My Favorite Action Sports Moments of Summer 2015

Fall officially begins on Wednesday, so I thought it would be appropriate to look back at the summer. Summer is always a great time for action sports. There are quite a few major competitions for fans to watch in person or on TV, such as Dew Tour and X Games. This summer was especially memorable for me in terms of action sports, because I finally got to attend an action sports contest, and I started watching surfing on a consistent basis.

Skateboarding and BMX

Kelvin Hoefler's rise to fame

Even though I've been watching skateboarding for eight years, the name Kelvin Hoefler isn't one I'm too familiar with. I've heard of him before, but never really watched him or heard much about him or his skating. This summer was the first time I watched him compete, and I'm really glad I did! Kelvin has had a great competitive season this summer. He won street best session at Dew Tour Chicago, won streetstyle and street best session at Dew Tour LA, and qualified to the Street League Championships his first year on the tour. He's definitely one to watch out for in future competitions and is one of my new favorite skaters.

To watch Kelvin's winning run at Dew Tour LA for streetstyle, skip to 2:47.

Checking Off the Bucket List at Dew Tour Chicago

This past Saturday, June 20, I went to the Chicago stop of the Dew Tour. It was my first time attending an action sports competition, and it was the first time I met an action sports athlete, two things that were on my bucket list. Now I can check those off the list!

Once I found out Dew Tour was returning to Chicago, I was ecstatic and wanted to go, especially since I missed out on the two years it was here last. When I found out tickets weren't required to attend the event and that it was free to go, I was even more excited! I told my sister and my brother, and we decided to go on the Saturday it'd be in town.

I was also excited about the specific location of the event. It was at Grant Park skatepark, which has only been open for a few months now. I've known about the plan to open it for a while now, and I always thought it was really exciting that there was going to be a skatepark downtown. I don't skate or ride BMX or anything like that, but I was just excited as an action sports fan.

Luckily -- or unluckily as it may have turned out -- I was going to be in the city for a doctor's appointment anyway, so there was no excessive traveling that was out of the way. Unluckily, my doctor's appointment prevented us from getting to the event at its start, so we missed the only skateboarding competition of the day, skateboard streetstyle, which was the event we were most looking forward to.