’t mind blowing money to pump up your ego.) -Get in good with the best skaters--ride their coattails to the big time--turn pro. (Only works if you’re likable and don’t come across as an overeager social climber.) -Get in good with a prominent photographer--get your pictures run in the mags--turn pro. (Hopefully you’re photogenic!) -Get in good with the right dudes at the right companies--they promote you--turn pro. (It takes a genuine uber-bro to pull this one off.) -Put out the world’s greatest video parts online--get hooked up--turn pro. (You ready to work?) -Perfect your style—move to New York--film a part for Static XVI with Josh Stewart--turn pro. (Hopefully you have a long timeline, and remember, style is subjective, so if Josh thinks your style is wack, then your style is wack and you’re out the door.) -Etc. The first question that comes to mind though is what does being pro even mean? Pros like Shane Heyl prove that being pro in skateboarding is unlike being pro in any other sport, activity, endeavor, or whatever. Should he be pro? Well, if Baker is willing to put out a Shane Heyl board, and people are willing to buy it, then he’s pro, and what more justification do you need? But what if the board doesn’t sell? Even then, are you going to argue with the Boss? I’m not. Heyl yeah Shane is pro! Ironically to people that do not skateboard, one of the rarest paths to turning pro is by coming up through winning competitions, then turning pro. True Felipe Gustavo used Tampa Am as a launching pad to sponsorship, coverage, and the eventual pro board on Plan B. But Tampa Am was a more like a first step rather than the entire path. And that’s where the Damn Am / Tampa Am / Street League joint venture comes in to play. Not to hype up our program too much, because the old ways of turning pro are all part of the reason why skateboarding rules, but with what we’re doing with Street League, it’s now possible for the first time ever to draw a line directly from being a kid on the local shop team, to turning pro, and that makes following the whole series that much more awesome. Which brings me to the Pros of Tomorrow, or at least some of them. With both the Damn Am of the Year, and the winner of Tampa Am getting tickets to skate next year’s Pro Open, will the Damn Am of the Year make it through the Pro Open and into SLS proper? It’s possible. So, if you don’t have a filmer to help with your sponsor-me, or you can’t come up with the bread to start your own brand, or the dude at Company X who you sent your footage to thinks your style is wack, maybe it’s time to think about skating a Damn Am. It ain’t going to be easy, but if you win two Damn Ams and then get top Two in the Pro Open, you’re pretty much guaranteed to be one of the first Pros of Tomorrow. Good luck! And let us know how it turns out. -Paul Zitzer