Skaters Commemorate Fallen Friend

Skateboarders of all ages gathered at the Santa Clarita Skatepark on Feb. 1 to commemorate the life of Albert B. Castro, a Castaic teen and senior at Bowman High School who was killed in an car accident.

Castro was skateboarding across a large and busy intersection when, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Nicholas Teddleton, he was fatally injured after being struck by a Honda traveling 50 miles per hour.

Fellow Bowman senior Cody Le helped organize a “skate jam” and asked numerous skateboarding companies if they were willing to contribute.

The commemoration event drew roughly 200 people including members of the skateboarding community such as Nick Tershay, CEO and founder of Diamond Supply Co., and members of The Hundreds skate team.

“Please come out and join us for the Albert Castro Memorial Skate Jam tomorrow at Santa Clarita Skate Park… to honor Albert,” wrote Tershay on his Instagram account.

Diamond and its sister company, Grizzly Griptape, sponsored the skate jam and held competitions for the best tricks and raffles during the event. In addition, Castro’s friends and family were gifted with tee-shirts, emblazoned with Albert’s face, that read, “Shred in Paradise, Albert. July 17, 1995- Till infinity.”

“The sad part is over now, all we can do is focus on his legacy,” Le said in an interview with The Santa Clarita Valley Signal. “We take this as a good ending rather than sad. We can’t believe the turnout for him.”

“Albert would have loved to see this happen,” commented West Ranch High senior Jordan Lago to JSR. “We all know he would be very proud of us.”