In the early 1990s, Alison Matasi started skateboarding by butt-boarding at age 4, and properly riding by age 10. She was often accompanied by her big brother, Lee ‘Avers’ Matasi (RIP) at skateparks and DIY spots around Vancouver, Canada.
In an interview by Rose Archie, Alison stated, “There were always skateboards around my house from my older brother, Lee. We grew up on top of this massive hill, and I’d just take his board and walk all the way to the top of the alley when I was like four years old, sit on his board, and rip down to the very bottom.”
Around 1998, Confederation Park in Burnaby, BC was built and there happened to be a solid crew of women skating at that park, but Alison as a mongo-skating grom was always the most fearless. The crew included Michelle Pezel, Laura Piasta, Katie Piasta, Michele DiMenna, Char Hunter, Maya Credico, Hana MacDonald, Tracy Vernelli, Cory Nagel, Kerry Ridge, Carrie Williams, Isabelle Ranger, and myself. Considering her size and age, Pezel dubbed Alison as “Nugget” and it stuck as a nickname for some time until she physically grew out it or sick of it.
Photo: unknown SBC Magazine – Alison with Keegan Sauder at Hastings
Alison’s brother then taught her how to drop-in and once the Hastings Bowl was built in 2001 near the PNE stadium where Vancouver’s Slam City Jam was occasionally hosted, her progress was impressive. At Hastings, she became part of a crew of skate rats with some kids closer to her age like Ricky Reu, Glenn Rebic (RIP), Sam Wilson, and little Ryan. Apparently, they basically lived at the park, on a strict diet of Slurpees. That same year, Alison competed in the women’s street contest at Slam City Jam, placing 15th against some heavy-hitters, and she was only 12. The following year she improved with a 7th place.
Photo: SCJ 2002 for Push magazine by Rhianon Bader
Slam City Jam was a big deal, and Alison remembered the first time she got to go at age 10. “Slam wasn’t like your typical bullshit everyday contest like X Games or Street League or whatever they have nowadays. It was a crazy, sick, fun, rowdy time. It was a gnarly and rad thing to see at such a young age” (Archie).
Photo: Lisa Whitaker
Alison shared an epic story of how her brother ditched her after figuring out a stealthy way to get in to SCJ for free after he bailed on his hill bomb, got covered in road rash, and convinced the First Aid team he hurt himself on the course. Meanwhile, Alison was stuck outside scheming her next move at the pro entrance in the back parking lot.
“Then one of my brother’s friends, this rad chick, spotted me and said ‘hi.’ She was with this gnarly big dude that seemed like he’d fucking kill you. But I wasn’t intimidated at all though, I actually thought he was amusing, so I started chatting him up with my 10-year-old skate banter bullshit” (Archie). The beast of a dude is now smiling and laughing, puts his own entry bracelet on her wrist, offers her a brand-new black Real deck (she was so stoked, having only owned beat-up hand-me-downs) and off Alison went, only later realizing that her encounter was with Mickey Reyes! Read this Vice article from May 2, 2013 about why he was once considered the most violent team manager.
Maybe Alison was part of his journey to mellow out and have fun?
Within no time, Alison had a reputation for absolutely destroying the Hastings bowl and at age 15, she was sponsored by Antisocial skateshop owned by pro skater, Rick McCrank and managed by Pezel. Popwar, És Canada (flow) and Rockstar bearings, also became part of her sponsor list according to a short interview in issue #16 of Check it Out magazine (2004). Not to forget her appearance in Getting Nowhere Faster (2004) by the Villa Villa Cola skateboard crew, who had a strong connection to Vancouver! The video was sponsored by Element and released and distributed by 411 Video Magazine, and Alison’s part was awesome!
There’s some serious street and bowl skating showcased, since Alison was a versatile skater, and she didn’t even hesitate board-sliding a notorious capped rail. Alison said the filming and travelling for her part “was a cool time and something different that’s actually rad to be a part of. It was a first for all of us and a good funny time. I’d go down to LA a bunch, we’d do little tours and stuff. It was definitely always an exciting adventure with that crew.” In her Spotlight feature with Lisa Whitaker for the Girls Skate Network website from May 14, 2004, Alison acknowledged Van Nguyen from the VVC crew as the person she enjoyed skating with on roadtrips.
Whitaker included some bonus footage Villa Villa Cola footage of Alison from her website here, with some comedy moments when she repeatedly snaps her deck, then Caron’s deck!
In anticipation of the 2004 Slam City Jam contest, Alison was acknowledged in a Vancouver Sun newspaper article titled, “Gold Nugget,” for her dominance skating at Hastings and her potential to go professional. Beyond San Francisco, Los Angeles and the west coast, Alison got to travel to Australia for her skateboarding and even though she never was a big fan of competition, she placed 2nd at the 2004 Gallaz / Globe World Cup behind Elissa Steamer! She competed strongly that year at four World Cup events, which landed her a 6th place global ranking in women’s street.
Photos: Luciana Ellington from Check it Out magazine #16
2005 also begins with promise. Alison is skating with the lead names in women’s skateboarding, as seen in this Oceanside mini-ramp session with Vanessa Torres and Amy Caron – filmed by Lisa Whitaker.
She also took first place in the amateur division of the All Girl Skate Jam on June 30th, 2005 in Chula Vista at the Coors Amphitheatre as part of the Warped Tour event as documented by Paul Martinez.
Photo: Ana Paula Negrao for Check it Out magazine #18 2005
Unfortunately, there was a tragic interruption in Alison’s story at the end of 2005 as her big brother, Lee (Rest in Peace) was murdered when trying to defuse a situation with an arrogant shithead flaunting his loaded gun. Lee was a kind, hilarious, vibrant guy, as well as a dynamic artist renowned for his graffiti under the moniker ‘Avers.’ He had just returned to Vancouver after studying at art school in Ottawa.
Lee was also the namesake of the DIY skatespot ‘Leeside’ located in a tunnel near the PNE. He was “known as the person who single-handedly cleaned out [the] trash-infested underpass,” (Hamilton) filled the walls with graffiti under his tag ‘Avers,’ and created obstacles for skateboarding on a rainy day. The Canadian skateboarding community was devastated and enraged by this senseless loss, and our hearts broke for Alison and her family.
The collective efforts to Lee’s memory and protect Leeside motivated many skaters to rally together, fundraise, petition, protest gun violence, and celebrate a friend and brother. And today, Leeside has evolved with concrete obstacles, annual skate contests, and the space is a sought-out destination for skaters.
Photos: Lisa Whitaker (big spin), Paul Martinez AGSJ
Alison continued to skate – she was a teenager with a ton of talent and likely needed distractions in various forms and trusted friends around her. She was included in Susanne Tabata’s 2006 documentary SkateGirl, and she decided to travel, and even joined the Poseiden crew in 2007 on a South American tour, along with founder Micaela Ramirez, Violet Kimble, Vanessa Torres, Sophie Poppe and Ana Paula Negrao. They visited Chile, Argentina and Brazil, offering demos and workshops!
This is a video tour trailer by Chris Bredesen:
And this video from Aerial TV has some rad clips and interviews, including Alison who explains at 6:10 that, “Me and the four girls – we’re traveling all around South America. We’ve been to Chile, we’re in Buenos Aires now, we’re going to São Paulo, Brazil. Yeah, we’re just skateboarding, filming, shooting photos, having a good time.”
Alex White documented a fun ramp and ditch session featuring Torres and Matasi in Los Angeles rocking their Antisocial t-shirts:
Next video up is from 2009 via the Girl Skate Network at Marginal Way, where Amy Caron is in awe while watching Alison rip. “She’s good – wow!”
In 2009, Alison was part of the 2nd Annual Wheels of Fortune contest, with a solid fourth place behind Amy Caron & Vanessa Torres (tie), Tamara Drybrough, and Kristin Ebeling, and ahead of Kassy Bailey in a field of 11 skaters.
Photos: Ana Paula Negrao
In 2009, in the very first issue of Idlewood zine, made by Michelle Pezel and friends at Antisocial skateshop, there’s some great photos of Alison skating up Leeside.
A sweet section within the America Eats Its Young video released in May 2010 called “The Ladies of Rockstar Bearings” included a part by Alison, along with Amy Caron, Evelien Bouilliart, Laura Fong Yee, Laura Kaczmarck, Lauren Mollica, Leticia Bufoni, Lorena Lima, Louisa Menke, and Mayra Gallegos.
For her 2019 interview, Alison shared that she was now pursuing her own creative projects having completed a degree in interior design and studied architecture. “On the side, I’m building a ton of my own stuff anywhere from small-scaled carpentry projects right to design and building furniture and millwork. I love woodwork.”
Photos: Dylan Doubt
Alison was also included in the book Canadian Skateboarding: a visual history (2019) with a 2006 noseslide photo by Dylan Doubt, as a female Canadian skater who inspired so many, and the photo was appropriately placed next to an image of Leeside.
This is a photo I took of the crew in those early days skating in Burnaby from 1998 and it’s how I still picture Alison! Love ya.
References:
- Antisocial Skateshop. “Until we get Leeside: Lee Matasi Memorial Show (January – March 2007).” Preview Art magazine. November 2006.
- Archie, Rose. “Checking in with Alison Matasi.” King Skateboard magazine. Issue 11.3. October 2019.
- Hamilton, Geoff. “Lee ‘Avers’ Matasi.” The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Ontario. December 12, 2005: A18.
- Walker, Ian. “Gold Nugget.” The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, B.C.: E1 Front. April 24, 2004.
- Whitaker, Lisa. “Spotlight: Alison Matasi.” The Girls Skate Network. May 14, 2004.
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