Audio By Carbonatix
Leave it to Island Water Sports of Deerfield Beach to find something cool for the kids — and adults who act like kids — to do. Fresh from sponsoring a Mohawk Day on June 12, when anyone who traded in their old head of hair for a mohawk walked away with some skateboarding gear, the shop is holding its first skimboarding contest, called Fiesta de Skim, complete with a Cinco de Mayo theme.
“The contestants will get sombreros. We have virgin lemon margarita slushies and mini piñatas. It’s all about sharing a good time with everybody,” promotions and events manager Marcos Smith says. There hasn’t been a skim contest in South Florida in a good five years, but now that summer is here, the Atlantic has deflated into a giant nonsurfable puddle and skimming is enjoying a popularity high, it’s a good time to get one going. “We listened to the kids,” Smith says. “They wanted a contest, so we’re giving it to them.”
The contest includes five age categories for boys — from 10 and under to 24-plus — and two for the girls — ages 13 and under and 14 and up. Prizes include Zap skimboards, Poorboy pads, and sundry swag from the contest’s four sponsors: IWS, BC Surf n’ Sport, Boca Surf n’ Sail, and Surf World. Smith expects 200 entries for the skimboarding contest, but he’s not sure how many might enter the hot-pepper-eating challenge that’s also on the agenda. Even if you don’t have what the judges are looking for — good wave selection, the ability to make a big spray, or a sweet shove-it — Smith encourages you to come out and play. “It’s better than being locked up in a cardboard house in West Pembroke Pines!” — Deirdra Funcheon