Dew Tour kickoff will skate into Ocean City

National attention will be on resort with surfing events debut

Pedro Barros is seen during the 2010 Dew Tour Championships in Las Vegas. This year's Dew Tour will kick off in Ocean City. The July 21-24 event will put the resort in the national spotlight. / Dew Tour image

OCEAN CITY -- Many firsts will come with the Dew Tour when it makes its way to Ocean City this summer.

It will be the first time Ocean City hosts the internationally known and televised extreme sports event, and it will be the first of four stops on the annual summer tour.
It will also be the first time the tour is held at a beach town and, as a result, will be the inaugural venue for surfing competitions to be thrown into the mix with BMX, skateboarding, freestyle motocross and other events taking place July 21-24.

The half-pipes, ramps, jumps and other apparatus for the event will be set up directly on the beach, in an area spanning several blocks starting near the pier, according to Ocean City Tourism Director Deborah Turk.

"I can't tell you how happy we are to welcome the Dew Tour to Ocean City," Mayor Rick Meehan said Thursday during a Boardwalk news conference. "This is going to be a real anchor event, something really special for us."
BMX rider Dave Mirra, the most decorated X Games athlete in history with 23 medals, and skateboarder Bucky Lasek, a three-time Dew Cup champion and four-time X Games gold medalist, will be among the roster of professional extreme sports athletes in attendance.

In addition to its competitions, the event will also include a live music concert on the beach and a Festival Village, where sponsors will have interactive booths and athletes will sign autographs.

The event will be broadcast nationally on NBC and USA, Meehan said.

"This is a terrific opportunity for our town and community to be showcased across this great nation," Meehan said.

Both Meehan and Aileen Sokol, director of property operations for the Dew Tour, mentioned the process of scheduling the resort as a venue was a collaboration that took months. Sokol thanked local businesses, the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, and the Maryland and Ocean City departments of tourism, among others, for making the event possible.
 

"We're thrilled to come to Ocean City as our first stop for the summer tour," Sokol said, speaking on behalf of Alli Sports, the company that promotes and produces the event. "Part of what has made the Dew Tour so successful has been the carrying on of long-term partnerships, and that truly takes a community effort."

After its stop in Ocean City, the tour will continue on to Portland, Ore., in August and Salt Lake City in September before wrapping up in Las Vegas in October.

Sokol said the event will have a significant economic impact.

The months of working with Alli to bring the kickoff of the tour to town consisted of a lot of community outreach, along with efforts to show the company that Ocean City's accommodations met the criteria for the event, Turk said.

Local entities worked with the surf and skate community to help generate publicity about the event, she said.

"This is going to expose Ocean City to a new audience," Turk said, referring to the broad television coverage the Dew Tour receives.

The Ocean City Police Department is included in the team effort that has been deemed necessary to host the event, and spokeswoman Jessica Waters said there will be increased law enforcement awareness to accompany the expected increase in tourists to the area.

"We're ready to do our part in making (the event) a success," Waters said.

Meehan called action sports the "wave of the future," but said he expected the tour stop to be attractive to older spectators.

"It's going to be a lot of fun to watch," he said.

smuska@dmg.gannett.com
 

410-213-9442, ext. 14