INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — The Olympics may be over, but the skateboarding competition is just heating up in Incline Village. On Saturday, Aug. 21, Village Skate School and Incline Parks and Recreation is hosting a free, all ages skate contest at the Incline Skate Park.

The event will be moderated by Village Skate School founders Cedar Gately and Clayton Green, who have been holding skating camps for the youth of Incline Village this summer with IVGID. What started as a way to showcase the students they had registered for the skate camps ended up being a way to bring together communities around the basin.

“The great thing about having a competition that involves everyone and not just our community, as we’re trying to reach out to Truckee and Reno and South Lake,” said Green, “is that it brings the skateboarding community together. And you never realize what friends that you can possibly create.”

Green and Gately have opened the competition up to all ages, with three different divisions. Each division will be judged by a panel put together by the skate school owners, including the owner of Drink Coffee Do Stuff, Nick Visconti, local Richie Roone, who will be providing a large number of prizes including skateboards and wheels, and local skateboarder Maggie Galloway. Gately is also excited to announce that former pro snowboarder Jake Divine will also be judging.

Gately explained that this competition will be held differently than the one by one showcase normally seen in competitions.

“It’s going to be 20 minute jam sessions,” said Gately. “So instead of individual people going up one at a time, it’s going to be an open jam session in the park… So we really get to see; it’s not just one trick, and if you fall on one run, you’re not super bummed.”

To sign up for the event, skateboarders can show up the morning of with their boards, but should be prepared to sign a waiver through IVGID to participate. Those who are under the age of 18 years old will require a parent to sign their waiver form.

“Even if you don’t skate, come and hangout and have a good time,” said Gately. “It’s going to be fun.”

Gately said along with the jam sessions, there will be music playing and the opportunity to meet new people in the community, along with potentially learning a few new tricks.

“I know myself growing up, I would always look forward to any kind of skate jam or skate contest at the skate park and those were some of my best childhood memories,” said Gately. “That got me that much more involved in skateboarding, wanting to progress your skills to then get to that level you see during the contest.

“Even if you’re not in the contest, just being around those contests makes you like a better skateboarder, seeing all the crazy trips that are happening and people pushing the limits and the blood, sweat, and tears that go into skateboarding. It really personifies all that in the contest.”

The event is sponsored by Drink Coffee Do Stuff, Inclined Burgers and Brews, and the Village Skate School. For more information about future clinics that the Village Skate School will be offering, visit yourtahoeplace.com/parks-recreation/programs/day-camps.