The roots of the Montreal Cup go way back. What began as an inline skating competition organized by skateshop owners has become an event for and by bladers and quad skaters. We reached out to Nikki Moore to learn how volunteers from the local quad and inline community organize the event and build a street course, as well as how the city arranges to block off Ontario Street so that people can enjoy the event without the presence of cars. Nikki emphasizes how events like theirs keep the sport alive.
How did the Montreal Cup come about? Tell us something about its history.
From the early to late 2000s, there was an annual inline skating event called the Montreal Classic organized by Danny Laroche of D-Structure Skateshop. It attracted skaters from around the world and turned out to be one of the major events in the inline skating scene. There was always a great turn out, and it inspired young skaters from around the province.
After a trip to the Blading Cup in Santa Ana, David Mascolo from Boutique Solo Inline, Montréal’s inline shop, decided to revive the tradition of having an annual inline skating competition in Montreal in 2022 – this time including the local quad scene and partnering Lowlife, our local quad shop, to co-organize the event. Unlike the Montréal Classic, the Montreal Cup would take place on a course built especially for the event directly on a commercial street.
In 2022, the skate shop owners did almost all of the event organizing themselves with the help of their staff, but in the two subsequent years volunteer organizers from the local quad and inline community – like me – have played a major part in the event’s execution, with Solo still being heavily involved. It truly takes a village.
How much has the contest grown when you compare it today with the first edition?
Honestly, a lot, and in so many ways. Not only are more and more skaters travelling out to compete every year, but the number of sponsors, organizers, spectators, and people who know about the event are all increasing.
In my eyes, the way the event has grown the most is how professional the course has become. For a DIY skatepark that’s built almost entirely by our volunteer team, the quality of the course has become extremely impressive.
Tell us how you joined the organizing team.
It was my experience competing in the Cup in 2023 that led me to become an organizer. The event completely changed my relationship to skating and brought me a lot closer to the quad and inline community here. As I began to get to know the people on the organizing team more and more, I started to realize how much work goes into the event every year. I noticed gaps in the team that I thought I could fill, and I felt compelled to fill them to help keep the event alive.
For the Montreal Cup you transform a real street into a skate park. How did you manage that? Is the city council supportive of the event?
We are supported by the Société de développement commerciale de Hochelaga, which is the commercial development board of the neighborhood where the event takes place. In the summer, they arrange to have Ontario Street blocked off so that people can enjoy it without the presence of cars. The board lets us build our course on a block of the street during one weekend, and also contributes to the event financially and logistically. Having the course on a commercial street in a well-populated residential neighborhood helps us to gather a crowd that isn’t familiar with roller nor inline skating, which gives great exposure to the athletes but also to the culture of both sports.
As for how we manage it: each year, the course is designed and built by a group of inline skaters and their friends and is assembled on-site during the first day of the event with the help of Spinworks. The skaters building the course are really devoted, and it’s always a special feeling to know you’re skating something created by your friends, especially when it’s something you only have the chance to skate during two days of the year. The amount of work that they put into building the course throughout the year is astonishing, and it really shows in the quality of the course.
Can you tell us something about the contest structure?
We’ve got two quad categories (intermediate and pro) and four inline categories (junior, women, open and pro), with separate warm-up sessions for each so that competitors are given enough time and space to skate the course before competing. Following warm-ups, there is a qualification round for each category. Skaters are placed in heats where they take turns skating lines one after the other to try to score points with the judges, and the top-scoring competitors pass on to the finals. The top 3 scoring finalists in each category make the podium and walk away with either cash or products donated by our sponsors (depending on the category), and the winner of the intermediate category has the chance to compete with the pros the next day.
We also make sure to include non-competitive activities during the event for those who want to be part of the event but don’t necessarily want to compete. This year, we’ve got workshops, a night ride, a session at a local skatepark, and, for skaters and non-skaters alike, an afterparty at a local bar Sunday night.
How do you personally look back on the past events?
Reflecting on the past three years of the Cup, I can clearly see the evolution of my relationship with skating and my community, and how it was catalyzed by the event. In 2022, I was a spectator, only a few months into skating and just excited to be there and take it all in. In 2023, I was a competitor, scared to be skating my first competition but inspired by the friends around me to do it. In 2024, I was an organizer, wanting to be a bigger part of the community and to contribute to the event that had changed the way I viewed the sport. For me, the past editions of the Cup have been transformative in a lot of ways, and I would hope that other participants feel the same.
What were your most memorable moments?
One of my clearest memories that truly captures the atmosphere of the event for me happened last year, when two friends of mine, Irina and Haley, did a doubles trick during the final round of the pro quad competition. I mean, come on – doing a trick together with your competitor while you’re battling it out to win $1000 is so quad-skater coded. The crowd was all about it, as were all of the other competitors. It was truly a beautiful moment – it showcased the supportive culture that we’ve made for this sport, and the type of friendship that so many of us look for and find in the quad community.
It’s hard to finance roller skating events. How did you manage that and what do you wish for the future?
In short, it’s been tough. Our event is particularly pricey because of the cost of the raw materials needed to build our custom course. The money we get from brand sponsorships isn’t enough to cover all our expenses, so we rely a lot on fundraising events that we run throughout the year to make up the extra income (think competitions, skate edit screenings, workshops, BBQs). In that way and in others, the support we get from the local quad and inline community here in Montréal plays a huge role in making the event possible. We’re very lucky to have the local skate shop, Boutique Solo Inline, co-organize the event with us and to help us financially. It’s also a lifesaver to be able to count on the Société de développement commerciale de Hochelaga, which supports us in many ways.
While I am very grateful to all the skate companies who already do contribute to the event, in the future it would be great to see even more support coming in from the bigger brands. It’s money well spent since it’s events like ours that keep the sport alive.
How can we help you at the moment? What do you need most urgently?
Participants! Come and enjoy the event. We do all of this for you.
And how much time do you invest in the run-up to the event?
A crazy amount. It’s pretty much been a part-time job for me since December, and I’m just one of the organizers…
And then everything is always over so quickly afterwards. What is your remedy for coping with the post-event blues?
Take the energy from the event home with you and channel it into your local community. Bring people together – whether that be by organizing a skate event of your own, big or small; inviting friends to sesh or skill swap, or finding other creative ways of building community.
Interview by Marta Popowska
Top photo by @rolllntoke for Modes Media