World’s best stunt scooter riders heading to Darwen this weekend for European qualifiers

A stunt scooter competition is coming to Lancashire this month – the only event of its kind in the UK.

Core Open 2023 is being held on Saturday 27 May at Junction 4 Skatepark in Darwen. It will serve as an opportunity for the world’s best scooter riders to compete for glory and the chance to qualify for the European Finals in Mühlhausen, Germany.

The winner of the event will be awarded a £7,000 prize purse and includes events for pros, seniors, juniors and street riders of all ages. Core is co-run by Jay Matthews, who used to work at Rampworx Skatepark in Liverpool. At the time, he’d help run competitions there all the time, which were some of the biggest in the UK.

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Due to Core’s close working relationship with its owner Ant Ramsey, Jay and the team decided to host the upcoming scooter competition in Darwen, making use of its “amazing” facilities. Jay said: “We basically went to him [Ant] and said, look, we want to do this competition.

“Your skatepark is one of the best in the UK for this, can we do it? And he was like, yeah. And he’s also really keen in getting involved in community events as well.”

For 24-year-old Jay, he’s been attending Rampworx since he was around 10-years-old after discovering his love for the sport. He said: “I used to watch videos on YouTube and think, oh my God, I want to go there.

“I only lived about 10 minutes away from the park so my dad used to take me when I was a kid and then, I just got hooked from there. It’s what I’ve been doing since I left school as well, I’ve always worked in this sort of industry and doing these types of things really.”

Jay says that although the sport is “still niche”, there is a huge global community and the sportsmen are hoping to get scooter sports as big as skateboarding and one day, into the Olympics. When asked what sets the sports apart, Jay said: “When you first get on a scooter you can instantly ride it, whereas if you got on a skateboard or roller blades it’s quite hard to skate around.

“I think people are put off with the first steps, whereas with scooters it’s easy and therefore, for me, it was quite easy to get hooked on. As I was getting into it as well, it was really popping off and there was loads of events in Rampworx and things like that.

“I’ve tried skateboarding and I’ve tried BMXing and things like that, but it never really felt right. But when I was scootering with all my mates, that’s when I was like right, this is what I want to do.”

Jay hopes that the event will bring spectators to the sport, including those who may never have seen it before, but emphasises that it will be a good day out for all. In the morning, open practice will be available for juniors and seniors, followed by Junior Competition for 15 year olds and younger.

Then, there will be Senior Practice and Seniors Comp. After this, the Street Comp will begin mid-afternoon where the tricks and stunts will be executed. This will be followed by the Street Best Trick, with competitors against each other and then Pro Comp will follow.

To end the day, there will be the Park Best Trick in the outdoor Skatepark and the awards ceremony will end the long day in the evening.

The competition will take place at Junction 4 skatepark in Darwen on Saturday 27 May, with doors opening at 8.30am for all visitors. You can purchase tickets for the event by visiting their website.

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