While it may not have the fanfare of a college player draft, the introduction of new talent is just as big in professional skateboarding as it is with any of the major pro sports. It's always good to see hard work rewarded when any athlete turns pro in his sport; and whenever an amateur(am) finally breaks into the pro ranks it's an event worth celebration. The newest pro to hit the industry has been on the radar for a while now, and after three solid years, Girl Skateboards at last hooked Cory Kennedy up with his long deserved first pro deck.
Cory Kennedy, made his long awaited leap to the pro ranks after getting back from a showing at the NYC leg of the Maloof Money Cup. Girl has built a name for itself as a company that always goes the extra mile for its skate team and Kennedy's intro to professionalism was no exception.
He was invited to do a film session for Crailtap.com at the North Hollywood, CA skatepark on Monday morning. While Cory waited in traffic, some of the Girl team already there decided to pass out his brand new pro deck--which he didn't know existed, to everyone at the park, and see how long it took the 20 year-old Washingtonian to catch on.
He got to the park and started laying down his usual precision accuracy lines, with no clue that everyone there was skating a deck with his name printed on the bottom. While he got hydrated after laying down some solid footage, he talked to some kids at the park who all had the same color deck.
Cory eyed the boards for a few seconds before a big goofy grin spread across his face, when he realized life as an am was over.
That face has been in magazines, videos, posters, you name it since he started electrifying the scene after his epic part in 2010's “Beware of Sasquatch". If you haven't seen the footage, stop what you're doing and go watch this absolute gem of a video right now. It's a rare treat to see such a young skater be so technically solid, pick such great spots, and show such awesome progression in his tricks.
Girl's newest pro, is known for his penchant for innovation and this masterpiece is crafted with the typical flair of this skateboarding artiste. Even though he's still too young to buy a beer, the kid's already made his own signature trick—which he calls the "Merlin Twist", that will make your jaw drop every time you see it—guaranteed. The video also has great shots of David Gravette, Vince del Valle, as well as seven other talented skaters from the Pacific Northwest, and is well worth a few watches.
The promotion was well deserved for the insanely talented Kennedy, who first burst onto the radar screen with a win in The Berric's “Bang Yo'self 2” amateur online video submission contest in 2009, and a hard fought third place finish at “The Battle of the Berrics 2” SKATE contest that same year. He'd been am for Girl while picking up sponsorships from RVCA, Nike SB, Spitfire, and Royal, and last year he was barely edged by Collin Provost for Am of the Year.
Girl's team has been one of the best for years and adding Cory to the stable of pro talent gave their lineup another power hitter. He could have turned pro last year and still sold boards like hotcakes. He's that good. If you haven't seen him through his am career,(which is impossible if you follow skateboarding) get ready for Cory Kennedy to loudly announce his arrival in the pro ranks.
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