Skateboarding
Skateboarding
Joey Brezinski's Skatepark Review hits up the incredible Candyland
Join Joey Brezinski, his sidekick Rip and special guest Kevin Sikes as they survey the incredible DIY community skatepark in Orlando, Florida.
Eastwards our intrepid duo head as Joey and Rip take their critical eyes to the sizzling skatepark terrain of the Florida panhandle.
Candyland, on the outskirts of Orlando, is the first spot the boys pitch up to. A heart-and-soul DIY affair, they are shown around by local don Kevin Sikes who explains how donated obstacles turn up without explanation.
Nearby skate shop Galactic G has been serving the Orlando skate scene for 25 years, and as well as a tour of their stylish store, Joey marshalls some of the shop team to throw down in an all-afternoon session at what is a really unique community project, complete with a pump track.
After a full session and some park history, Joey and Rip grade the park against previous reviews from their series, before hopping back in the van, sliding out into the night and beginning another chapter on the road with Skatepark Review.
Next time out, we’re dropping into the legendary Skatepark of Tampa.
Continue scrolling to see more official reviews from Joey and discover which skateparks are definitely worth a visit.
Joey Brezinski’s Official Skatepark Review: Linda Vista
14 min
Linda Vista
Joey Brezinski meets up with Neen Williams to shred San Diego’s Linda Vista skatepark.
Put simply, Linda Vista skatepark is one of the best in the world today. Started by a community petition in 2013, the skatepark just north of San Diego features 35,000 sq ft (10,700 sq m) of perfect terrain in every imaginable permutation from full-pipes to slappy kerbs and every feature in between. Completed in 2018 after more than a year under construction, the skatepark is a must-see if you're ever skating in California and is heavily frequented by professionals, so the sessions are sure to be lit every evening.
Joey’s crew for this gala episode of Official Skatepark Review include the inimitable Rip, the superb Carter Oeflein and pro skaters Neen Williams and Jagger Eaton, who bust out in response to this near-perfect skate scenario.
Linda Vista skatepark is as close to heaven as skateboarding gets: enjoy the experience above!
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Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: Old Carlsbad Skatepark
11 min
Old Carlsbad
Joey Brezinski, 'Rip' and Paul Hart venture to find out what Old Carlsbad skatepark has to offer.
Carlsbad in north San Diego county is another one of those seaside cities in California which has a huge footprint in skate culture. Mike McGill’s skatepark was there way back in the early Bones Brigade era, and the moguls of the original Carlsbad Skatepark were considered some of the first purpose-built concrete skate terrain in the world. The grass gap at Carlsbad High School was one of street skating’s early proving grounds – and Danny Way’s famous XYZ skateshop was based here, too.
So to business: will the confusingly titled (and relatively new) Old Carlsbad Skatepark continue that legacy of gnarliness?
Decide for yourself, as Joey links up with former Cliché Skateboards team-mate Paul Hart to review the idiosyncratic charms of one of California’s more unusual legal shred-spots: just hit that player above!
Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: Pacific Highlands
12 min
Pacific Highlands
Joey Brezinski and 'Rip' review California's first concrete pump track: Pacific Highlands in San Diego.
One of the very best things about making a big day out of skating is trying to find the opportunity to hit as many different terrains as possible. In a place like California that can often mean driving between spots, in traffic surges over which you have zero control, having to warm up and re-stoke at every spot. This, my friends, is the beauty of Pacific Highlands Ranch skatepark and pumptrack, which sits not far inland from the Carmel Valley turn-off leaving the vast Interstate 5 freeway that runs between Los Angeles and San Diego.
Pacific Highlands like all multi-use spaces, has the advantage of offering many terrains versus the many users a multiple offering can attract, becoming what you might think of as a sort of alternative gymnasia. As Ace Pelka points out however, when the plaza fills up you can just go to the pump track, or vice versa. Just consider timing when planning your visit.
Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: Chicano Park
12 min
Chicano Park
Joey Brezinski, Rip and special guest Carter Oeflein skate the updated Chicano Park in the heart of San Diego.
Joey Brezinski’s Skatepark Review heads south this time out, as the gang hop in the van and head down the well-traversed number 5 freeway to San Diego, California’s southernmost city. For a relatively small city, San Diego has played a pivotal role in the history of skate culture in the USA, not least because of its modern (read ‘perfectly skateable’) architecture and relative proximity to Oceanside, once the home of the all-dominating Transworld Skateboarding magazine. Chicano Skatepark is a different proposition to many of the outdoor spaces previously scoped in the series.
Created in 2015 from what was a street spot with financial help from the Tony Hawk Foundation, Chicano Skatepark is to be found in the predominantly Hispanic Barrio Logan neighbourhood. Certainly one of the most distinctive legal skate spaces in the entirety of California, Chicano Skatepark and the transition-heavy Washington Street park just a little further north guarantee a bust-free day of skating in one of America’s safest, cleanest cities. Mix that with some Mexican street food and you have yourself a gala day by the bay!
Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: The Ashtray
9 min
The Ashtray
We head down to Leucadia, California, to check out the local skatepark with pro skateboarder Kenny Hoyle.
Welcome one and all as we continue with our whistle-stop review tour of Californian skateparks with Joey Brezinski in which he and his wide circle of skating comrades break down the good, the bad and the ugly of the great state’s concrete terrain for the wild and wayward youth to get down upon. Leucadia Oaks skatepark – known locally as 'The Ashtray' – on the road south out of LA toward San Diego is the stomping ground of pro skater Kenny Hoyle, who joins Joey, Rip and Carter Oeflein to shred the park’s unusual terrain and rate the quirky little spot overall.
The mellow, forgiving banks are great for learning lip tricks and if you get hungry then a famous fish burrito restaurant called Fish 101 is right across the road, so at the very least there is enough to occupy you for an afternoon should you find yourself in the area.
Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: Poods Park
13 min
Poods Park
Joey Brezinski, Kelly Hart and, of course, their pal 'Rip' hit up Poods Park in Encinitas, California.
Aaaaand we’re back… and this week we’ve got a special, special, special guest in the Nine Club’s very own Kelly Hart. Joey and his mysterious sidekick Rip pitch up in Encinitas to check out their 34,000 sq ft [10,300 sq m] mega-park, the design of which was overseen by Kanten Russell and which opened just five short years ago. Poods Park on Santa Fe Drive in Los Angeles is named after Ian ‘Poods’ Barry, a skateboarder who passed away in 2012.
With locals Dylan Jaeb and Carter Oeflein on hand to share some of their park knowledge and power moves around the space, this review scores big on all fronts and sets a high benchmark for the other parks which the boys have coming up over the next weeks.
Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: Gardena Skatepark
9 min
Gardena Skatepark
Joey Brezinski reviews the amenities at the skatepark in Arthur Lee Johnson Memorial in Gardena.
Although it's referred to throughout Los Angeles as Gardena skatepark, there are in fact a couple of parks in the neighbourhood, so if you need to dial in your cellphone map or Uber driver be sure to stick Arthur Johnson Skatepark into the search bar to make sure you come up on this bad boy. As Joey points out above, the park is what is nominally described as a street plaza, featuring as it does ledges, banks and the small stair sets which are a feature of urban design in many American cities, but particularly in the open-plan outdoor design of Californian ones.
One challenge that re-creating these urban spaces authentically throws up to skatepark designers is the use of aluminium edging, to prevent against wear and tear. While it does that job excellently, aluminium offers close to zero resistance which can make it extremely treacherous to skate, particularly on ledges in that stumbling height range halfway up your shin, where it becomes difficult to measure the pop of your Ollie. Catch Joey and Rip casting their sideways glances at the park in more detail on the player above, and join us next time out for a surprise invite to one of LA’s most coveted skate spaces!
Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: The Berrics
13 min
The Berrics
Joey Brezinski and his friend 'Rip' review the amenities at The Berrics skatepark in Los Angeles, California.
The Berrics has revolutionised the concept of what a skatepark could be and do. For 12 years and at two locations it's become the indoor proving ground for skaters from around the world and a favoured hangout in the city of angels. The skateboarding industry has certainly benefited from The Berrics skatepark, but what was revolutionary about The Berrics was the foresight to use the space as a content hub as well. The Berrics is also the first indoor park featured in this season’s series of Skatepark Review, and as Joey and his posse discover, it has so many features – from brick banks to jersey barriers as well as the huge sections which you might recognise from any number of Bangin’ or Battle Commanders over the years. From parking-lot curbs to mobile Euro- gaps, Donovan Strain shows us around as Sewa Kroetkov and Paul Hart swing by to throw down some hammers on the hallowed terrain. With a custom-built skatepark of course Joey’s ratings will be high, but can The Berrics record Joey’s first-ever clean sweep on the end-of-show ratings breakdown?
Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: Chevy Chase
13 min
Chevy Chase
Join American street skateboarder Joey Brezinski as he checks out the features of the Chevy Chase Skatepark.
Located in one of those outdoor civic spaces America does so well, the Chevy Chase Skatepark sits on the corner of a green space, with a corner shop, a food stand, barbecue pits and a couple of little street features dotted around the edge. One of the most unusual features for an LA plaza park is the presence of a concrete mini-ramp; rare precisely because they're mercilessly unforgiving to slam on, but a welcome addition to ledge-heavy spaces. At 10,500 square feet [975 square metres] of concrete, Chevy Chase (as it's known around town) attracts a fair few pro skaters, who can avail themselves of some hassle-free skate time in downtown LA. Stefan Janoski is a frequent visitor and you might even spot healthy-eating heelflip maestro Neen Williams grilling up in the shade of the surrounding trees before the session begins. Enjoy Joey and Rip battling it out at an instant winner of a new LA skatepark above and join them next time out as they continue their rampage rating and slating the skatepark terrain of Southern California!
Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: Lincoln Plaza
10 min
Joey Brezinski Official Skatepark Review tour of LA
Lincoln Skatepark gets the once-over from our tag team of testers and the occasional skating guest.
Located a little under three miles east of downtown Los Angeles lies Lincoln Park skate plaza, unusual in that it incorporates some flowing downhill forms which form aspects of a mellow snake run. The gradient layout gives way in the form of a short stair set to a smaller plaza layout, with those treacherous smaller stair ledges and rails which should always be afforded some respect – because they can be stumble-inducingly lethal! With an overall size of 9,000 square feet (836 square metres), design input from Lance Mountain and located – as it is – within a park which features barbecue pits and picnic tables, you can stay here from first light to dusk. With that said, it obviously gets busy after school and at weekends so plan ahead!
Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: Redlands
10 min
Joey Brezinski Official Skatepark Review - Redlands
Joey Brezinski and his main man Rip continue their endless grind through the skatepark situations of Greater Los Angeles - this time out, Redlands!
Off we go hightailing through LA traffic with Joey Brezinski and Rip to visit Redlands skatepark, a creation that took over a decade to come to life and was funded in part by the Tony Hawk Foundation. Built by California Skateparks, the park is, as Brezinski and his wingman Rip discover, something of a game of two halves. As is often the case in California, the session stepped-up a gear when a local ripper appears and drops some insider moves that can come only with experience of any given obstacle's particular quirks. Accentuating the positives, a perfect bowl and a wide-open snakerun add a whole other dimension to the park and prevent it from being purely the preserve of the one-push brigade, as street parks with crossing lines sometimes can be. The other tip from the boys is, of course, to choose your timing wisely. As a community park, Redlands is obviously going to be crowded on Sundays, as any shared space should be. Go early, go late, be polite, have fun, don't litter and enjoy.
Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: Yucaipa
10 min
Joey Brezinski reviews Yucaipa skatepark
Jojo Brezinski and Rip head out to San Bernardino to consider Yucaipa skatepark.
Now as you are surely aware through your own skating experiences, the term ‘skatepark’ is a pretty broad umbrella.
From vast concrete behemoths to tarmac monstrosities, occasionally empty and sometimes populated by the cast of Children of the Corn, skateparks have the capacity to be amazing or terrible – and indeed all points in between. Some skateparks perform the clever role of being so badly put together that they present a fun challenge just to negotiate – but sadly, others just plain suck. In episode two of their tour of Southern California, Jojo Brezinski and the elusive Rip soldier through two hours of traffic to savour the questionable charms of Yucaipa skatepark in San Bernardino before delivering their verdict.
Joey Brezinski's Official Skatepark Review: Stoner Plaza
10 min
Joey Brezinski reviews Stoner Plaza
Joey Brezinski and 'Rip' review one of Southern California's most relished skateparks: Stoner Plaza.
Hello and welcome to Joey Brezinski’s all-new, whistle-stop tour of the great, the good and the… less-so… of California's skateparks! Starting with his personal neighbourhood favourite, LA’s famous Stoner park, Jojo is joined by mysterious and generally hungry mystery man Rip, who's rocked up in a fetching all-over bodysuit number in order to protect his something from something else (don’t ask). As the big man mentions himself in episode one in the player above, this is a rolling (natch!) project so hit us up with your suggestions and we'll endeavour to have Joey and his sidekick swing by and cast their wry eyeballs over what’s good in your neighbourhood.
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