Ben Hatchell prevails in the 10th edition of the Phoenix Am Skateboard Contest
The 10th Anniversary of the Phoenix Am went down at the Desert West skate-park in Phoenix, Arizona, between 2 to 3 April. The event featured some of the most talented amateur skate-boarders in a jam format contest. Once the battle subsided and
the dust settled, Ben Hatchell from Virginia, stood victorious, as Jack Olson from Minnesota, finished in second place while Colin Provost from Huntington Beach, secured third place.
The riders made the best of the opportunity that not only offered a decent exposure and recognition, but also a grand prize of $3000 for the winner.
The contest, that had been held at Peoria Park last year, made a come-back to its’ original location. The return turned out to be a real success, as a good crowd and riders showed up to experience the thrilling action that the Phoenix Am had in store for
them. The park was given a little face-lift to host the upcoming skateboarding battle by the California Skate-parks with some help from Vans, the city of Phoenix and a few other sponsors.
The qualifier round of the contest took place on Saturday and saw the skaters giving exciting performances in the hope of clinching one of the 40 semi-final spots. The rider making the strongest impact during the qualifier stage had a special prize reserved
for him, which was a Golden Ticket to the Finals. Hatchell managed to prevail over his competition during the qualifiers and got himself the Golden Ticket, which excused him from the semi-finals and sent him directly to the Final on Sunday.
The top 40 riders from the qualifiers made their way into the semi-finals on Sunday. This got further narrowed down to 11 for the Finals. Hatchell, the winner of the Golden Ticket and 11 riders made up the Finals’ line-up. With the contest reaching its’
final stage, the riders were aware of the fact that the performances had to be top-notch with absolutely no room for hiccups.
The 20-year-old Hatchell pulled off an amazing run in the Final to seal the fate of the contest. A half-cab back smith down the hubba right after a half-cab front blunt on the big bowl corner, cab flips over the bump-to-bump and a 540 were some of the tricks
that he had in his repertoire. Hatchell walked away with a beautiful trophy to remind him of his achievement. He also received an engraved Nixon watch and a few Skullcandy headphones. However the reward that probably got everyone in the park envying him was
the grand prize of $3000 that he got to take home.
The Phoenix Am contest also featured a Best Trick Contest right after the Finals, with a prize purse of $2500. Matt Berger from British Columbia won the event with a 360 kick-flip over the Skullcandy bump.
Hatchell, who was to celebrate his 21st birthday one day after the contest, could not have hoped for a better end to his weekend, nor a better birthday present.
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