CASL returns to Huntington Beach
"We're saving the world one kid at a time," said Sonja Catalano, the league's president at the California Amateur Skateboard League (CASL) held a contest in Huntington Beach last Saturday.
Catalano, of San Bernardino, has been in skateboarding 32 years, longer if you count the years she was riding from point "A" to point "B" on metal wheels.
"It's a lifestyle, a culture. It's art. It's music," Catalano says. "I'm a firm believer in mind and body. If you keep both busy, then you have a happy kid."
League Vice President Gerardo "Jerry" Carrera and owner of The Garage Board Shop in East Los Angeles is reaching out to youth through art and skating as a reward through a program called Skate for Educate.
He trades school report cards for skateboarding sponsorship.
"If a kid shows me a bad report card, I will give them a membership and tutoring, to get their grades up," Carrera said. "Our kids are so talented, but they don't have the tools to work. This is why we are outreaching, to be better citizens tomorrow."
The Huntington Beach event was held at Jack's Skateboard Warehouse and sponsored by The Garage Board Shop and HB Culture Magazine, hosted by local pro skateboarder Josh Townend. It also was the 2012 California State Games and the Van's Warped Tour 2012 qualifier.
