Aug 53 min read

The Fun Zone: Glenrothes 2024

The 4th Annual Glenrothes Jam took place on July 27th, organized by Marc Stanley, Lee Wight, and Reece Thompson, who have been locals to the park for over 10 years. Nathan Connelly was, of course, the MC, and I spread the word as fast and as best as I could.

Glenrothes is in central Fife. Planted in a field a five-minute walk from all the iconic street spots we also have to offer, our Memorial Skatepark now comes with its own personal car park and 24-hour lighting. It’s crusty, steep, transition heaven.

The first jam took place in 2021. I was a quiet spectator in the crowd and had no idea that in three years’ time I would be leading a completely different life. That is the effect of this jam and the people that it attracts. It is a full day of raging encouragement and solid community. Fife’s approach to skateboarding may be relaxed, but it has produced some of the best.

I still don’t know if I get a bit too excited about this stuff, but this year’s jam entry sheet was full of Scottish skateboarding A-listers, and the judges made a tough decision on who got to take home the Gauntlet. My friend came over to me after the final and told me they’d heard, “That was one of the craziest I’ve ever skated in.” Whoever said that wasn’t wrong. It was go big or go home. Chris Baillie, Josh Brown, Josh Jerome, Brandon Sherrett, and Keiran Menzie skating together in the same park at once is inspirational and insane. Then we had the bowl jam, and Scotch (Seaghan Crawley) took over and shut it down. Kerr told me that he heard people were buzzing Scotch pulled up. Add me straight to that list. Scotland’s imported Sandoval. I’m accepting excuse notes from the people who didn’t come to watch this all unfold – valid excuses only, please.

The Glenrothes Jam brings everyone from all over together for the day. We all want to see each other have the best time and shred the place up. I went around the park and asked everyone who they were watching for - the man of the day was Chris Baillie. Bear in mind I’d shouted at him down the phone two weeks prior to get himself through, as he had a job to do and a reputation to uphold. He’s a three-time winner now, fueled by the best tap water in the world.

Fife has produced Marieme “Mars” Corlett. Mars took the top spot in the girls’ jam. I caught up with her after where I told her she ran so I could walk. Skateboarding in Glenrothes has a solid foundation because of Mars. You don’t get in trouble for skating in the streets in Glenrothes because of Mars and the OGs. Locals to the Fife parks also include Bobby Baillie, Scott Ramsay, Matty Welsh, Sean MacDonald, Steffan Harkins, and Dean Mackie, to name a few. So yeah, you get your education and free coaching times 10 up here.

Next year will be number five, and all Scottish skaters need to keep the last weekend in July free. I’ll confirm the date when I’ve heard from the crew. We can do all the planning and preparing we want, but it’s you guys who show up and bring it all to life. Thank you for the perfect day that we all looked forward to for months. In the meantime, check out Skateboard Scotland so you don’t miss out on the other big ones this year. The scene and skaters continue to get better and better every year. Thank you to our jam sponsors this year – Focus, Loaded, Clown, Treatment, Knatchbull, Route One Edinburgh, Deez Nuts, and The Skateboarder’s Companion, who sent us a box of their latest issue, which we had to carefully ration. Sorry if you missed your copy, go buy it now!