KC Community Kick off

• Posted on 5 April 2022
• By Joe B
• 0

When it goes down. What it is? Where it goes down at? How is the game played?

The KC Community Kick Off takes place April 16th & 17th.

In 2014 we came up with a contest called King Of Kessler.  It was designed to show off the multitude of styles possible in Kessler park, and to find the rider who was the over all best of the day.  There where three segments.  Push, Downhill, and Freeride.  The winner wasn't just a good down hill skater, they also had to hold their own in the push, and then in freeride.  We came up with a scoring system to balance it, and Bam! King of Kessler.  

As time went on and the community changed our ability to safely hold a race was severely compromised.  Our access and ability to get hay bails to the hill, insurance, and finding an insurance company that allowed us to hold the contest our style just stopped working out.  So for years we had to take it back down a few notches.  

So we held a Community style event aimed at getting as many people out as possible.  Then the pandemic hit, and gatherings became a huge no no.  We still held onto that King of Kessler idea thought and have been waiting and planning for when we could launch the next generation of Burning Spider Events.  We want to show off longboarding in as many styles as we could safely execute.  So now that the pandemic has given way to some type of normalcy, or at least the social ability to get people together, we figure it's time to launch the KC Community Kick Off.  A multi discipline, multi location, multi fun contest to find the over all best all around skater of many styles.

The KC Community Kick Off consists of 4 segments, 4 styles, 3 locations, and two days of riding.  Push/LDP, Freeride, Downhill, and Dance/Freestyle.

KC Community Kick Off could only start where we started, Kessler Park. 12pm where we do our Stoke Clinics at starts registration, 12:30 kick off for the 5.25 Mile push race.  After the push race and some rest we then go to the top of the hill and rock out 69 minutes of freeride bliss.  As freeride is a Kansas City style that most of us study, this is always a rad show of the current level the riders are at.

10pm We reconvene at the shop and get brackets together for the Downhill segment.  For this we got to one of KC's mile long hills that we call K & R.  This is a glorious easy to host, as safe as one can make it location.    Although it is not a technical course those that can hold a tuck the longest will enjoy a solid win, where as weaker riders who can't hold their tuck long enough will be sure to have a hard time and get passed.

April 17th, we then go to the Snake Path where the 13 corners of this sexy KC classic dance spot will be caressed and finessed to the riders delight and the viewers pleasure.  After which we will total up all the points from the previous three segments and determine the winner.  Who overall will be awarded 500 Stokens to be redeemed for the prizes of their choosing.

The scoring system is fairly simple.  Each segment will have a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Each placing earning points.  1st = 9 points, 2nd = 7 Points, 3rd = 5 points, 4th = 3 Points.  5th Place and under will receive 1 point.  So even if you suck at a style this year it is for sure in the riders best interest to participate in all the segments.  No participation is 0 points.  You can get last place technically and you will still get 1 point, so don't be a weenie, and come play all the skateboards.

Downhill will be divided into Grom (17 Years old and Younger), Intermediate - for those who want to race, but maybe don't have the confidence to throw down from the top, and Open for the super bad asses who go fast fast fast.  All the Grom riders will be in their own running and point totals for the whole contest.  If a grom feels that they can complete in open, then we can make that happen.  These kids on the up and up can put some pressure on the old heads still around, so they should have the chance to step up.

Freeride winner will be determined Uncle Funkys' Style Session method of participant voting.  I freaking love this because it keeps the riders engaged and checking out what the other riders are doing.  If they see someone killing it they can still give their competitors some props and keep it fun.  

The Snake Path segment, which is a new style to be represented in a contest like this, will either be determined by UFSS method, or by a best line type of contest where each participant gets 3 runs down the snake path, and then judged based on style, difficulty of tricks performed, and total number of maneuvers successfully completed.  We will leave this up to the participants, as this is the first time really hosting a contest like this at this location.

Over all I hope that the best all around Kansas City skater will be found, and the community stoked!  As we develop this contest I can only hope that it will become more dialed and riders from all around the area come and enjoy all the fun that Kansas City has to offer for longboards and skateboards.

Hope to see you there.

KC Community Kick Off Event on Discord.

Shralp IT!!