In 2021, right after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most everything, Marie Ryan had a vision to bring kids together in the community through skateboarding.
Running an after school program at the Universal Outreach Church in Irmo she started with a handful of young students who took to the parking lot each evening learning new skills about the sport with the help from some local boarders.
“Most of them new nothing about it but you could tell they loved it,” said Marie. “We found a couple of willing sponsors who gave us boards and safety equipment and it began to grow.”
“We thought town council wouldn’t go for it,” said Marie. “We would bring them to the church to see the kids and we kept pushing them to get this done.”
Now, four years later Irmo has attracted a national competition series to what the promoters are calling a world-class skateboard park built in the heart of Irmo. Rawls Creek Park boasts a one-of-a-kind skate board bowl complete with rails and jumps.
The Boardr Series is a chain of competitive events for all ages of skateboarders that travels around the east coast culminating in a final competition in Tampa, Florida in December each year.
Ryan Clements is the backbone of the Boardr Series and has brought participants and sponsors together for these events since 2014. The Boardr Series boasts as “one of the longest running and most participated skateboarding series in recent history.”
“I’ve been doing skateboarding contests for the last 25 years,” said Clements. “This park is among one of the best I’ve seen and perfect for the community.”
Clements said the setting and the design make the park a unique venue.
The featured sponsor for the event was Palmetto Citizens.
The event came to Irmo March 28 and held a free competition open to anyone starting at 6:30 with cash prizes of $250 for best bowl tricks and best street tricks.
Saturday marked a day full of competitions with 70 participants ranging in age from 8 year old to 13 and up.
