Skateboard

June Casagrande Dana Wildes might have seen it coming, but she didn't. When a friend gave her son Quinn, then 3, a skateboard last year, the Costa Mesa resident was expecting him to react like any kid his age. Perhaps he would be interested for a little while, perhaps roll the skateboard on the floor like a toy firetruck, maybe sit on it or even stand with someone's help and pretend to really ride. But this was the kid who at 1 1/2 was trying to jump into the deep end of the pool, much to his mother's distressed surprise.

The first time Frank Davern got an order for a girl’s skateboard, he didn’t have one quite ready to ship. In fact, he had never made a skateboard in his life. The Balboa Island resident, who founded the Cool Girl Decks skateboard company four years ago, stumbled upon his enterprise through a happy accident. In the late 1990s, Davern launched the website Coolgrrrls.com to spotlight female musicians around the world. One day, a German magazine devoted to youth culture ran an article about the site — and since the magazine covered sports as well as music, a number of readers assumed Davern made both as well.

The Costa Mesa City Council tonight will consider a number of possible sites for the construction of small skateboard parks throughout the city, following the earlier rejection of a plan to construct a larger one at Lion’s Park. That plan was rejected after the park’s neighbors expressed their opposition last November. Local skateboard manufacturer Jim Gray, president of ABC Board Supply and a strong advocate for city skate parks, said he was disappointed that the original plans fell through, though he continued to support the council in its decision to move forward.

In just its third month, Costa Mesa’s fledgling skateboard instruction program hasn’t yet drawn large crowds of children — a handful of kids carrying skateboards and wearing helmets showed up for the first day of April’s program Tuesday afternoon — but organizers are hoping to develop a following. Unlike previous skateboarding programs the city has put on during the summers and school breaks, the one run by Mike Ogas and Matt Sheridan is more hands-on, they said.

Steve Virgen In regard to in-line skating, Fabiola Da Silva could be called, the queen of the half pipe. If extreme sports were women's tennis, she would be Serena Williams. Da Silva, a Costa Mesa resident, will be one of the most recognizable athletes of X Games IX, the premiere action sports event spearheaded by ESPN that begins today and ends Sunday at Staple Center in Los Angeles. Da Silva, a Brazilian native, is one of six local athletes involved in the extreme sport extravaganza that will be televised and aired Saturday through Thursday, on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. As a female aggressive in-line skater, she has pushed the sport to new limits and is plenty capable of competing alongside the men in the aggressive in-line vert competition.

The Parks and Recreation Commission will evaluate possible locations for “pocket” skateboard park locations, making recommendations to the City Council regarding their construction during its Wednesday meeting. The council suggested the commission look into the possibility of multiple, small projects after they nixed plans for a larger facility in Lion’s Park. The council suggested a short list of possible locations, including Pinkley, Vista, Estancia and Shiffer Parks, though the commission will also consider adding Heller Park to the list, as well as any other parks they think may work well with the plans.

Advance registration is recommended for Costa Mesa’s next summer skateboarding camp, which begins Aug. 25. Kids will have an option of either a half day or a full day of skating at the Volcom Skatepark in Costa Mesa. The program lasts a week and costs $75 for the half day, which runs from 9 a.m. to noon, and an extra $55 for the full day, which ends at 5 p.m. Participants in the full-day program are responsible for bringing their own lunches, and all participants should bring appropriate gear.

At Costa Mesa clinic put on by women's skate, surf, snow shop, 18 girls learn a trick or two and how to improve riding and fall with grace.COSTA MESA -- There's nothing like an early morning wipeout to get the juices flowing. Eighteen Girl Scouts from across Orange County were undeterred by the possibility of a scrape or a scab on Saturday as they learned skateboarding skills. The event, held at the Girl Scouts Council of Orange County headquarters in Costa Mesa, was the second skateboarding instructional workshop held this year.

Board sports have a huge influence in Newport-Mesa. Not only are many of the major surf- and skate-apparel companies based here, but because the cities are close to the beach and near the mountains, the board-sports lifestyle is a perfect match for people with a Newport or Costa Mesa address. But now there's a new board sport gaining popularity around town. It's called street surfing, and a Newport Beach-based company of the same name has developed a sport that it says takes snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing and puts it into one ridable board.

It's a real letdown for me as a Newport Beach resident, and mother of three, to see how our Newport Beach City Council is handling the skateboarding issue. If we're not going to build a skateboard park, then why implement an ordinance that further penalizes skateboarders? ("Newport adds skateboard restrictions," Jan. 24). Do we really believe that posting signs and having our cops chase after our sons is the sensible solution? Let's take a hint from our neighbors in Costa Mesa.

ORANGE — With his backspins, big jumps off of the sides of the wooden ramps and attacks of large rails Wednesday night at Vans Skatepark, Huntington Beach sophomore skateboarder Chris Chavaria took home a shiny medal. Wearing a helmet, T-shirt and shorts, Chavaria rode his trusty skateboard to a narrow victory in the street finals of the National Scholastic Skateboarding League indoors at The Outlets at Orange. The 16-year-old from Garden Grove rode nearly all sides of a large course that included big ramps, rails, wooden boxes and several jumps.

SATURDAY Flea Market The Pelican Courtyard Open Air Flea Market for New and Vintage Finds is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month .The event is at 124 Tustin Ave, Mariners Mile section of Newport Beach. For more information, visit http://www.thepelicancourtyard.com. IDI Open House The Interior Designers Institute will have an Open House from 10 a.m. to noon at its campus, 1061 Camelback St., Newport Beach. For more information, call (949) 675-4451 or go to http://www.idi.edu.

COSTA MESA - Students from 10 different Orange County and San Diego teams kicked off the National Scholastic Skateboarding League's season at Volcom's outdoor skatepark in Costa Mesa on Jan. 27. The first of two rounds saw teams from Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Newport Harbor, Northwood, East Lake and El Toro high schools compete in street course and bowl categories. In the middle school bracket, competitors from Dwyer, St. Edward's, Ensign and Costa Mesa rounded out the evening.

The OC Skateboarding League hopes to raise $10,000 at an awards dinner Thursday evening to continue and expand its programs. Newport-Mesa Unified school board Trustee Katrina Foley founded the nonprofit last year to support local middle- and high-school skating teams. More than 150 students skate for 20 teams across the county. Costa Mesa, Estancia and Newport Harbor high schools are among the participants. The awards dinner at the Los Caballeros Racquet & Sports Club in Fountain Valley will feature a silent auction, skate videos and guest appearances by as-yet-unnamed industry pros.

ORANGE — It was already noisy inside the Vans Skatepark on Wednesday night, but heads really turned when multiple skateboards smacking against the ground were heard. This was maybe a bit violent, but nothing negative. "It's like kudos," Newport Harbor High junior-to-be Gage Boan explained. It meant that skaters in the OC Skateboarding League semifinals and finals were cheering on another competitor during his run. Or her run, if it was Costa Mesa Middle School's Paige La Bare or Ensign Intermediate's Sarah Thompson performing the sick trick to try to impress the three judges.

COSTA MESA — The usually quiet Mesa Verde Country Club was alive with the sound of rock bands Monday as golfers zoomed around in their carts to find a surprise at every hole. A belly dancer and camel greeted golfers at the sixth hole, and food and drinks from restaurants around Costa Mesa were waiting as residents and city officials made their way along the 18-hole course. Golfers teed off around skateboarders, dropping in on a mini half pipe and a demonstration of martial arts.

On a sunny afternoon earlier this month, young skaters performed tricks at Volcom Skate Park in Costa Mesa. These skaters, from local intermediate and high schools, had always been doing their thing. But now they can be attached to a team. Costa Mesa Councilwoman Katrina Foley, with the help of Mike Ogas and local skateboarding legend Jim Gray, came up with the idea of starting junior high and high school skate club teams. The teams are focused on competing against each other and learning to skate well, Foley said.

Like all the tricks you get with skateboarding and the water element of surfing, but can’t find a balance of both? Head down to the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach this weekend, and you might find just what you’re looking for. While people are soaking in the sun and enjoying the beach life this weekend, a group of amateur and professional skim boarders are hoping the public finds their way down to the pier, where they’ll be...

THINGS TO DO   Rick Springfield The Australian American songwriter performs at the fair at 8:30 tonight in the Pacific Amphitheatre. The musician is best known for the 1981 hit “Jessie’s Girl.” Tickets start at $12.50. For more information go online to www.pacamp.com .   Maloof Cup Today is the third and final day of the Maloof Cup, with the competition reaching a fever-pitch as skateboarders continue to grind it out for the world’s biggest purse in skateboarding.