Founded in 1982 by Frank Hawk (Tony’s dad and the then National Skateboard Association president), the parents of Jeanne Hoffman, and the parents of Sonja Catalano, the California Amateur Skateboard League (CASL) has been an outright cornerstone of the sport. CASL has acted as a launching pad for thousands of competitive, fun-loving skateboarders and countless Skateboarding Hall of Famers’ careers–fittingly referred to as the “Little League of Skateboarding.”Over its near four decades of service to skateboarding, CASL has also been personally headed up by current President and Director of Events, Sonja Catalano, for nearly half of them.
Since her parents joined Frank Hawk at its inception, Sonja has made it her family business to make sure young Californian boys and girls under the age of 17 have a chance to compete. Starting as young as eight and under, and covering mini-ramp, street, vert, and pool, CASL has single-handedly been the point of departure for careers of such pros as Tony Hawk, Ray Barbee, Chris Miller, Daewon Song, Torey Pudwill and Ryan Sheckler. But beyond the countless superstars, Sonja and CASL have simply helped millions of participants, parents, and spectators fall in love with skateboarding. Thank you, CASL, and thank you, Sonja.