64-year-old Santa Cruz Skateboarder Representing USA At World Skate Games
Santa Cruz native Judi Oyama, 64, has been selected to represent the United States at the World Skate Games in Rome, Italy in September 2024.
At 64, she's still shredding and she's doing it at the highest level possible in her sport.
She's a slalom racer, a sport made popular back in the '70s. It's a timed race involving cutting in and out of cones until you reach the finish line.
The sport intrigued Oyama from the moment she started skating.
"What I like is that it's a timed sport, so it's not about the different trick you can do or how your moves are. It's all about the clock," Oyama detailed.
Oyama's skate journey has been filled with bumps and bruises, beginning as a young teen.
She got started in her driveway and her brother actually built her first skateboard in his woodshop at Aptos Junior High.
It was off to the races from there.
Oyama would compete in some of the first slalom events ever held in California.
Looking for sponsorship, she approached Santa Cruz icon Richard Novak and asked to be a part of his team.
"They said 'oh, you want to be on the team? Let's see what you can do.' So, I had to, right then, skateboard in front of them," Oyama describing how nervous she was to skate in front of Novak. "Then they said 'ok, you're on the team.'"
Novak, who's one of the founders of popular skate brand Santa Cruz Skateboards and co-owner of NHS, has seen Oyama through every phase of her life and thinks she'll fair well at the World Skate Games.
"Watching somebody go through their life is pretty cool and watching them end up in a good spot. Lot of people go through life and don't end up in a good spot and she has," Novak said. "She's been able to stay up in the top 10 throughout this whole thing and she should do fairly well."
Oyama just wants to go out there and have fun.
She said it'll be the second time she's traveled internationally. Oyama is the fine wine of the skateboard community. The older she gets, the better she gets, which is why she continues to push the limits.
"I had no idea that I would be skating in my 60's. I always tell people, do what you love, if you enjoy it, do it," said Oyama.
For now, Oyama is training five days a week in order to make sure she's in tip-top shape for September 2024.