http://www.grandhaventribune.com/paid/300885234015619.bsp
BY MARK BROOKY
mbrooky@grandhaventribune.com
Ben Fisher, a 2009 Grand Haven High School graduate, is flying high on a small bike.
Fisher, 20, could be on his way to win a second-straight Adrenaline Games Alliance Action Sports Summer Series Cup. He won the cup last year and came in first place in the Advanced BMX division at Saturday’s AGA stop in Grand Haven.
“I love the sport,” he said just prior to Saturday afternoon’s contest at the Grand Haven Skate Park.
However, Fisher — who works at Breakaway Bicycles in Grand Haven — says he’s cautious about making a career out of it.
“If it takes me that far, yeah,” he said. “I mean, I can’t put everything I have on it. I may not make it — that’s always a possibility.”
Winning the 2009 cup was exciting, Fisher said.
“It’s a really good contest,” he said. “Everybody was really good. I was really stoked about winning it.”
The 2010 AGA Action Sports Summer Series began May 15 in Dearborn Heights. Grand Haven was the second official stop. The next stops are Ludington on July 10; Delaware, Ohio, on July 17; and Traverse City on Aug. 7.
The competitor with the most points at the end of the series will win the cup for 2010.
Garold Vallie, a professional skateboarder since 2000, is a partner in the alliance and co-hosts the games. The Detroit-area man was impressed by Saturday’s turnout in Grand Haven for the series, which he said aims to showcase young talent in the Midwest.
“We’re in our third year, and we travel from city to city doing an amateur showcase — skateboard events, best tricks, BMX, we do some skate camps, I speak at schools throughout the school year — all incorporated with the AGA,” Vallie said. “And this is the second year we’ve been to Grand Haven, which last year was just a great event. So obviously this is going to be a stop every year for the Adrenaline Games Alliance.”
Saturday’s event was the first time Vallie said he’s visited the skate park at Grand Haven’s Mulligan’s Hollow Recreational Area, and he compared it favorably to anywhere else in the state.
“I mean the location — right across the street from the (waterfront),” he said. “You can’t ask for a better location than that. … I just called my wife back and said, ‘Grand Haven may be my new favorite city in Michigan.’”
Vallie said Fisher has a good chance at making a career of BMX riding and moving on to the national scene. The two traveled to Iowa for an AGA Pro Show and clinic in early June.
“Ben Fisher’s ripping,” Vallie said.
Other winners on Saturday were Ted Seeley, 17, of Hudsonville (Advanced Skateboard); and Tevin Lee, 15, of Kalamazoo (Intermediate Skate/AGA Junior Jam). The AGA Cup leaderboard now has Fisher and Brian Stewart, 25, of Westland in first place for Advanced BMX (50 points each); Seeley and 17-year-old Kirby Metzer of Burton, Ohio, in first for Advanced Skateboard (50 points each); and Lee alone at the top with 100 points in Intermediate Skateboard. Lee was the Junior Jam champion last year at the age of 14.
On the Net:
www.aganation.com
