Tony Hawk recognizes local skateboarder for creativity and 'sick cross'

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Robert Zamora shows off his skateboard at the Roswell Skate Park. Zamora received his first board when he was in kindergarten, a Birdhouse skateboard designed by Tony Hawk. Zamora is set to skate with Hawk this September in San Diego.

When Robert Zamora was in kindergarten, his mother bought him his first skateboard, a white Birdhouse with the classic ‘B’ logo. Birdhouse is the skateboard company of the legendary professional skater Tony Hawk, nicknamed Birdman. The gift turned out to be prescient.

This September, Zamora, now 31, will travel to San Diego to skate with Hawk after being selected “Tony’s Pick” for the 2023 Skatepark Hero award in a nationwide competition intended to raise awareness for The Skateboard Project, a nonprofit organization Hawk founded that provides grants to low-income communities to build quality skate parks. Zamora’s flight and hotel are fully paid for, plus he gets to bring his girlfriend Adele.

“I feel so blessed,” Zamora says. “It could have happened to anyone. Maybe he knows we’re trying to get a better skate park.”

On a recent Monday evening, Zamora grinds the rails at Roswell Skate Park, located at 1620 West College Blvd. He drops in on a vert ramp and cruises around, warming up. At 5 p.m. he’s the only skater at the park so far. The metal ramps are slick and hot.

“The metal is like a skillet if you fall,” says Zamora, using a candle to wax the rails. He likes flipping the board and getting creative as he shreds. Around his neck, he wears a necklace he made by hand from an old skateboard, another pastime when he’s not at the skate park or taking care of his dogs, cats and turtles at home.

Hawk hand-selected Zamora out of thousands of video submissions for the most creative boardslide trick and what Hawk deemed a “sick cross.” Zamora developed the trick through improvisation.

“I don’t think the trick has been done before. Ever. Until I did it.” The maneuver involves sliding the underside of the board at a perpendicular angle along a rail, jumping off the deck and crossing the left foot behind the right. “Come to my office,” Hawk says in the video announcing Zamora’s win. “You can teach me.”

In the video, Zamora caught Hawk’s attention with a mixture of artistic flair and skill. “I think that’s what caught his attention is the creativity.” Hawk complimented Zamora’s choice of music, a female cover of a Randy Newman song. “And I do all the editing myself on my videos.” A couple of days after winning Tony’s Pick, Zamora got another thrill: Hawk started following him on Instagram.

Zamora started skating when he was in kindergarten and lived in Florida by the Kennedy Space Center. “There are a lot of surfers and skaters on the East Coast. All the kids in the neighborhood were skating.” Skateboard culture in Florida means there are many more spots to skate, including better-quality skate parks.

The attention Zamora gets from the award hopefully will result in a better skate park for Roswell. Zamora and other local skaters have a petition for the city to make improvements to the park, including new features and expanded terrain. “The metal ramps are at least 10 years old. It’s outdated. When I talk to Tony, I’m going to be like, ‘Hey, please sign our petition.’”

Concrete ramps would be better than metal, especially in the hot sun. Structures that provide shade and planting some trees would also go a long way. “If there’s anyone who can get us a new park, it’s Tony. He’s the guy.”

Zamora knows from experience how a skate park can fuel creativity. “Skateboarding definitely helps a young person.” He sits on the pavement to rest, brushing away ants. “It gives them an outlet. If a kid can get ahold of a skateboard, and they’re by themselves skating, everything they come up with is their own.”

He sees himself as a mentor. “I love chatting with kids and showing them tricks.”

When Zamora was 10 and 11 years old, he played Tony Hawk’s “Pro Skater I” in which the last level of the video game features the city of Roswell. “They got a bunch of aliens in the game,” Zamora describes. “I can’t wait to talk to him about the whole Roswell thing. Maybe I’m the secret alien character,” he laughs. “It’s like a dream come true to meet Tony Hawk.”

And when Zamora does a 360 from San Diego back to Roswell? Maybe some good news: Roswell investing in a new skate park, and more young folks in town learning to express themselves on four wheels and sweet ramps.

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