The Urban Games, London, Summer 2005
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The blueprint for extreme sports events in the UK was laid out about 10 years ago and it hasn't changed much since. It goes something like this:
Make a street course which will suit skaters, bladers, and bmxers. Make a vert ramp. Piece together some music acts consisting of local djs with names that sound as if they should be good (but chances are they're not), and maybe add a couple of acts which were good a few years back but nobody has heard of in a while. Now put a breakdancing stage somewhere. Invite as many brands as possible to have a little tent telling people what they're about. Call the event something cool, like...."The Urban Games".

The Urban Games has established itself as the essential annual meeting of skateboarders, bmxers, dirt bikers, break dancers, and everything "street", and the brands way of presenting it all to the public masses in one tidy package. I have been to countless extreme sports events in my life, some of them feel right, some of them feel just slightly questionable. Wandering aimlessly and somewhat hung over through the hoards of people meandering in between stands advertising everything from energy sweets to the latest alternative to skateboards, the urban games felt somewhere in between. The skateboarding competition was impressive and saw young talent up against old, the skaters doing their best on the huge street course which looked more suited to the bmxers. Of course Danny Wainwright stole the show but some of the young-guns also ripped it up good and proper. The breakdancing was fun to watch, the different national teams were headed up against each other resulting in a 5-on-5 break-off contest which reminded me of scenes from the movie Grease. I couldn't tell if the aggressive attitudes were part of the display or were these rudeboys actually taking it seriously? Well with a couple of grand up for grabs for first place you can't blame them. High aerial stunts from the motorcross boys kept those into into the more "extreme" side of things entertained, although I'm not sure how "urban" motorcross is. Like I said, the event has its questionable points...

Events of this proportion nowadays only seem to happen with the backing a a corporate brand; along with every other marketable product in the world. Brand association has become so accepted, they have almost created the impression that nothing exists without them, but when an event like the urban games is named after a fizzy drink you are bound to have a slightly contradicting atmosphere. Skateboarding and grafitti are about doing your own thing, rebelling against the system perhaps, and yet here we have an event which wants to rebel, wants to be different, but at the same time it is run by a huge corporation who at the end of the day only organise such events to make money. A somewhat mixed message which left me asking the question, is there anyone left out there who hasn't sold out?!

The other problem with these events is categorisation, it is part of brand marketing. Individuals turn into groups, sports turn into sports categories. Along the way, brands misunderstand a lot of what they are trying to analyse. The extreme and urban sports category is a classic example of this. Just because someone skateboards, doesn't mean they give a fuck about breakdancers, and your average dirt biker would punch out every roller blader in the world given half a chance. The only reason these activities end up at the same event is because brands decide to categorise them together, brands like Sprite. Personally I find it offensive that someone, somewhere, has drawn a circle around me, drawn a circle around a rollerblader, then linked us together as if we share the same views or are best buddies.

The urban games is not alone. More extreme sports events are cropping up in every city in the world, and the inevitable infiltration has begun by brands which have no relation to the extreme sports culture, they just see it as another possible market to exploit in the name of profits. The events or products these brands produce may seem desirable, but ask yourself the motivation of their involvement. Nike are making skate shoes and buying out Zoo York, while local skateparks are going out of business. Orange mobile phones sponsor the British snowboard champs, offering measely prize money, while snowboarder-run companies struggle to survive. Where does the future of extreme sports lie, in their hands or in ours?

Photography & Editorial : Andrew Winter