How important is the collaboration with various brands and skateshops?
Very important, especially with skater-owned brands and shops. For example,
the first stop of GP was organized by the legendary Kosmos skateshop from
Katowice. These guys understand exactly what skateboarding is about, they are
an important part of the whole championships. Also, the second stop at Lines of
Bielawa skateboarding festival is sponsored by mainly skater-owned companies.
These skater-owned businesses are part of the fundaments of skateboarding,
their innovative ideas are one of the main engines of skateboarding.
Will there be an official sponsorship for the winner of the Grand Prix?
One of the main goals of the Polish Skateboarding Grand Prix is to give the riders
a better exposure, so that potential sponsors will get more interested in skaters
who did well in the championship. As this year the GP is something new for Polish
skateboarding, and we are just starting out, I guess that everything is possible. I
think the Grand Prix in 2014 will be much bigger.
Do you think that with the Grand Prix the skate scene in Poland will grow even
more?
Definitely. This is the main reason to hold a championship. It’s for the riders, to
give them an extra opportunity to show themselves to the sponsors, to stimulate
them, to inspire people who will see these riders skating the contests. Even
before the first stop of GP a lot of people said something like: “Finally, there will
be a championship”. Or: “Finally, things are getting organized for the skaters”. So
I guess we are on the right track.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start something like that
in his country?
Get together with a group of active skateboarders, who are experienced in
organizing contests, and start talking and exchanging ideas with each other.
I think it’s awesome to hear other people’s opinions, points of view, ideas etc.
Just creating a basic form of an organization, will make a platform for working
together on different topics – for example a serie of contests. It might be a long
process, but if you want to do it, then you have to start somewhere, sometime.
And do it for the love of skateboarding.