It’s a historic year for skateboarding as the sport will make its debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games this summer. And now, a popular toy brand is skating along with it.
Spin Master‘s Tech Deck brand is now the official sponsor of USA Skateboarding, the national governing body for skateboarding in the U.S. The sponsorship will kick off at the 2021 USA Skateboarding National Championships for both skateboarding and fingerboarding. While the skateboarding finals are all set, any U.S. citizen can enter the fingerboard competition by posting a clip of themselves on social media to be judged by a panel of professional skateboarders. The winners for both championships will be announced on May 10.
A new partnership means new Tech Decks. Spin Master will also launch official USA Skateboarding Tech Deck fingerboards. There will only be 10,000 exclusive Tech Deck board made across three designs, given to the USA Skateboarding team to take to Tokyo. Additional limited quantities will be available on the USA Skateboarding website and given away on Tech Deck social channels. The Tech Deck brand will also be on the ground in Kasama City, Japan where the U.S. athletes will be stationed just prior to the games.
“Tech Deck and USA Skateboarding share a passion for and commitment to growing and celebrating the sport and culture of skateboarding,” says Chris Beardall, Spin Master’s president of toys and chief commercial officer. “We are thrilled to be starting our sponsorship during such an exciting year as skateboarding debuts at the Olympics and reaches a whole new generation of fans.”
Tech Deck products are tiny, working replicas of skateboards that skateboarding enthusiasts can use to master tricks and maneuver with their fingers. Later this year, the Tech Deck brand will also be a supporting partner of a skateboarding-focused STEAM curriculum for kids offered through Innoskate, a joint venture between the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation and USA Skateboarding.
