Skateboarding has long been a West Coast affair. But in the decades since surfers first took to the streets for some land-cruising — in the years since the late Jay Adams floated his board down drained swimming pools and around the Los Angeles neighborhood known as Dogtown — that's been changing.

This weekend, elite street skaters, experts at coasting off ramps, railings and benches, will be in Newark to square off for the crown. The Street League Skateboarding Super Crown.

For the past four years, the league, founded by professional skater and mogul Rob Dyrdek in 2010, has hosted annual contests in New Jersey. On Sunday, at the Prudential Center, a handful of skaters will vie for top bragging rights at the contest — a culmination of previous shows in Chicago and Los Angeles — navigating obstacles meant to emulate street scenes.

Brian Atlas, president of the league, is from Rumson. He calls the Newark competition the "Super Bowl of skateboarding." Having moved out West to study business at the University of Southern California, he created the league business plan in 2008 for Dyrdek after meeting the skateboarding superstar, famous for his various MTV series, through a friend.

While Atlas, 29, grew up skating himself, the bulk of skateboarding events are still in California, he says. "The East Coast is underserved."

Though competition for the SLS Super Crown will take place inside the Prudential Center, an outdoor SLS expo is open to the public starting at 5:30 p.m. before the arena event opens at 7:30 p.m.

"It's a really raw experience for everybody," Atlas says of the SLS shows, in which skaters slide on the tops of railings and jump clear over flights of stairs, twisting their bodies and boards in the process.

The competition — its full title is the Street League Skateboarding Nike SB Super Crown World Championship — will also be broadcast from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday on Fox Sports 1.

Skaters face different obstacles at each stop on the tour.

"The courses are always different and what goes down is always different," Atlas says. "This year it's been more competitive to get into the top eight," he adds. Yet Atlas isn't the only Jersey guy in the ranks of SLS.

Hailing from Bordentown, 23-year-old Ishod Wair — unavailable to speak about SLS, a rep says he's been touring internationally — is the only New Jersey local to compete in the championship this year. In 2013, Thrasher, a monthly skateboarding magazine, named him Skater of the Year.

Chris Cole was the Super Crown champion in Newark last year. "It's the highest street skateboarding contest that we have in our own industry," says the veteran skater, whose likeness can be found in "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" and other video games themed around the sport.

Cole, 32, who grew up in Langhorne, Pa., says the excitement surrounding SLS events is usually greater in New Jersey than other parts of the country. "It's way different," he says, now living in California. "The energy is through the roof. There's that ownership in the stands."

It's true that competing in a street skateboarding event involves a significant amount of practice, but for Cole, who's been skating since he was 8 years old — winning Thrasher's Skater of the Year two times — the contest really begins with the audience, and the expectation of pulling off a clean run.

"Once the stands fill up, if you had a dial, you turn that dial up," he says.

Still, when it comes to each skater's performance, the road to achievement is a solitary one. "It's something totally unique to skateboarding," Cole says of the self-taught, self-propelled skaters. "All of the athletes who are out there, they've never had a coach." Fear, Cole says, is a big motivator. Fear of not just falling, he says, but of also falling and hurting yourself.

"You learn," he says, "And you learn in a violent way — how to do this."

The Street League Skateboarding Super Crown World Championship

Where: The Prudential Center, 165 Mulberry St., Newark.

When: An outdoor expo starts 5:30 p.m. Sunday and arena doors open 7:30 p.m. Competition begins at 9 p.m.

How much: $38.95 to $59.40; call (800) 745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com (For more information, visit streetleague.com.)



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