Tag: Nike SB

First off, let us start with some facts about this tour.

The Facts.

  1. On this trip, we had Vincent Huhta, David Jakinda, Hugo Corbin, Santiago Sasson, Marc-A Barbier & Juan Saavedra.
  2. It was a nine-day trip.
  3. We had one full dry day.
  4. Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Lille were the places we traveled to.
  5. In Holland, we stayed on a houseboat.
  6. We spoke a lot of our own little twisted Brazillian influenced Portuguese (or that was what we were thinking).
  7. Obrigado, irmao, vagundo, caralhao, poa, valeu, todo, junto, vagabundo where the words of choice.
  8. I got to wear that sweet ass Palace Avirex Jacket for a hot minute and flex for a bit.
  9. Juan Saavedra uses beard oil to keep his shit looking correct.
  10. Santiago did the best line we have ever seen from him. It was like a stripper jumping out of a birthday cake.
  11. David & Vincent are like brothers from different mothers. The only difference other than the obvious being that David packs like a Kardashian & Vincent packs like a 1920’s train-hopping blues singer.
  12. Marc-A Barbier really loves to facetime with his girlfriend.
  13. Both filmers have very similar names Petr and Peter. They also shared a bed which was easy when we needed to wake them up.
  14. Scandinavians are simply better at life than the rest of us.
  15. Hugo Corbin got injured on day one and had to go back home.
  16. Bringing a Nintendo Switch was necessary even though I was skeptical at first.
  17. Juan’s phone got stolen 🙁
  18. Barabakaa is a Russian street spy and he will capture anything weird going on in the streets. Trust me watch the video!
  19. Belgium has the best fries, Holland has the best-fried food and France thinks they have the best cheese! (I can already hear Santi, & Marc-A protesting)
  20. We played a lot of bar sports but surprisingly didn’t drink that much.
  21. Marc-A Barbier is the best house guest ever, he cleaned the boat every morning. Marc-A “Tu es bonne à marier!”
  22. Santiago ordered way to much Nike stuff to the house so all of our guests ended up getting a nice pre-Christmas present.
  23. IT RAINED 8 OUT OF 9 DAYS!
David Jakinda – On his way to the airport while being blessed by some fresh drops.

The Weather.

So basically this tour was preceded by some of the best weather Europe had seen in a long time. Like the year before it seemed like we would be having an almost endless summer. But as luck would have it, as the tour grew closer so did the clouds. As soon as we all arrived in Amsterdam (our meet up point) the signs weren’t good.

What was good though was the food, we went to:

  1. A Dutch-style snack bar. (also known in some regions of the Netherlands as brown fruit)
  2. We ate Surinam food.
  3. Iranian food.
  4. Indonesian food (must have).
  5. Belgian fries.
  6. Traditional Chinese food (fried pork belly!).
  7. Had some German meat-heavy food.
  8. Thai-French fusion.
  9. And every morning someone made sure we had fresh eggs, some juice, coffee, toast, yogurt, and Nutella.
Saté sauce, mayonaise & onions that is what the Dutch call “Patatje Oorlog”. Vincent Huhta caught some shrapnel in the snack bar.
Traditional Dutch food.

The Travels.

During this trip we traveled by train, which to be honest is still the nicest way to trave because nobody is forced to drive, we didn’t have to go through security, there is enough room for all the bags and you can still buy coffee in the vehicle without stopping. Also, Greta Thunberg travels that way so…

The Places.

We also have to give it up for all the great parking garages inside of the cities of Rotterdam and Antwerp. The security guards also let us have our fun so an S/O is in place!

David Ja-king-da!
Juan Saavedra – Backside Tailslide in Antwerp.

The Homeys.

We also had some great guests in both of those cities Pascal Moelaert, Aaron Tiekink, Sneep, Ziggy Schaap, Alex Raeymaekers, Yannick Gores & Wallem. You guys really helped guide us through the raindrops to the right spots at the right time. Without really ever complaining, chapeau!

The BFF’s.

Vincent Huhta and David Jakinda have been best friends for a long time. How far back? Well, David told me his mom used to grip Vincent’s board when he stayed over at their house when they were young.

This was their first tour together and when we asked them they both said I’ll go if he goes. Vincent even cut short a London trip just so he could come skate with David. Obviously they roomed together the entire trip and it feels like they motivated each other a lot as well not only verbally but also by actions.

When one would film a trick and was having a hard time the other usually skated the spot with him just to back him up and keep the vibe right. Which often resulted in us getting way more tricks from both of them at spots that weren’t typical. They would often make it a little sesh together and all we had to do was point and shoot.

Because of their bond, they also were at ease at almost all locations and truth be told just fun and easy to be around their friendship also extended and made us all as a group become a bit closer as well and that is worth a lot.

When you get to that early 2000’s Osiris level!

The Shops.

Last but not least all the skate shops, Ben-G, Skatestore Rotterdam, Lockwood & Zeropolis are all places that helped us and help their scenes on a daily basis. We all know that with the current situation things aren’t easy for them so don’t forget them and show them your support in both easy and hard times.

Bomb drop – Marc-A Barbier
Time to press play and hit the switch, Nintendo that is!

In Cooperation with Nike SB.

Photo & Video by Barabakaa.

Additional filming by Peter Buikema

This article was written by Roland Hoogwater.

Belgium is a small but great nation, there something is in the water there and we are not talking about piss, beer or grease from the many places where you can get great fries.

No…look at the talent ratio, Phil Zwijsen, Jonathan Thijs, Youness Amrani, Maité Steenhoudt, Geoffrey van Hove and arguably at the top Jarne.

He has come back from a lot and it is safe to say that it has made him better! This is his best part yet and we are happy that we are getting more in the future. But for now, CONGRATS Jarne & Guillaume on a great job done!

What do you get when you put our favorite host Lea Isabell together with a very special shoe, THE SHANE? What does the shoe look like, what does it feel like, How does it smell? And do humans actually have a different opinion about footwear than animals do?

Text by Roland Hoogwater.

Photos by Louis Deschamps & Roland Hoogwater.

Denny Pham was blown away by Shane’s new shoe!

Besides that, we get Hyun Kummer, Denny Pham, Sascha Scharf and many others flying through the air onto our little L.A. safe-haven called 7th Street. What do the winners feel after they land their tricks? Well, watch Lea & Louis ask those hard-hitting questions as well.

Hyun Kummer definitely pushed Mr. O’Neill’s shoe to the limit by blasting from the kicker to the bench multiple times.
Another Shane wearing “THE SHANE”.

Last but certainly not least, did you watch Shane’s new part yet? You might have it has only been all over the interwebs but what did the people who got to watch it first, the people who got to go to the world premiere think of the king of the “flip in flip out” newest part?

The Butcher got himself a prime spot for the world premiere of ‘The Extra Bit”
The crowd seemed to love it as well.

Well, find out your doggone self! Press play already and watch Episode 2 of our Place.tv series.

Nike SB thank you for supporting this episode of Place.tv also available through the Nike APP.

What do they say at the end of most movies again? Oh yeah, “FIN”!

Let us all remember, it is a big fucking deal to get your own shoe on Nike. But Shane O’Neill is just that a big deal!

As quiet as he is with his talking and his dressing he still is loud when it comes to skating. From big spin fs blunts big spin flips out to Nollie Crooks nollie flip late shove it’s, he does it all.

Compliments to Mr. O’Neill on his shoe but also compliments on creating (one of) his best flowing parts to date.


Jarne Verbruggen Raw Footage is always a sight to behold. And these tricks, trips, and memories must hold a special place in the videography of both Jarne & Guillaume Périmony.

Truth be told you should not only watch this but also read this to fully understand how this project came together.

Much respect to all involved, now just simply press play and watch one of our favorite skaters at work.

PUNK! That is what Mobina and Melika are. why, you might ask? Well, first of all, they are DIY people. Coming to Germany together with their whole family and finding a new way in a country, a society & a city that bares at best small resemblances to where you were born. That said, they took on that challenge and are well on their way of knocking it out of the park. All while staying humble but not shy and they are certainly not shy! HIGH ENERGY, that is what they bring, jokes for days, a lust for life that in all honesty, we haven’t seen that often. Mobina (18) is a wild child, dancing at parties, skating with the pros, finding out about all that Berlin has to offer while still maintaining a serious attitude to her education. Melika (15) is a bit more relaxed, strong-willed on the board, not afraid to take a slam or even go back to get what she feels she can land. All while putting great value into people treating each other with kindness and respect, she doesn’t suffer fools lightly either and will let her opinion be known. At the same time, they both like to pull pranks on one another, pretend like they hate each other saying things like “You make me want to vomit!”. But in all honesty, it is a game and they are playing the game well and have fun doing it together!

Text by Roland Hoogwater / Photography by Tina Willim.

We first met Melika Nazari one and a half years ago at Heidelberger skatepark in Berlin, a random skatepark to be at, if you are a young upstarting skater in the German capital. The transitions are steep, the ledge and the flatbar are pretty high & the flat ground is not the most fun but Melika found her way.

We all skated for about an hour after which our crew sat down, immediately Melika introduced herself and started asking questions:

“Who are you? What are your names? Where are you from? Do you skate here often? What are your IG handles?”

Melika Nazari.

Needless to say, we where a bit overwhelmed but at the same time she was nice to us and obviously so interested in skateboarding that we obliged her and she made a real impression on us. It was only when we fired some questions back at her that we found out she wasn’t German, she was a refugee from Afghanistan. That fact almost seemed unreal to us because she was fluent in German (no real accent) and dressed like a skater no shyness either, it just showed us not to judge a book by its cover.

“Drag & Drop” only works on computers girls!

I met Melika a couple more times and each time she showed a lot of improvement, she had found a new home at the better-suited skatepark DOG SHIT SPOT. And that is where they really became a part of the Berlin skate scene. People have opened their arms and welcomed them in, helping them with boards, shoes and all the little things so that they could continue to skate.

Fast forward to November the 10th, at the Nike SB Shelter in Berlin to be exact. That Sunday we first saw the girls in their natural form… together. It was at the Skate For More Session that was part of the then-new Just Do It Campaign of which both sisters were a big part. That day hosted best tricks, a race, a potential to vote for a new Bowl section but most of all they stood out by co-hosting the workshops, investing their energy into giving back to new often young skaters from all walks of life.

Question:

How does a person that flees Afghanistan via Iran ending up in Berlin find skateboarding? Drop-In that is how! DROP-IN is a foundation that hosts projects for Refugees and as the founder Joest Schmidt explained uses sporting activities to engage in education and integration of new-comers into German society. Mobina & Melika entered a summer program that helped teach German, showed them the city and introduced them to their first love Skateboarding.

They were hooked from day one, we offered other sporting activities but they were only interested in one thing. If we would go swimming they would ask if they could go skate instead.

Joest Schmidt, Drop-In Founder.

Joest being a skateboarder himself obviously obliged them and so their journey began. Their German language skills developed at least as fast as their skating did, that is in part due to the fact that Drop-In’s courses involve mixing local Berlin kids in with the Refugees creating the necessity for both to find a way to get out of their comfort zone and talk to each other.

Mobina enjoying her first 15-minutes of fame.

“That and the fact that we where hanging out at the skatepark a lot, really helped us learn German fast! We had to try and talk on a daily basis we couldn’t stay in our own language bubble.” Melika tells us.

Now within three years, they don’t only still attend skate classes, they are able to host them and teach new people, in a sense closing the circle that Drop-In created.

Imagine this, they came to Germany 3 years ago, found a new hobby, sport, art… whatever you want to call skateboarding and within 2 years they were not only fluent in German but also good enough at skating that they could stand in front of a group of native speakers and teach them their new hobby, their new lifestyle.

Joest Schmidt, Drop-In Founder.
Mobina & Melika together with their girlfriends

As I said in the intro they are PUNK, they might not dress like PUNKS did in the ’80s but they are “Do It Yourself” people taking their own route and not following the mold that other refugees, skaters or teens have followed in the past. For a lot of girls with Muslim backgrounds, a lot of activity can be forbidden depending on the strictness of their religion. Riding a bike is one of those activities but skateboarding is so new that it is not Haram so it can be practiced freely. And even though skateboarding is an activity that you perform alone it is something that you do together with your friends, culture, heritage, age, ethnicity all fall to the side the only thing that counts is “are you a real skater?” and if you can fulfill that requirement you can hang.

So to close it off, this is, of course, a story about two young women who through hard work and having an open attitude managed to find their way into Berlin. But more than that it is a story about skateboarding, social work and that special mix that can help people from all walks of life.

Mobina called this one the Pineapple.

This year marks 10 years of Stefan’s shoe with Nike SB. As such we get multiple looks, we get Trust Fall, we get a talk in Paris and now we get a look at his creative side paired with some really good skateboard moves.

All things being as they may this is a really cool look behind the curtain and into what Stefan does on the daily.

So, a little earlier this month Nike hosted a day where the Skatehalle Berlin was opened up to the public and as you have come to expect from us we were there to show you, the public, what went down. A video recap is something we do quite often but because this was a special event we chose a different route, we chose you, the skaters, to document the event for us.

What was so special about this event? Well, it was part of the new “Just Do It” campaign which focusses on getting skaters skating, skaters talking and mainly skaters just being active, together.

Besides that, two local skaters are part of the campaign, Melika & Mobina Nazari, two girls who came to Berlin from Afganistan and are now a strong fixture in the Berlin skate scene. They became a part of skating through workshops and now they took the role of giving them, a proud moment.

Furthermore, we also gathered to session the Bowl in the Skatehalle. A bowl that has been there for the longest and is worth celebrating but is also worth updating and with people like Fernando Bramsmark, Farid Ulrich & David Bachl it is easy to see why an update is needed to raise the stakes.

So in the end, a temporary extension was brought in and Nando rang the bell which signaled a new day for the transition part of the Skatehalle. Now press play and see people race, fly, skate, DJ but most of all enjoy themselves.

We are proud to introduce the Skate for More Session Skatehalle Berlin x Just Do It.

The session will take place this Sunday on November 10th, 2019 @Skatehalle Berlin and the entry will be free! There will be multiple activities throughout the day more information below:

Skate for More, you never just do it for yourself. Join the session with the SB Team and contribute to a new bowl at Skatehalle Berlin.

This is what’s coming up:
– 11 AM / 3 PM: Multiple open workshops provided by Skatehalle and the SB team
– 3 PM Open Session, all levels
– 4 PM Best Trick Session
– 5 PM Shelter Race
– 7 PM Bowl Extension Session


The entry is free all day. Here is where you can register for the event: https://www.nike.com/events-registration/event?id=129058

Learn more about ‚You never do it just for yourself’ featuring Shelter locals Mobina & Melika Nazari and Denny Pham at nike.com/justdoit


What do you do when you have walked through your city over a million times? You are probably trying to find new roads around the good old town. Stanley WE & Lobby Skateshop went a bit further, took the old concept of Hamburg’s famous Labskaus Jam format and got everyone on a boat cruise through the Hanseatic city. Hamburg knows how to throw a party!

Filmed & edited by Nizan Kasper.

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