Pensacola does a good job of honoring its people.
You may see the Waterboyz Skate Shop as you hop on the interstate – there at the corner of 9th Ave and Gregory St.
The shop offers a diverse selection of surf and skate products and has an established local cafe serving a wide selection of yummy food. The shop opens up in the back to reveal an indoor skate park. It is a must to check out if you haven’t!
This weekend, Waterboyz is hosting its 14th Annual TC Skate Jam at the Blake Doyle Skate Park on Saturday, September 9th @ 12 PM.
You can sign up for the contest here: https://waterboyz.com/collections/tc-skate-jam
What’s cool about Waterboyz is their tribe mentality. It doesn’t matter how old you are or where you come from – the tribe is unbreakable.
Each tribe seems to have a way they honor their people. A drunk driver took the life of TC McCoy when he was just 15 years old. This contest has continued to bring people of all ages together to skate and compete in honor of his life.
Growing up, TC and I went to elementary school and had a few classes together. My memories remind me of his kindness and the infectious light that he spread. I reached out to a couple of our mutual friends from childhood who knew him well.
Friends of TC share,
“When I think about TC and the person that he was, it’s often difficult to formulate the words because the person he was, especially at his age, was somebody who had a spirit & mind, unlike anyone I had met before.
We had seen each other in passing growing up around the skate park, though it wasn’t till we both had a class across the hall from each other in our 6th-grade year at Workman Middle School. Once we both realized we had a bond through skating and now went to the same school it was like we instantly became best friends.
I remember one thing that was so funny that we shared in common was that we both loved the show The Fresh Prince of Bel-air and I remember we adopted that handshake that Will and Jazz do in the show (if you don’t know, look it up). It stuck with us all through middle school and into our freshman year of high school. Looking back now it’s pretty hilarious but that’s a little piece of our friendship I won’t forget.
At that time in life, we didn’t have smartphones or social media, well besides MySpace and I’m thankful he actually had me at the #1 spot on his friends list on his profile, not that it means much but I’m just thankful he really thought of me that way, but by not having phones with those capabilities glued to us at all times, we really got to share a lot of special moments together in real-time.
TC was just a very special person. He truly cared about everybody he was around, his energy and attitude toward life was infectious. He carried himself with such confidence and held himself to a higher standard, which to me stood out in his skating.
At that age and at that time the things he was doing on a skateboard were unbelievable. I have no doubt that he could have taken in any direction he wanted. He had many aspirations in life and remember hearing a letter he wrote shortly before he passed about what he wanted to accomplish. He was very special, not just to me but to everyone he came across.”
– Chase Marcanio
“He was one of the best friends I ever had. He was the type of friend to always be there for you and to always help you with anything that you needed. He was also one to put his heart and soul into everything he did. We ran cross country and track all throughout middle school together. He wasn’t the fastest guy on the team, but he put his all into each race and never gave up.
He was just so incredibly cute. I think most girls our age had a crush on him at one point or another, haha. It was something about those blue eyes and his laugh. He had the kind of laugh that made you want to laugh too. One of my all-time favorite pictures I have of us is from our 8th graduation night and we have the biggest smiles. His dad loved it so much that when TC passed he printed it out, laminated it, and put Velcro on it so I could have it wherever I would go.
The worst part about losing a great friend while we were still so young is the memories become so distant and faint. What doesn’t change though, is the emptiness you feel inside your heart with their absence. It’s been 14 years since he left us and even typing this message out, tears still find their way down my face. It’s hard to not try and imagine what life would be like if he was still here.
This year he would have turned 30 and I bet he would have done something great with his life. There’s no way he wouldn’t have because he was great. I’m thankful to be able to celebrate his life with the skate jam every year.”
– Trish Taylor
Friends like Bre Ross still hear Billy Joel’s, Only the Good Die Young, playing as a reminder of his gentle soul gone too soon. The surf and skate community here in Pensacola creates an impact in the way they honor their fallen angels. Events like this one are an example of that.
The Skate Jam event is sponsored by:
Alga Beer Co.
Eco Car Wash
The Green Room & East Hill Barber Shop
The Handlebar
Haus of Hop Events & Rentals
Michael Litvak General Dentistry
The Shell Group
Upward Intuition
Vinyl
Volume One
Waterboyz
For more information on events like this and how to get plugged into the surf/skate community – check out their website here:
