Left Coast Longboarders – Born Out of a Breakup
Words and photos: Heidi Lemmon
I’ve been working with street skaters in South Central Los Angeles for 15 years but until recently had never seen even one longboarder. I was doing a photo shoot with longboarder Neil Weiland in Venice. One of his sponsors, “Da Strap,” mentioned that there was a crew of longboarders in South Central that bomb hills and parking garages on Friday nights. What a story behind this crew: jail, broken hearts, injuries and salvation through skateboarding. Several years ago, Jay McGowan was working for a bus company. He was cleaning out the lost-and-found box and discovered four longboards. At the time, Jay didn’t skate, but he had a cousin, Kristian, who he knew did skate, so after the boards remained unclaimed, Jay scooped them up. Kristian was in jail but would be out soon, so Jay promised to hold them for him. Eventually, Jay and Kristian hooked up and started skating. Then, one Valentine’s Day, in a cruel twist, Jay and Kristian were both dumped by their girlfriends. Jay was working the night shift when his neighbor
Kristian Gomez
LCL co-founder Kristian Gomez grew up in South Central L.A.’s tough streets and had few positive outlets. “I was not a nice guy. I was in and out of prison and feeling like I would go right back there again when I met up with Jay.” Kris’s brother, Oscar Gomez, is also a skater. Kris knew how to roll around the neighborhood, but street-style skating did not interest him. Kris designed the LCL logo and made their first skate gloves. He thrives on the speed and danger of bombing hills. From prison to community leader, Kris is making positive changes in his neighborhood through skateboarding. Kris runs free clinics for kids, hosts club activities for the older skaters and is a leader within the club as a co-founder
Jay McGowan
Jay McGowan, also
from South Central, is the original instigator and finder of lost skateboards. Like Kristian Gomez, Jay also spent some time in jail – obviously not where he wanted to be. He enjoyed working and his toys, especially his soon-to-be-hijacked TV, and was stoked to get some free boards. Jay is a natural organizer with strong ties to his community. A freestyler at heart, Jay is equally at home cross-stepping as he is teaching a beginner to push or tuck. He believes change can happen through skateboarding.
Issa Hassan (aka Seven)
Seven started out racing bikes, but when his brother gave him a longboard, he started skating. He ran into Jay, who invited him to the Loaded cross-town push from downtown L.A. to Venice Beach. He was late, starting about the same time that everyone else had 
already arrived at the beach. But Seven persevered, pushing across town by himself, eager to get to the beach. Soon after this event, Seven started to ride with the crew. He was a quick learner, putting his heart and soul into riding, and he’s been with LCL ever since. Seven is an outstanding endurance athlete and a welcome addition to the club called to let him know that there was a moving truck at Jay’s house and that his large flat-screen TV was being loaded up! He was left with just some light bulbs, his clothes and skateboards. But instead of wallowing in self-pity, Jay and Kristian began skating hard and used skateboarding to ease the pain, loneliness and stress of their breakups. They created Left Coast Longboarders (LCL), and transformed it into a real club with a president and club rules.
Bryant Boyd (aka Dyo)
Dyo, short for Bryant Boyd, is the president of LCL. “It’s a mystery to me how I got to be president,” Dyo says. “The best part is belonging to something where everyone is welcome; we’re like a family with a purpose.” Dyo started out skating alone; his first deck was a Sector 9 with Gullwing trucks. He was mostly pushing just to get around but could always beat the bus on his board. After moving from Hollywood to South Central L.A., he experienced culture shock when he ran into a longboarder who was friends with Kristian. When Dyo saw the tricks Kristian was doing, he knew right away that he wanted to join their movement and get his hands on a pair of skate gloves. Being able to get right back on his board even after an injury was exactly the kind of spirit and loyalty the club was looking for. Dyo quickly became an important part of LCL and was eventually elected president!
LCL meetings were held Friday nights in parking garage bomb sessions. During one session, Kristian shattered his kneecap on a curb, but was later able to get a partial replacement. The injury slowed him down for two months, but the setback only emboldened him to skate even harder. Kris’ brother Oscar is a skater who began to research longboarding. He found some videos from Loaded Skateboards and showed Adam Colton’s clips to Kris. “Whoa! I want to do this!” was Kris’ response. Kris and Oscar contacted Herman at Loaded Skateboards. Herman gave them gloves, and gave Kris his first real longboard deck. They started riding with some of the Loaded crew. LCL has since grown to 20 members, including five women, and has started to organize chapters in other cities and states.
LCL is a group of skateboarders who are addicted to the speed and danger of bombing a hill at night, and to the fancy footwork, but who never forget to have fun.