BATON ROUGE, LA – February 2012 – The 2012 Regional Amateur Skateboard Tour (The RAT) will kick-off on Saturday, March 24th at the Perkins Road Skate park in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Admission for spectators is absolutely FREE. Come out and see some of the top skaters in the region competing in street and bowl competitions for over $2500 in cash and prizes. We will have a live DJ in the Skullcandy music tent and local artists doing work in the Sector 9 “Inspiration Station”. Plus, check out photo’s from last years events in the “Reflection Section” presented by Skateboarder Magazine. Grab some swag from series sponsors!

It’s stop #1 of the 2012 Scion RAT SKate Tour and it’s all made possible with support from Scion and local dealer, All Star Scion, Skateboarder Magazine, Skullcandy, GoPro, Sector 9, Neff, Entropy Skateboards, Already Been Chewed, GFive Threads, Theeve Trucks, Sk8te Skins, Chief Skateboards, Screw You Hardware and local skate shops including Urban 9, Rukus, Fidna and Small Time Skates.

The Perkins Road Skate Park is located at 7122 Perkins Road in Baton Rouge. ACTION STARTS AT 2:00PM. If your want to compete then register now on-line for $15.00. Spaces are limited so if your serious…sign up today and reserve your spot. Registration is $20.00 on the day of the event if any spots remain.

DALLAS, TEXAS (November 14, 2011)- The final event of the 2011 Scion RAT Skate Tour went down on Saturday, November 12^th at the Scion of Lewisville Skate Park in North Texas. It was the sixth stop of the regional amateur series and it featured some of the best riding of the series!

Despite some extremely windy conditions, almost 80 riders from across region showed up to battle it out in street and bowl competitions for their share of over $2500 in cash and prizes.

The action started in the massive bowl. Eleven riders were split into two heats with the top 3 from each heat advancing to a six-man final. Riders got two one-minute solo runs followed by a five-minute jam.  Raney Beres from San Antonio dominated heat #1 easily moving on to the final.

Raney Beres flying high

Dallas native Sean Greene and Pat Donivan who made the trip from Kansas to compete would join him. All three are RAT Tour regulars. Heat #2 standouts were Entropy Team riders Eduardo Ochoa and William Cortez and they would advance along with Taylor Brown.

William Cortez

In the bowl finals, each rider got one more solo run followed by a frenzied five-minute jam.  Once again, Beres was the class of the field with a seemingly effortless array of big airs, big grabs, grinds, reverts and hand plants. He backed up his first place finish earlier this year in Cedar Park with another top podium spot in Lewisville.  Taylor Brown, who won the season kick-off in Lewisville back in March, parlayed his smooth style, boneless variations and unique lines to lock up 2^nd place and Sean Greene pulled out a great run filled with switch moves to claim the third place finish. Pat Donivan, William Cortez and Eduardo Ochoa rounded out the top six. All of the riders who made the finals received cash and prizes from series sponsors.

Beres, Greene and Brown – WINNING

The street competition started at around 2:00pm. Sixty-seven riders where split into nine five-minute jam sessions, the top two in each heat would advance to the semi-final round. In the semi-finals, 19 of the best skaters in the region were split into three heats for another five-minute jam and the top two from each advanced to the final where the top 6 would all get paid. The riders who advanced included series points leader Taylor Jett, Drake Flores (who was sitting second in series points), D.R.E.A.M. Teamers Carston Boyer and Frankie Heck, RAT regulars Tommy Wilkinson and D’Andre Martin plus Blake Baxter and Mack Dafoe.

Street Comp

The judging crew, made up of local skate hero Kechaud Johnson, Josh Hurley and Aaron Baugh, had their work cut out for them in a STACKED final round! The talent level was insane and nobody held back. It was arguably the most exciting final of the 2011 series, which was a fitting way to wrap up the year. Drake Flores unleashed EVERY trick in the book and used every obstacle on the course locking up his second RAT street win of the season. Highlights of Flores run include a clean backside 270 lip slide on the rail and a huge backside 360 kickflip down the 4 set to end his run.

Carston Boyer

The second podium spot went to Frankie Heck who impressed the judges with a barrage of hammers including kickflip frontboard, switch frontside healflip down the stairs and backside noseblunt on the rail. Heck has been honing his skills this summer at The Berrics in southern California after he and his crew won the YOUnited Nations nationwide video competition.

The always technical, intense and uber competative Taylor Jett came into the final stop with the overall series points lead. Sticking hardflip back lip, and a slew of nollie flip tricks, including nollie big heel down the stair set, Jett took third place and locked up the RAT Street Championship on Saturday. Fourth place went to Carston Boyer who was super consistent all day and landed tons of tricks including a huge tailslide kickflip out on the A-frame hubba.

Street Podium

Blake Baxter and D’Andre Martin rounded out the top six. Their standout tricks were Baxter’s back bigspin front board on the rail and Martins full heel down the stair set. Everyone received cash and prizes from series sponsors.

DJ PHIL-N-IT

In addition to a full day of epic skating, spectators jammed to Skullcandy DJ PHIL-N- IT, enjoyed free Monster Energy Drinks, tons of great swag from series sponsors and checked out various interactive games and displays. Some top local graffiti artists including Grasp, Motion Groin, Stale and Howdy joined Colin Moen from Six Under to create some killer art decks in the Sector 9 “Inspiration Station”.

Dancing for a deck!

Special thanks to all of our partners who made the 2011 RAT Skate Tour possible. The final event included series title sponsor Scion and local dealer Scion of Lewisville, Monster Energy Drink, the US Marines, Skullcandy, Spy Optic, Skateboarder Magazine, Sector 9, Element Skateboards, Already Been Chewed, Neff Headwear, Theeve Trucks, Light Bohrd, GFive Threads and Sk8te Skins. Additional support provided by local skate shops including index Skate Supply, Moebius Skate Shop, Vertigo, Shredderz and The Rec Shop.

Taylor Jett – Street Series Overall Champion

Congratulations to Houston’s Taylor Jett and OKC’s Gary Morris for winning the overall RAT Tour Street Championships and Bowl Championship respectively. They both competed often and killed it all season. As the overall Series Champs they will both receive an all expense paid trip to Element YMCA Skate Camp in Northern California, courtesy of Element Skateboards.

For more information, media inquiries, photo’s and/or video contact geigermedia@sbcglobal.net

LEWISVILLE, TX (OCTOBER 25^TH, 2011) -  The FINAL event of the 2011 Scion RAT Skate Tour will take place Saturday, November 12^th at Toyota of Lewisville Railroad Park in Lewisville, TX.  Some of the top amateur skaters in the region will be on-hand to compete in street and bowl competitions trying to win a share of over $2500 in cash and prizes.

“We are glad to be back after such a great kick-off event here last March.” said tour organizer Bill Geiger. “The Scion of Lewisville Skate Park is one of the nicest facilities in the state and last year we had great crowds and unbelievable skating! I expect more of the same for the Finals on November 12^th ”

The series also included events in Oklahoma City, Houston, Austin and San Antonio with an overall purse of $15,000 in cash/prizes. In addition to the skate competition, every RAT event is a mini-festival featuring live art created on-site by local artists in the Sector 9 Inspiration Station, music from the Skullcandy live DJ, free drinks and swag from the Monster Energy Team, vendor displays and tons of chances to win great prizes from local skate shops and series sponsors.

The Lewisville event is FREE for spectators and action is scheduled to start at 12 noon. Entry fee for competitors is $20.00 at the event or you can register on-line for just $15.00 at www.SkateTheRat.com.

Stop #6 of the 2011 Scion RAT Skate Tour is made possible with support from Scion and local dealer Scion of Lewisville, Monster Energy Drink, US Marines, Skullcandy, Spy Optic, Skateboarder Magazine, Sector 9, Element Skateboards, Already Been Chewed, Neff Headwear, Theeve Trucks, Light Bohrd, GFive Threads, Artistic Encounters and Sk8te Skins. Additional support provided by local skate shops including Index Skate Supply, Moebius Skate Shop, Vertigo, Shredderz and The Rec Shop.

The Scion of Lewisville Skate Park is located at 1301 Railroad Street on the east side of I-35 between business 121 and Highway 3040 in Lewisville .For more information, media inquiries, photo’s and/or video contact geigermedia@sbcglobal.net

BOERNE, TX  (October 23, 2011) – The Scion RAT Skate Tour headed for the hills this past weekend with our first visit to the all-new Boerne Skate Park just north of San Antonio, TX. Boerne is a sleepy little town at the edge of the Texas Hill Country with a rustic vibe and it was a great setting for a day of shredding! It was the 5^th stop of the 2011 series and featured a street competition on the well-planned plaza course followed by the Element Best Trick throw-down on the parks handrail.

The contest started with 54 skaters split into 9 heats of 6. Riders had 5-minutes to impress the judges and the top two from each heat advanced to the semi-final round. They definitely came to skate on Saturday. Even during warm-ups you could tell the talent level was high. All of the first round heats had some standout runs. The eighteen riders that advanced to the semi’s were split into 3 heats of 6 with the top two advancing to a six man final where everyone would be paid. In Heat #1, Grant McConnel and Jose Lua beat out Jake Kirby, Keeton Forman, Josh Matei and Slax to move into the finals. In Heat #2 D’Andra Martin and Will Flores outscored Greg Diaz, Mario Castillo, Rye Beres and Jude Tidwell. In the last semi-final heat Drake Flores and Max Taylor topped Josh Love, Brett Heinis, Anthony Hunter and Mike Buelar. Some honorable mentions that did not make the cut, but still got noticed were young Austin Turgon who received the “mini-shredder” award for throwing down with the big boys, Rudy Zamora who killed it in heat #3 but just missed the cut and Lade Jones who travelled all the way from Louisiana and fired up the crowd with a sick fakie frontside bigger spin on the pyramid.

The judges had their work cut out for them in the finals as two heats of three were stacked with the days best riders. When it was all said and done, it was a couple of San Antonio locals at the top of the order. Will Flores had the park wired all day long easily advancing through earlier heats and he didn’t slow down in the finals. He had hammers for every obstacle in the park including a clean 360 kickflip to lip slide on the handrail and he took 1^st Place. The judges had their biggest challenge trying to figure out 2^nd and 3^rd Place. Austin’s “Mad” Max Taylor dominated his earlier heats with some of the sickest runs of the day. He dislocated a finger at the end of the semi’s but kept charging. Drake Flores is no stranger to final rounds at the RAT Tour and tricks like his BS 360 down steps and bigflip fs board on the handrail helped him barely edge out Taylor to take 2^nd. D’Andre Martin, Jose Lua and Grant McConnel rounded out the top 6. All of the top six received cash and prizes from series sponsors.

As soon as the street finals wrapped, everyone at the park gathered around the parks handrail for the Element Best Trick Comp. It was open to anyone who had skated earlier and they lined up for a five-minute full assault and a chance to win a $300 Element Drop Spot bench rail. Greg Diaz took the early lead when he stuck a front blunt backside bigspin out. That trick held up until close to the final whistle when Anthony Hunter landed nollie nose slide, Slax stuck the same trick as Diaz and Timmy Cazaras did a 50-50 up the rail. But it was Steven Rodriguez who took the Element Best Trick win with a kickflip back feeble.

There is no doubt that the crowd in Boerne were treated to a full day of top notch skating and everyone seemed to have a great time. DJ XBoyRD killed it in the Skullcandy music tent and local artists Aaron Moreno from Gravel Mouth and David Almaguer and Gabe “Safari” Hernandez from Third Vision Collective busted out some of the sickest art decks of the series in the Sector 9 “Inspiration Station”.

Stop #5 of the RAT Tour was made possible with support from Scion and local dealer Scion of Boerne, Monster Energy Drink, Cricket Wireless, Skullcandy, Spy Optic, Skateboarder Magazine, Sector 9, Element Skateboards, Already Been Chewed, Neff Headwear, Theeve Trucks and Sk8te Skins. Additional support provided by local skate shops including Evolution, Good Times, Flips, TSR and Fast Forward.

Huge thanks to all of the skaters, sponsors, artists, judges, friends and families who came out and made our first trip to Boerne another successful stop for the 2011 RAT Skate series!

To see more pictures and a video edit from the event go to www.SkateTheRat.com.

For more information, media inquiries, photo’s and/or video contact geigermedia@sbcglobal.net

RAT #5 Video Edit

Full recap including action shots and video edit will be posted asap.

October 16th, 2011 – BOERNE, TX – The Fall leg of the 2011 RAT Skate Tour presented by Scion continues this Saturday, October 22th at the Boerne Skate Park located at 524 Adler Road in Boerne, TX. (just north of San Antonio). The event will feature some of the top amateur street skaters in the region competing in Park and Best Trick competitions for over $1000 in cash and prizes.

“Just like Brushy Creek a couple weeks ago, this is a new park for us,” said tour organizer Bill Geiger. “But we are looking forward to it. It’s a sweet little plaza style course in a very chill south Texas setting”

The series will wrap up in Dallas on November 12th so this is the second to last opportunity for riders to earn valuable points towards the overall series Grand Prize. At the conclusion of the series, both the top street and bowl points earners from the six RAT stops will receive an all expense paid trip to spend a week skating with the pro’s at Element Skate camp in Northern California. Check it out at skatecamp.org.

In addition to the skate competition, every RAT event is a mini-lifestyle festival featuring live art created on-site by local artists in the Sector 9 “Inspiration Station”, music from DJ – XBoyRD presented by Skullcandy , free drinks and swag from the Monster Energy Promo Team, vendor displays and tons of chances to win great prizes from local skate shops and series sponsors.

Stop #5 of the RAT Tour is made possible with support from Scion and local dealer Scion of Boerne, Monster Energy Drink, Cricket Wireless, Skullcandy, Spy Optic, Skateboarder Magazine, Sector 9, Element Skateboards, Already Been Chewed, Neff Headwear, Theeve Trucks and Sk8te Skins. Additional support provided by local skate shops including Evolution, Good Times, Flips, TSR and Fast Forward.

“This is the only event on the tour that features street ONLY since they have not built a bowl at the new Boerne Park yet,” said Geiger. “But we have been getting tons of insanely talented street skaters on the tour this year so we’re gonna take our time and enjoy the mayhem!”
The event is FREE for spectators. On-line registration for riders is just $15.00 and will secure a spot in the competition. Registration is $20 on day of event. Action is scheduled to start at 12 noon. Competitors can register here on the Rat web site.

For more information, media inquiries, photo’s and/or video contact geigermedia@sbcglobal.net

The action started in the bowl with 30 skaters split in to four heats. Each rider got two one-minute runs and the top two from each heat advanced to an eight-man final. The riders who advanced included Rainey Beres, Eddie Sanchez, Reese Barton, Zack Castillo, Sean Greene, Michael Pennington, Mason Flynt and Logan Cogswell.

With a huge crowd surrounding the kidney shaped bowl, each rider took a one-minute solo run followed by a five-minute semi-organized jam. The bowl was smaller then the massive bowls at previous RAT events in Dallas, OKC and Houston, but the action was equally intense. After a couple of short rain delays, the contest wrapped and the judges had their work cut-out for them trying to rank the top six who would all get paid.

There was no question as to the top spot as San Antonio’s Rainey Beres brought his A-game. Beres is so smooth and fun to watch. He attacked the coping, blasted huge airs over the hip and mixed in some hand-plant combinations and crazy roll-ins during his winning run. Second place went to RAT Tour regular Eddie Sanchez who is also from San Antonio and is no stranger to the series podium. Eddie dished out his usual bag of tech tricks including big benihannas, kickflips and blunt variations on the coping. Sean Greene made the trip down from Dallas and snagged his first ever RAT podium finish…and he did most of it riding backwards. Greene killed it with switch run that included a frontside 5-0, switch disaster and a sweet backside 360 on the transition. Reese Barton, Zack Castillo and Logan Cogswell rounded out the top six and they all received cash and prizes for their efforts.

For the street portion of the competition, 61 riders where split into six heats with the top three in each heat advancing to the semi-finals. Once again, the weather came into play delaying the action in the early rounds. The 18 riders who advanced where split in to two heats of nine with the top three in each heat advancing to a six-man final where everyone would get paid.

Five of the six riders that advanced to the finals are no strangers to the tour, and they are ALL rippers. The three riders who advanced from semi #1 were Bryce Trevino, Austin Maybrey and Ryan Holloway. Heat #2 saw Max Taylor, Drake Flores and series points leader Taylor Jett move on. All three have finished on top of the RAT podium at previous events so the finals promised to deliver a full-blown Texas throwdown! With the rain delays throughout the day, it was getting late…but the crowd was still hanging in there ready watch the street finals, unfortunately, seconds before the final jam got underway the skies opened up and instead we got a full-blown Texas turd floater!

With darkness quickly approaching and a forecast that promised it was only going to get worse, we had to make a call. We discussed coming back to finish up on Sunday, but the forecast was even worse. Instead, the soggy top six riders all agreed to split the purse evenly and everyone walked away a winner.

“It’s a bummer that we did not get to have a true final round”, said tour organizer Bill Geiger, “But I was watching the weather all week long and it looked sketchy…all things considered, I am stoked that we got in as much skating as we did. It was a full day of shredding!”

Stop #4 of the RAT Tour was made possible with support from Scion and local dealer Round Rock Scion, Monster Energy Drink, Cricket Wireless, Skullcandy, Spy Optic, Skateboarder Magazine, Sector 9, Element Skateboards, Already Been Chewed, Neff Headwear, Theeve Trucks, Light Bohrd, Vans and Sk8te Skins. Additional support provided by local skate shops including The District, Apparition, No Comply, Fast Forward, Rukus and Capitol.

Dr Dubist manned the Skullcandy DJ booth and local artists Alberto Kroger DID WORK in the Sector 9 Inspiration Station. Wahoos also came out to sling some fish taco’s to the crowd and they kept all the riders fed in the Scion Rider VIP tent.

“I have to give a huge shout out to all of our partners as well as the riders and their friends and families and to the City of Cedar Park for helping us have another successful event,” said Geiger. “ It was a great way to kick-off the fall leg of the 2011 series!”

In two weeks the RAT Skate Tour heads to the Boerne Skate Park in Boerne, Texas just north of San Antonio. The Boerne Park is in a great rustic setting and features a plaza style street course. They currently do not have a bowl in Boerne (that’s planned for phase two of the young facility), so the event will just include a street competition in addition to the Element “Best Trick” rail contest. Riders can register here on-line at www.skatetherat.com.

Check out the photo gallery at:

CLICK HERE TO VIEW COURTNEY G’S PHOTO DROPBOX