tel aviv, israel
Our rollerblading roots go back to 1995, when skaters from all over Israel started meeting at the Sportek skate park in Tel-Aviv. This was around when Arlo Eisenberg, Rene Hulgreen, Rawlinson Rivera and Jess Dyrenforth came to Israel for a Roces skate demo. We had a lot of good skaters, and the scene was strong. Our locals skated at the same level as the pros. The Israeli skaters kept improving after the Roces guys flew home, helping the scene grow. Between ’96 and ’98, the skaters in Israel made three local videos, and the scene was still growing. In "Hoax 4" you’ll find an entire Israel section, featuring Arlo and Rawlinson skating the spots that were best back in the day. A strong part of our scene back then, and the strongest skater we had, was Leon Basin. He was somewhat of a leader to the other skaters here, always busting out the craziest tricks and having that "I don't give a fuck" attitude. Leon had a few guest appearances in "VG16," and later moved to Canada to open his skate shop, but the scene was still alive and strong. A few years later, Vasily Schpraga put his GL2 camera to good use and documented the adventures of the crew in the city. He had a mini-view section in Be-Mag's video
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ONE rollerblading magazine /
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"Visual Symphony.” One of our own going out there in a video that sells worldwide was a great achievement. We also had a lot of skate contests, and a few new skate parks were alive and kicking. The scene was evolving and growing. By the end of 2005, Vasily put out his first DVD, “Solid Dedication,” covering the Israeli rollerblading scene. The video was very well made and covered some of the best talents of the country. You can still get the video at ShopTask, the Canadian skate shop. I would also recommend Anton Bassargin's 2008 production, "Holy Sweat." For seven years now we've been holding the annual Hannukah Street Battle every December to celebrate the Jewish holiday and have Israel's best bust out together. The scene seems to be slowing down, but a new generation of kids is on the rise, skating a lot and supporting our local shops: Crazy Roller and Endless Roll. Tel-Aviv is now home to Israel's first concrete skate park, so check it out if you ever come to Israel! And hit us up on the Facebook group "Israeli Aggressive Inline Skaters." We will help you experience the Holy Land for all its glory… and all the best skate spots. — Avichai Wechsler