Ricky Oyola is a
regular-footed
Footedness is the natural preference of one's left or right foot for various purposes. It is the foot equivalent of handedness. While purposes vary, such as applying the greatest force in a certain foot to complete the action of kick as opposed t ...
professional skateboarder from
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, PA.
Early life
Oyola was born in
Pemberton, NJ. and grew up in
Medford, NJ. He received his first skateboard in 1985 as a birthday gift, a Town & Country Zoner.
Before he moved to Philadelphia, Oyola would drive into
West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...
, park at Roger Browne's house and spend the days skating with him.
Skateboarding
Oyola is credited with popularizing the skate scene in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, alongside Browne, Matt Reason, and Sergei Trudnowski.
Oyola is recognized for his distinctive east-coast street skate style. He was known in his early days to sport an afro and other hairstyles involving long hair.
His part in Dan Wolfe's 1996
skate video
A skate video is a movie of or about skateboarding typically showing new tricks and a series of skateboarders in a montage set to music.
History
Released in 1965, the short film ''Skaterdater'' is credited as the first film to depict skatebo ...
''Eastern Exposure 3'', showcased Oyola's creativity, versatility, and speed, exposing his skating to a larger audience.
Skate video parts
Sponsors
Oyola's first official sponsor was Z-Products who noticed Oyola's skating while he was on a two month trip to California.
Oyola has held numerous sponsors over his career including companies he founded or helped influence (Illuminati and Silverstar) and long-established companies: Kastel,
Zoo York, New Deal, Nicotine, Spitfire,
Airwalk, Duffs, Memphis, Vox, Krux trucks, Division Wheel Company, as well as;
Vision Street Wear
Vision Street Wear is an American apparel company focused on BMX and skateboarding. Started in 1976 by Brad Dorfman, the company sponsored early skateboarding greats such as Mark 'Gator' Rogowski, and Mark Gonzales.
Although the company is most ...
and Converse.
Traffic Skateboards
After leaving New Deal skateboards in 2003, Oyola founded his own company Traffic Skateboards.
Staying true to its name, the initial Traffic team was composed of East Coast street skaters including Shaun Williams, Rich Adler, Jack Sabback,
Bobby Puleo
Bobby Puleo (born 1974) is a regular-footed American professional skateboarder and artist.
Life
Born in Passaic, New Jersey, Puleo began skateboarding at 10. His first board was the Skull and Sword Powell Peralta board, which he received for C ...
, and others.
Oyola currently skates for Traffic skateboards and Autobahn Wheels.
He has a pro model shoe on Vox footwear named after him, however since he left the team the shoe has been renamed the Vox Philly.
References
External links
Top 5 - Ricky Oyola - Transworld SkateboardingEastern Exposure 3 - by Dan Wolfe - released 1996
American skateboarders
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Sportspeople from Burlington County, New Jersey
Sportspeople from Philadelphia
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