CALGARY NAMED HOST CITY FOR SLAM CITY JAM 2006 SKATEBOARDING CHAMPIONSHIPS AND FESTIVAL
…longest-running skateboarding event in North America to be held in Calgary August 25-27, 2006 with more than 150 of the world’s top professionals on tap
VANCOUVER (Thursday, February 16, 2006) – After 12 years of building its reputation in Vancouver as one of the world’s most popular skateboarding events, the Slam City Jam has named Calgary as its official host city for 2006.
The Slam City Jam 2006, the North American Skateboarding Championships, will be held August 25-27 in Calgary.
Venue details and information on the corporate and community partners who will team up to present the longest-running skateboarding event in North America will be formally announced in March. It will mark the first time in the history of the event, a stalwart on the World Cup of Skateboarding international tour, that it has not been held in Vancouver.
“Our concern in not being able to continue our annual tradition in Vancouver is more than balanced by the great excitement surrounding the welcome we’re receiving in Calgary,” said Kleo Landucci, President of the Slam City Jam, which made its debut in Vancouver in 1994. “Not being in Vancouver for the first time in our event’s history will be a big change for us at many levels, but we’re very pleased to be able to keep Slam City Jam in Western Canada and stage it in a great “can do” Canadian city like Calgary.”
Landucci explained that an interest in expanding the event to other provinces was elevated as a priority given problems the event faced in association with venue upgrades in Vancouver in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The unavailability of suitable indoor venues in Vancouver this year pushed the move up to 2006. Calgary won the rights to host Slam City Jam on the basis of its outstanding tradition of supporting amateur, professional and Olympic sports.
“Not only is Calgary one of the country’s hottest skateboarding markets – and getting hotter all the time with some of Canada’s best new skate park facilities – it is a proven sports and entertainment capital as home of the world-famous Calgary Stampede and the 1988 Winter Olympic Games,” said Landucci, who noted the city is also famous for its support of the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League, the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League, the Calgary Roughnecks of the National Lacrosse League and the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League.
“Our long-term event plan always provided for the possibility of promoting skateboarding throughout Western Canada by inviting cities such as Calgary and Edmonton to bid to host Slam City Jam,” said Landucci. “In fact, we have been looking for ways to contribute to the growth of skateboarding in other provinces and have watched the tremendous rise of the sport in Alberta in recent years. Olympic preparations and the inability for us to book dates at suitable Vancouver venues made us consider making the move this year and, fortunately, in Calgary, we have a dynamic host city ready to rock with us in August.”
Landucci said support of Slam’s long-standing commitment to not only showcasing the best in professional skateboarding but to promoting the sport at all levels in the community made the difference in selecting Calgary as official host city for 2006.
“The reception by those who share our vision and who will be working with us to put on the best skateboarding event in Canada has been fantastic!” said Landucci, a 28-year-old Vancouver business executive who developed a passion for skateboarding in the early 1990s.
Venue and event details will be presented in March but Landucci indicated Slam organizers would be responding to resounding fan feedback from last year’s event at BC Place – a 55,000 seat facility that is home of the BC Lions of the CFL and served as site of the extremely successful 2005 Grey Cup. Slam City Jam fan surveys last summer indicated a strong preference for a more intimate venue in the capacity range of 7,500 to 20,000 that is the standard for most of the top tier events on the World Cup of Skateboarding and other Action Sports festivals. The X Games presented by ESPN are held, for example, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
“Through the evolution of Slam City Jam, Vancouver and the west coast have become hotbeds for skateboarding and we acknowledge that the event wouldn’t have grown to what it is today without the support of the British Columbia skateboarding community and our Slam fans from throughout the province and the Pacific Northwest,” said Landucci. “We’re stoked that a strong west coast flavour will continue in that we’ll have many of the top professionals from B.C. on hand in Calgary. We’re proud of the B.C. athletes who are making their mark on the sport internationally and we are looking forward to having them with us in Calgary this year.”
Ticket information will be released when the venue and corporate and community partnerships are formally unveiled in March.
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