Baseline & Adidas – Battle of the Benches

Adidas and Baseline collaborated for the relaunch of Baseline’s new store and the introduction of Adidas skateboarding into South Africa.  Adidas had an in-store installation in the upstairs area of Baseline for several weeks. This event was the culmination of the collaborative effort.  Baseline has 2 benches on the pavement outside the shop, every day skateboarders come and chill on them but until now, nobody has really had a chance to skate them properly.

Pieter Retief from Adidas supplied a heap of beers, Baseline made the benches available and a bunch of local Cape Town skateboarders were invited. We all met up at Baseline at 3 on Saturday afternoon, when the shop closed for the day. We drew numbers out of a box at random and were divided into 2 groups. Team 1 took a bench and headed off into the city with Joubert van Staden as their filmer. Team 2 took the other bench with Jamie O’Brien as their filmer. The teams had 3 hours to make the best use of their bench in the city. There were no rules, teams just had to try and get a clip from everyone in their squad (including their filmer) and they had to make sure they returned their bench. We headed back to Baseline at 6 for free beers, watched some skate videos and discussed the afternoon adventures. The following edits portray what each team got up to.

Thanks a lot! - Adidas Skateboarding and Baseline Skate Shop.  

Some of the skateboarders in attendance gave us the following feedback on the event:

Dewald Bruwer:

Getting busted at a spot wasn’t a big concern because we had a portable skate obstacle.

Jamie O’Brien:

Cruising the streets with the homies was really fun and from a filming point of view it was really cool to just hang out and shoot and not have to be filming the gnarliest tricks or having to go to spots that are a bust. It made filming fun for me again…

Andrew Nero:

I was really amped on this simple concept! It was a good way for friends to get together, think on our feet, get creative and think out of the box! It got us thinking creatively, especially with the spots we had access to. We could skate them in a different way! Thanks for the effort Pieter and Baseline! Big up, let’s do this more often!

Marcel Maassen:

Two Words; Adidas, Baseline!

Suzy Snakes:

It was super rad to have a gang of skaters together and missioning in CT, reminded me of the OG stories I had heard about the crews they had going in the Thibault days.

Adrian Henderson:

This event was the most fun I’ve ever had in a competitive skateboarding environment. Skateboarding has never been about who is best, Baseline and Adidas remained true to that by adding a slight competitive edge into an interesting and refreshing skate event format.

More brands should follow suit and create events tailored around everyday skate scenarios.

PS: Justin Leslie deserves a medal.

Justin George Leslie:

It was fucking great, thanks to everyone involved, good times! The format was epic and the lack of “rules” made it for me, return the bench for free beer. Everyone gets a trick including the filmer & everything gets carried, no vehicles allowed. It was rad seeing Jamie getting pumped up and skating up to the bench to get his tricks down.

It’s a good blend of over 24 different styles of riding on two benches, in one city, in 3 hours. Can’t go wrong. My relocated finger/crushed knuckle is fucked but its weird just how stocked I am on it, well worth it! Jamie next time you are going down a set of 13 x 3, because I ain’t getting it the first time…hahaha, fuck yeah

Luc Veermeer:

That was one of the best sessions I’ve had in aaaages. Dope people, dope environment! Definitely mustn’t be the last time. Benches or no benches!

Craig Leak:

I loved the fact that both crews ended up at same place naturally for final sesh, showing that skateboarders truly think alike. Big ups Baseline and Adidas.

Juan Smit:

Three words - team two rocks! Shot Baseline, Pieter, Adidas and Justin with his skate toolbox. It was an awesome session!

Please give us your opinion on the following (in the comments section below):

Best Team edit (Team 1 or 2)?

MVP (Most Valued Person) in each team?