S.C. has given birth to a variety of sports, people, and ideas that are a part of our scene. Jaya Bonderov is a soft spoken person who can lend a great deal of knowledge about the clean cut image behind Santa Cruz Skateboards. He was born in Marin and then raised in Hawaii and Grass Valley and then went to high school In good old S.C. Although he's had a skate ever since he was a little kid, it wasn't until 8th grade that Jaya started skating seriously. When Jaya got his start in the skate industry, vert ruled and people laughed when you tried to flip your board. So when I asked him for his favorite trick, he said, "Just the simple act of rolling down the street is the best part of skating."

Jaya's no stranger to street skating, in fact it's what he does the most. I asked him what trick he was working on and he said, "Switch stance double 360 kickflips over a hip" While Jaya was in Sac, I saw him trying and landing some sick looking switch stance double heel kickflips over the pyramid at the Daily Grind. His version of change in skating is the more technical stand point (street skating) that people place so much value on now. I wanted to find out who he thought best represented this change In skating and how. Jaya replied, "Jeremy Wray, Duffy, Card and Salman do, because they go fat but still bust out with smooth tech tricks."

He is also quick to point out his roots in vert and had this to say, "Vert's fun. but few people have access to vert ramps these days. Frazier, Hendrix, and Mike Crum are the new generation of vert techdogs."

With all the apparent change in the tricks and style of skateboarding today I asked Jaya what he thought future tricks would be, "Mad switchstance done solid, no cheesy toe drag landings!"

Jaya lives in San Francisco now which also happens to be his favorite place to skate. And with the help of his sponsors Santa Cruz, Sessions, Venture and Airwalk his long earned stay in skatings top ranks will continue.