Instead of their annual summer basketball camps, Joe and Gavin Maloof thought they'd change up this year and host a skateboarding camp for kids.
"We had this simple idea to do something a little different, and it turned into a monster," Joe Maloof said. "All of a sudden … there was a tremendous amount of interest. Then, we knew we hooked into something pretty big."
The event has mushroomed into the Maloof Money Cup, the world's richest skateboarders-only competition. To be held July 11-13 at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, it will offer $450,000 in prize money.
"It took on a life of its own," Joe Maloof said Friday in a phone interview. "Now, we've got skateboarders from around the world fighting to get in."
Skateboarding ranks among the favorite events of fans in ESPN's Summer X Games and the Dew Action Sports Tour.
The Maloof Money Cup has been sanctioned as the national championship by World Cup Skateboarding.
"That's what I'm really proud of, to be sanctioned," Maloof said. "We knew we had to establish credibility."
Pro skateboarders will compete for the Cup purse. Amateurs will get their shot in the United States Amateur Skateboarding Championship and can attend youth skateboarding camps, to be held concurrently with the Cup events. Also, scores of action sports retailers will be part of a 40,000-square-foot expo.
The official Web site – www.maloofmoneycup.com – has had more than 100,000 hits this week, Maloof said.
"This thing has really taken off," he added. "We hope to expand it next year with an event in Sacramento."
Call The Bee's Debbie Arrington, (916) 326-5514.
