Local Skate Company Takes Off

During the 1980s and '90s, it was hard to find a teenager without a skateboard. Yet today, in small towns like Gilroy, programs based on skateboarding are rarely the ones that communities choose to invest in.

"There's not much you can do in the industry unless you live in a big city," said Jose Cervantes, who grew up skating the streets of Gilroy.

With this in mind, Cervantes decided to take his love for skating to another level. In 2008, just after graduating with his bachelor's degree from San Jose State University, he founded Gilroy-based Fayuca Skateboards—Fayuca being Mexican slang for "contraband."

Fayuca’s products, which include skateboard decks and apparel, are sold from Livermore to Morgan Hill. Yet, while it all started in Gilroy, Cervantes said there’s no place in town to buy his products.

“I would like to establish more of a presence here," he said. "It's hard to get anything local going. There aren't really any skate shops in Gilroy; usually they open up and then close right away.” 

Despite the lack of skate shops, Cervantes has shown off his brand by offering free Fayuca skate products to the contestants in Gilroy’s annual Extreme Youth BMX/Skateboarding contest.

Until the event began, there weren’t any local venues to promote Cervantes’s products. The skate facility at was popular, but it didn’t host the kind of contests that could give Fayuca the exposure it needed.

That all changed in May 2009 with the arrival of the Extreme Youth event, founded and championed by Mark Tarasco, a Gilroy police officer and native. Participants were able to win complete skateboards, accessories and clothing from Fayuca, Cervantes said.

Tarasco, a friend of Cervantes and also a former youth skater, is now part of the Gilroy Crime Prevention Department. His enthusiasm for the sport and desire to knock down barriers between kids and cops were the motivating factors in his decision to put together the city-sponsored Extreme Sports event. 

"We raised thousands of dollars," said Tarasco, who started a nonprofit to help support the event.

Now Fayuca has started to take off, too. Cervantes sponsors a four-man team and has just started selling his products in Sacramento. Six skate shops have started carrying his merchandise, with a seventh on the way this year. He also operates a store on the company's website.

Still, what Cervantes said he hopes to see is a continuing growth in Gilroy’s skate culture and an expansion in the facilities available to skaters.

"In order to get the city to consider sponsorship or constructing any type of facility, there will have to be an established revenue flow," said Bill Headley, Gilroy's parks and recreation operation supervisor.

Even in earlier years, before the major belt-tightening that the city enacted during the recession, starting a new skateboarding project had to address the inherent danger of the sport.

"It’s an expensive risk for the city and county to take, which is why attorneys have advised against it," said Headley. "If any skate facility were staffed by the parks and recreation department, and a visitor under 14 were to get injured, the liability and responsibility would be transferred directly to the city.”

To make a contribution toward the Extreme Youth BMX/Skateboarding contest, contact Mark Tarasco by email at Mark.Tarasco@ci.gilroy.ca.us