The 2025 Street Lines Skate Tournament turned Pretoria’s Thrashers Skatepark into the heart of African skateboarding this past weekend, as over 80 of the continent’s top athletes went head-to-head in the Junior, Women’s, and Men’s divisions.
Image by Grant Mclachlan
Presented by LW Mag and Dragon Energy Drink, in association with Converse Cons, Garmin, Monster Products, Dickies, and Insta360, the event delivered an action-packed showcase of style and skill.
Fans witnessed Kimberley’s Boipelo Awuah cement her dominance with a record-breaking fifth consecutive win in the Women’s division, while Cape Town’s Marci Rodrigues clinched his first-ever Street Lines podium with an overall victory in the Men’s division.
Street Lines has cemented its reputation as one of South Africa’s biggest skateboarding contests, raising the bar year after year - and 2025 was no exception.
The country’s top skaters battled it out in the qualifying rounds, pushing their limits in order to secure their spot in the finals, and to compete for their share of the R60,000 prize purse, and Garmin Instinct 3 Smartwatches.
In the qualifying rounds, each skater was given two 45-second runs, with their best run counting toward the leaderboard. The finals format raised the intensity, combining two 45-second runs with four Best Trick attempts, where a skater’s highest-scoring run and top two tricks determined their overall score. Judges took consistency, difficulty, style, and use-of-park, into account when narrowing the field to the 8 Women and 16 Men who advanced to the finals.
This year saw the introduction of the Junior Division, giving young up-and-coming skaters the opportunity to experience and compete in a professionally run contest. This addition further strengthened Street Lines’ core mission of development and growth of the sport in the country.
Image by Grant Mclachlan
The Division delivered an exciting contest, with Sereno Khunyani emerging victorious in a tight contest, followed closely by Omphile Mashila in 2nd place and Ayanda Ndlovu securing 3rd.
The Women’s Division featured its largest entry to date, with 23 skaters competing in what became the closest and most competitive battle in the division’s history - also highlighting the significant growth and development of women’s skateboarding in South Africa, with athletes pushing their skills and style to new levels.
Image by Grant Mclachlan
It was a close battle for 3rd place between Ashley Gindre (Johannesburg) and Sofia Neubold (Cape Town). Gindre stepped up her game this year starting her runs by dropping in from the big Wall to Bank and including tricks like a Mellon Grab over the fun box, Boardslide to Fakie, 180 Transfer Mellon Grab and a Mellon Early Grab.
Neubold, making her Street Lines debut, impressed the judges with a series of tricks, including a big Ollie on the fun box, a Fakie 360 Cab on the pyramid hip, Backside Boardslide to Fakie on the ground rail, Backside 180 on the pyramid hip and Fakie Boardslide on the slappy to edge out Gindre for 3rd place.
No stranger to Street Lines, Thabiso Mashiyakgomo (Johannesburg) delivered her best performance to date. Good use-of-park and a trick list of a Backside Boardslide on the A-Frame rail, Backside Boardslide to Fakie and a Frontside Boardslide on the ground rail, a 50-50 on the box, and a big 180 Ollie on the quarter pipe secured her the 2nd place finish.
It wasn’t an easy ride for Boipelo Awuah (Kimberley) at this year’s tournament, but her technicality carried her to a fifth Street Lines victory, keeping her undefeated. Her standout tricks included a Boardslide on the pyramid down rail, Noseslide on the floor box, Switch Boardslide on the ground rail, Switch Backside Boardslide on the A-Frame rail and a Backside Feeble on the A-Frame rail cementing her dominance in the Women’s Division.
The premier Men’s Division proved to be the most hotly contested to date, as the 16 qualified skaters pushed their limits, vying for podium positions and keeping the judges on their toes throughout the competition. The podium would see a clean sweep from the Cape Town competitors.
Image by Grant Mclachlan
Ethan Cairns (Cape Town), a familiar name on the Street Lines podium, secured yet another spot by taking home 3rd place. His trick list includes a Noseblunt on the pyramid rail, Backside Lipslide on the pyramid down rail, a 50 Grind, Backside Smith and 270 Lisplide on the A-Frame rail, Hurricane on the pyramid down rail, and a transfer over the pyramid to Lipslide down the flatbar rail.
An on form Ashton Banwell (Cape Town) delivered a stacked run that include a Backside Lipslide on the pyramid down rail, Fakie 360 over the pyramid hip, Backside 50-50 and Backside Bluntslide on the ground rail, 180 Nosegrind and Tailslide Flip out to fakie on the floor box, Bluntslide on the hubba rail and a Frontside 180 Nosegrind on the hubba box to claim 2nd place.
Marci Rodrigues (Cape Town) put it all together in a standout performance, impressing the judges with his Kickflip Backside Lipslide on the pyramid flatbar, a Backside Flip over the pyramid, Kickflip Backside Tailslide in pyramid flatbar and a Kickflip Frontside Bluntslide on A-Fame rail to secure his first-ever Street Lines victory.
The day concluded with the Insat360 Best Trick contest, where a host of competing skaters took part in the jam session down the stair-set featuring rails and hubbas. The competition came down to Brian Hartlell’s Hardflip to Lateflip and Ashton Banwell’s Fakie Half Cab Nosegrind Bigspin Heelflip Out – with Banwell taking the win and walking away with an Insta360 X4 360º action camera.
“Street Lines 2025 has once again proven why it’s the premier skateboarding event in South Africa,” said Ryan van der Spuy, organiser of Street Lines. “We witnessed incredible talent across all divisions, from the juniors making their mark to seasoned pros pushing the limits. Seeing athletes like Boipelo Awuah remain undefeated and Marci Rodrigues claim his first win is inspiring, and it’s a testament to the growth of skateboarding in our country. We’re proud to provide a platform for both emerging and established skaters to showcase their passion and take South African skateboarding to the next level.”
