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Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years, skateboarding is now one of the most popular extreme sports and a big business in America. Data found that skateboarders today are about 18 million strong worldwide. Skateboarding is a relatively modern sport, it originated as "sidewalk surfing" in the United States particularly California, in the 1950's. Skateboarding is often portrayed in the media as an extreme sport, but has also been described as a form of art, a hobby, a job or as a method of transportation. We say this dynamic sport is all of the above mentioned.

When we were doing a Sports Unlimited special from San Diego, California a few years back. We were told that there is a Fil-Am pro skateboarder sensation living in San Diego that we just have to meet, Willy Santos was born in Subic Bay, Olongapo City and then moved to California. To be honest, we had never heard of Willy Santos before, maybe that's because we were not really exposed to the skateboarding world, but if we did, we would have automatically known that the name Willy Santos in skateboarding is big. Willy is a veteran pro skateboarder who has been featured in numerous ESPN skateboarding specials all throughout his career. Willy is an "idol" to many young American skateboarders, when we went with him to a public skate park in San Diego, skaters were star-struck, and literally stopped skating, and all we heard was, "It's Willy Santos, it’s him, it’s Willy!", he caused a frenzy at the skate park and when he started to skate, everyone at the park watched him with "goo-goo" eyes that had "I want to be like Willy Santos someday"

Willie travels the world skateboarding, one of his favorite places to visit is of course where his roots are from the Philippines, this trip for Willy is all about "Skate to Educate" which is a fund raising project where Willy will be auctioning some of his personal belongings like skateboards, shoes, shirts and autographed photos. Believe me, we've realized now that if you are a skateboarder, or an enthusiast of the sport, having stuff that belonged to Willy Santos is a prized possession, and anything signed personally by Willy is guaranteed bragging material. For this fund raising project, Willy hooked up with heart throb actor Diether Ocampo and his K.I.D.S. Foundation that benefits 100 scholars. Proceeds of the auction will go to further the cause of Dieter's foundation which seeks to uphold children's rights and to uplift poor children's standard of living through scholarship grants.

Being able to say that you own one of Willy Santos's personal skateboards and also knowing that your money went to help uplift a poor child's standard of living, that's bragging rights, plus getting the unmatched fulfillment that comes with making a difference in people's lives. Props to Diether for his efforts in giving back to the less fortunate and brightening their future.

From the beginning, skateboarders had the reputation of being "rebels" that would include Willy. Well, this is what we're saying, if Willy Santos is a "rebel", we like "rebel" and we are very proud that this "rebel" is Pinoy. Saludo kami sayo Willy Santos!

One of the highlights of our day at this event was learning the basics of skateboarding from the master himself.

The skateboard competition that was open to all ages and all nationalities was a freestyle type of competition where the skaters had the freedom to let loose on their boards and bust out their best tricks for 10 minutes. Competitors had the bar or the handrail to use, there was also the picnic table obstacle with benches attached on the sides, there were the quarter pipes, and also the wedge ramps. Extreme was in the air during this Boys’ Division Finals, The top 6 skaters who made it to this final stage were the top 6 out of 47 participants in the elimination rounds. Warning, if you are not a competitive level skateboarder, do not try any of these tricks at home. As you can see, there is the potential of getting hurt if you do not know how to complete these tricks, as well as not knowing how to fall and control your board if you are unable to complete the trick. The crowd was mesmerized by the fearlessness of these skaters. It takes a lot of nerves to even try some of these stunts. Take the bar or handrail for example. It's made of pure metal, a slight slip and loss of board control and the bar can end up between your legs which would spell a big ouch! I'm guessing that the obstacle with the picnic table and the benches on the side came about when skateboarders went skating by the park and they started getting adventurous maybe, and then one day they decided to jump on the empty picnic table that they so often would pass by. Before skate parks, skateboarders had to use whatever was available to them to practice their tricks, a possible theory don't you think?

These skaters are really giving it their all, pushing themselves to the limit.

It goes without saying that to be a competitive skateboarder you need to be a risk taker. Unfortunately at times, you pay a high price. Moi-Moi Ortega dislocated his foot and had to be brought to the hospital, to his credit though, he still took 3rd place, 2nd place went to Jasper Brown and Rasheed Al-Sheed won 1st place. What a show all these 6 finalists put on.


Jennifer Rosales
It was a hot day out and the champion was out in the green working on her swing with long time coach Bong Lopez. What a treat to see the smooth movement of a world class golfer so up close. Jenny was working on high pitching shots and got most of her balls to exactly where she wanted them. This is what becoming a world champs entails. Hours of practice aiming the ball at precise spots, perfecting the swing. Jenny says winning the world cup, her confidence is back up.

She is ecstatic about winning and is not strong enough to play many tournaments around the world this year. And here’s a tip for golfers who want to improve their game. Something that has helped Jenny tremendously with all aspects of her golf.

I brought a few clubs and couldn’t resist taking a few swings and asking Bong and Jenny how it could be improved. Jenny has a wonderful relationship with coach Bong Lopez he is much more than mentor. Jenny spent just a couple of minutes on the putting green, coach Bong says its not really how long you practice but that you get the quality. When you get the feel, you could be done. Jennifer Rosales. Another Pinay proudly representing the Philippine flag in the world scene of golf. Go, go jenny from all of us at Sports Unlimited….We pray for a smashing year ahead!

Mamiit and Taino
It is inspiring to be around good tennis. So if you do want to get good in this sport, that’s one tip. Surround yourself sa mga magagaling….. I had a few balls to Eric and he was like a brick wall, nothing went through, everything came back even stronger. Volleys are always put away shots. Constant practice of the right motion will give you that solid volley needed to win points.

If you don’t have a serve in tennis you can forget about winning any match. It’s super important. Even though Cecil is not very tall he makes up by having well placed and consistent serves. That’s hope for us Filipinos. He has a beautiful motion. I’ve always wanted to improve my service stroke and I got a great tip from Cecil, Sarap when you hit the ball well. Thanks guys, keep up the good work, you are certainly an inspiration to all Filipinos. Mabuhay Philippine tennis!

To the delight of the audience, Willy Santos showed the stuff that he's made of by doing a 20-minute demo together with the finalists of the competition. Willy's coming here will surely inspire many who saw him skate today especially our Pinoy skateboarders who now know that Willy too is Pinoy and because he is they can say, " kung kaya ni Willy.. Kaya rin natin”

Here's some Sports Unlimited advice which we are sure Willy Santos, Jennifer Rosales and Cecil Mamiit will second. No matter what anyone says, press on and follow your dream!