Build it and they will come.
In the first year of existence, we reflect on what Relik has been able to achieve in 12 months and what lies ahead.
As is the case of so many young longboarders who grow up perfecting their style, there comes a time when the reality sets in that it’s not one endless summer. Life’s expectations come in and yes, longboarding will always be their love, but it has to fade into the early mornings and late nights relegated to the side of life’s expectations and a job.
“What if you could devote your life to the beauty and sport of longboarding and make a career out of it? ”
So what if it never had to end? What if you could devote your life to the beauty and sport of longboarding and make a career out of it? That scenario has come alive in so many top athletic spaces across the world, we think of soccer - the beautiful game, skiing, tennis, basketball, running, the list goes on of both team and individual sports where there are professional paths for the athletes as well as an entire industry around them. The question arose - what would that look like for longboarding. How can you unite a community and give back to the sport? To be able to connect the modern and classic divisions? To empower the female and male athletes? To celebrate their unique styles and build upon the community and lifestyle experiences shared on the beach and beyond. To create a sustainable platform for the surfers. Is it possible? That’s where it started with Relik.
“How can you unite a community and give back to the sport? To be able to connect the modern and classic divisions? To empower the female and male athletes?”
It first began with “no” - it will never work. That’s what they said. And so we started with no and built from there. At the beginning there was no expectations, we did not set out to compete with anyone else. There was a gap that no-one was filling and we knew with the right people, the right vision, we might be the ones to fill the need.
First we would need to find the world’s best. Find the current leaders and invite them to join the movement. This was Relik’s launching invitational event at Malibu in October 2017, bringing together the top 50 longboard athletes from around the globe. Once we’d found some of the world’s best we wanted to open up the invitation to the entire globe of new, undiscovered talent that was just waiting for their opportunity. Next we created the largest prize purse in history for a longboarding event - $150,000. This was the beginning of Relik’s longboard world tour - which saw a global video submission opportunity to join a longboard world tour with hundreds of submissions from countries around the world.
“We wanted to open up the invitation to the entire globe of new, undiscovered talent that was just waiting for their opportunity. ”
Now that we had discovered the worlds best talent we wanted to deliver them the best opportunity to showcase their skill at some of the world’s most iconic surf locations. Malibu and Trestles. These beaches, and the permits to use them, do not come cheap - but by investing in the locations, supporting the local communities and state parks, Relik doubled down on the desire to help sustain and continue to grow the longboarding community. And when all the stars aligned the last piece of the puzzle was to hire the best photographers and videographers. By capturing the talent and raw beauty of longboarding we celebrate the accomplishments and raise the bar of what the sport and lifestyle can look like. The uncompromising view of creating something special and building the creative Relik team is essential to elevating what is possible.
“The uncompromising view of creating something special”
And slowly, with each focused effort we started to build on the foundations. One step at a time. More than opportunities for the long boarder’s to surf we united the spheres of people around them, in the back and front of house. Chances for people to earn an income. Local artists were hired to paint at events, food vendors grew their audiences to serve, craftsmen and shapers created boards and trophies, entrepreneurs with authentic brands like Slow Tides partnered with Relik. The creators and manufactures were included in the cycle and it grew, it unified and strengthened the community in a true push to create a sustainable platform.
“We reached out to young longboarders giving them a chance to showcase their skill.”
And beyond our own competition how could we foster growth in others? Working with A Walk on Water to host their event in Malibu to help support and invest in the people doing incredible work for families. And next for SurfAid’s Cup. We thought - let’s not simply donate, lets sponsor and build a team to compete. We reached out to young longboarders giving them a chance to showcase their skill. By not only investing in their cause, SurfAid’s Mother and Child Health Programms bring clean water & sanitation, basic healthcare, and improved nutrition to extremely remote villages with some of the highest mortality rates in the world. We champion the next generation of young surfers - and low and behold - the young Relik team won the event!
With all these incredibly opportunities for outreach and growth we didn’t plan them that way. Our partnership with Surfline, born from the desire to provide a live webcast of the event to share the world’s best talent competing with a global audience, continues to be incredibly supportive. They help build our movement. And they, along with many others have been part of Relik’s organic growth. And when the doors naturally keep opening to bigger things you know that you’re doing something worth while. And then the haters will hate. They say you will never be able to clear the water, the local community will not stand for outsiders coming in. People love to play up the drama, the division.
“People love to play up the drama, the division. But you reach out to local leaders, include them in the conversations, share with them the open, inclusive vision and are amazed.”
But you reach out to local leaders, include them in the conversations, share with them the open, inclusive vision and are amazed. During the event at Lower Trestles you see the respect between short and longboarder’s and of course, it is so obvious that there is shared mutual respect, the ability to honor the other, but why did everyone say it wouldn’t be so? And you remind yourself that if you keep doing what you’re doing it will continue to become more clear. Build it and they will come.
Our Team.
Meet the diverse crew bringing Relik to life.
Board
Featured
CREATIVE
Alex Lark - Creative Director / Producer
Erick Proost - Videography
Myles McGuinness - Photography
Steven Lippman - Photography
Evan Adamson - Videography
Jake Howard - Arial Videography
Connor Guest - Videography
Roxy Facer - Videography
Séréna Lutton - Design
Bennett Piscitelli - Editor
Calvin Olivar - Editor
Partners
Featured
Special THanks
Featured
