Last Sunday, the Tech Deck “Young Guns Series” headed to The XC skatepark in Hemel Hempstead for the grand finale. With many of the qualifiers from the Welsh and Scottish heats making the journey, and a whole new load of hopefuls turning up to try and qualify at the last minute, the days skating was of an incredibly high standard.

With around 30 guys in each age group, making it into the final was no easy task. In the qualifying heats previous entrant Thomas TG astounded everyone by how much he’d improved over a year and became a crowd favourite, though it was Jon Howlett who powered through the qualifiers and earned a clear top qualifying spot. Also impressing everyone was the tech abilities of Paddy Maquire, who hails from Belfast and is a previous winner of “Manny Mania”.

The finals were set to be an exciting affair with previous qualifiers like Charlie Birch, Jordan Sharkey and Lewis Mottishaw skating for the first time. I know I probably say this every time I write up a comp report but the standard of skating and consistency blew me away. Sharkey and Thomas TG basically didn’t seem to fall off at all, and Charlie Birch, Charlie Smee and Lewis Mottishaw had a few more falls but made up for it with powerful tricks defying their years. Sharkey was declared a clear winner but the top four or five were really close. With Sharkey and Charlie already picking up sponsors and coverage as a result of this tour already it seems as though “Young Guns” is really achieving it’s aim to support young talent. Expect to see more from all of these guys in the coming years as they are your future skateboard stars without a doubt.

In the “16 and over” category, Jon Howlett blasted to first place, surprising no one who saw him skate in qualifiers. Tom Hewlett from Devon came in second  with smiler Danny Cartwright coming in 3rd. Once again all the guys in the final were of a really high standard.

Thanks to Tech Deck for truly supported grass roots skateboarding, and to all our co-sponsors: Vans, Skull Candy, World Industries, Rocket, Protec, Spitfire, Sidewalk, Progression Action Sports.

Under 16′s results:
1 – Jordan Sharkey
2 – Charlie Birch
3 – Tom Tg
4 – Lewis Mottishaw
5 – Charlie Smee

Over 16′s results:
1 – Jon Howlett
2 – Tom Hewlett
3 – Danny Cartwright
4 – Mullett Terry
5 – Paddy Maguire
6 – Tom Tanner

It is possible to qualify for the final on the day, but qualifiers will start at 9am so don’t lie in.

The top three from each age group at the other legs go straight through to the the final, meaning there’s only a handful of places left on offer. The top three finalists in each age group will go away with a bag full of booty from all the sponsors and a “wild card” entry to the UKSA National Championships to take on previous winners Josh ‘Manhead’ Young, Chris Oliver and Ross McGouran.

As The XC is often at full capacity we recommend you book your place in advance to be sure of gaining entry – www.thexc.co.uk

Weirdly it was a lovely sunny day when I drove to Edinburgh which made me even more stoked that there was such a good turnout for the Scottish leg of the Tech Deck “Young Guns Series” 2012.

Transgression park is a rad place, pretty transition heavy – just how the Scots like it!  My assistant for the day was “Big Mark” Burrows who helped judge as well as keep the rabble in order by laying down the law on the mic.

The Under 16′s were dominated by the cheekiest youth of the day Finn Dog, who sported a lovely Hawaiian shirt and had one of the most coiffured fringes I’ve ever seen. Even his dad was encouraging us to give him some abuse for being a bit soft! Finn killed it though with a smooth style, a good selection of tricks and a load of flow. Fair play.

In the over 16′s there was a lot of familiar faces, and a few new ones to boot. Sean Willis and Kieran Menzies were both just edged out of the prizes despite ripping all day. “Mullet Terry” got my vote for the best name of the day and wound up in third after attacking the vert wall. The top two were completely contrasting style wise – Leif Coffield is a blaster and transferred pretty much every line possible, whilst Daniel Nicholas had a more ‘street’ approach to it all.  While Leif attacked it, Daniel stylishly racked up the points by putting together some really incredible lines and staying on for about ten tricks at a time. It was a tough call but on this occasion tech triumphed over gnarl!

Thanks to everyone who came and made it such a rad day, it was a pleasure to spend time with such a good bunch of people. And as usual thanks to all the sponsors: Tech Deck, Skullcandy, World Industries, Vans, Protec, Spitfire and Rocket.

Results:
Under 16′s:
1: Finn Dog
2: Rory Fell
3: Desmond

Over 16
1: Daniel Nicholas
2: Leif Coffield
3: Mullet Terry

Edits courtesy of Zander Ritchie:

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The first leg of the Tech Deck “Young Guns Series” 2012 kicked off at the small but beautifully formed Exist skatepark in Swansea, Wales. Many of the skaters had traveled from much further afield hoping to qualify early for the final at the XC in Hemel Hempstead.

Overall the standard was exceptionally high, particularly in the Under 16′s category which quite frankly blew my mind. Tricks went down in the jam sessions that would have been respected in any UK pro comp. As usual nicknames were encouraged and often handed out on the spot, notables from this leg were: Fruit Boy, Big Mac and MC Hammer (who didn’t look remotely like MC Hammer and didn’t have big pants).

There were a few familiar faces around, notably Jordan Sharkey and Charlie Birch who’ve both impressed everyone who has seen them skate. What was cool was to see a whole new crop of kids coming through who were ripping. One to look out for would be Lewis Mottishaw from the Derby area who knocked out some big man tricks including a frontside flip down the stairs with ease.

The final was very tight but unfortunately Charlie fell a few times too many and placed third, whilst Lewis stepped up his game and got 2nd. Top boy was definitely Sharkey though, he was definitely in the top three anyway but sealed the deal with a ridiculous Merlin Flip third go and right on time. The crowd went wild and the over 16′s wondered how they were going to top what they’d just witnessed.

In the 16 and over category there was a wild variety of styles and personalities which made for a really fun and interesting comp. Fruit boy looked to be odds on favourite, he seemed to be able to skate everything every way, switching it up between hesh and tech – 360 boneless down the stairs and a fakie hardflip for example! Tom Tanner judged edged him out of the top spot by hitting up the whole course and styling it up. 3rd went to Eric Wade who came out the blocks strong but suffered after breaking a board in the final jam.

Thanks go out to all the sponsors: Tech Deck, Vans, World Industries, Spitfire, Rocket, ProTec and Skull Candy

Please join us for the Scottish leg at Transgression Skatepark in Edinburgh on the 1st July!

- Nic Powley.

Tech Deck Young Guns 2012 – Welsh Leg from Marky on Vimeo.