Would Skate Jams Exist In A Cashless Society? Just Asking for a Mate…
Words by Shannon Farrugia
Photos by Luke Brown
It’s not about the cash, but sometimes it is. Barry Strachan deducts his “Dad tax” from son Lennon in the Old Man Jam at Belco Bowl Jam 2026.
Photo: Brown
This article isn’t really about the intricacies of currency evolution and its impact on skate culture. It’s actually about the sometimes-overlooked Belco AM and Old Man Jam events.
But it dawned on me while I was writing this piece: how are we gonna hype skaters up at jam events if there’s no cold hard cash in existence? Like, “Yoooo, let me PayID you for that kickflip 900.” Or, “I’ll transfer you 0.0069% of a Bitcoin for that backside bigspin down the double set.” That shit just doesn’t work.
And if that doesn’t work, skate jams don’t work. And if skate jams don’t work, skateboarding is well and truly fucked.
Anyway….
Louie Daiguchi warms up with a frontside nose grind to lobster in the back pocket in the Am Jam.
Photo: Brown
I love giving skateboarders money.
Skateboarding is the hardest and raddest shit ever. Anyone who truly loves it isn’t thinking about money when they’re skating. However, that’s why jam events are so good, there’s often cash to splash on those who are ripping.
This year, I was lucky enough to MC the AM Jam and the Old Man Jam at the 25th anniversary of the Belco Bowl Jam. So being able to hand some of these crew a bit of cash to buy dinner, cover some travel expenses, or maybe buy a few rounds at the bar? I’m stoked.
While they might not be the main event, the AM and Old Man jams are no less important to what makes Belco what it is.
The popularity of Belco has seen such an influx of some of the best skateboarders in the world that organisers have had to create a qualifying jam for the main event. Enter the AM Jam.
And the kids were hungry.
12 year old Louie DaiGughi thought that money was just something that happened when you tapped your phone on a little machine. Here, Louie BS tailslides over the channel to shuv-it out for fifty bucks cash. I might’ve even given him a hundred, either way, I reminded him not to tap that when he buys his next happy meal.
Sequence: Brown
Up-and-comers like Louie Daiguchi, Taj Wolfenden and Jake Harvey, who, outside of Belco, could already be considered among the best transition skateboarders in Australia, still had to fight for a spot in the afternoon’s main event. And it was immediately apparent that they weren’t there to make up the numbers. They were there to fucking take over.
“Cash rules everything around me, cream, get the money, dollar dollar bill y’all” - Wu Tang Clan.
Louie and I celebrate my Olympic-level skate coaching advice post BS tailslide shuv-out over the channel. You’re welcome Louie. You’re welcome.
Photo: Brown
To give you a small insight: Jake Harvey did a switch stalefish 540 over the channel in his run. You read that correctly. Switch. Stalefish. 540. I don’t have pics of that because they were used somewhere more important like Thrasher or something.
“ Yoooo, let me PayID you for that kickflip 900. Or, I’ll transfer you 0.0069% of a Bitcoin for that backside bigspin down the double set. That shit just doesn’t work. ”
Taj Wolfenden put together flawless runs including kickflip body varial 540s in the beautiful sketchiness that is Belco Bowl. And regular 540s over the channel as a mere set-up trick. Insane. And Louie Daiguchi did a backside tailslide shuv-out over the channel. I’m not sure if this trick is an NBD over the channel, but I did coax him into it by offering him $50 if he landed it within three tries. He got it second shot. It was a special moment, probably more for me, more than him.
Taj Wolfenden, FS blunt. Apparently he has already saved up for his first car purely from skate jam money. Nice work playa. Cha ching.
Photo: Brown
Taj Wolfenden, gets greedy with a BS 540 over the channel. Message to Taj: You don’t need petrol money when you drive a Tesla. Just saying.
Photo: Brown
2026 will be remembered as the era just prior to us all getting micro-chipped with built in EFTPOS machines that will allow us to spend and receive digital currency with face recognition ID - phew, there’s hope for skate jams afterall, thank you technology.
Jake Harvey swiped fifty bucks cash for this BS smith to frontside revert out. The future was yesterday.
Photo: Brown
Louie D, alley oop kickflip indy over the channel and qualifies for the main event…in which, he acquired even more cash - insert DJ siren sound thingy.
Sequence: Brown
Then there’s the Old Man Jam.
It has become a staple of Belco, a reminder of where we’ve come from, so we can appreciate where we’re going. It’s a celebration of the people who helped build Australian skateboarding and are still out there getting after it. I love that we are now in an era in which skateboarding transcends generations.
With a combined Superannuation retirement fund of five hundred bucks between them, these legends did everything they could to earn some cash in the Old Man Jam before having to start up a Go Fund Me for their impending knee surgeries and hip operations.
From left to right: Andreas Timm, Tom Flaherty (literally just injured his shoulder before this photo was taken), Barry “Baz” Strachan, Gravel Burns, and Tim Holterman.
Photo: Brown
Lennon Strachan skates the Old Man Jam every year in solidarity with his dad, Barry. I grew up on the South Coast and have known Barry since I was 12 years old, years before Lenny was even conceived. Watching Lenny skate Belco alongside the generation that came before him is something pretty special, and it brings a tear to my eye every single time. If you were there, you felt the magic.
Lenny Strachan, BS air. I wanted to give all the money to Lenny and Barry, but some might say that would be bias, fraudulent, embezzlement or the like. I guess digital currency would make that harder. Damn it.
Photo: Brown
It wouldn’t be a 25th anniversary Belco Bowl Jam without the Baz and Lenny doubles routine. Take all the cash and spend it on Burek in Cringila you Wollongong industrial area swamp rats.
Photo: Brown
Renton Miller with his text-book, timeless, ageless, fountain of youth, Madonna. No one does it better.
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone else who has given out more prize money and products to skateboarders over the years than Renton. To put this photo in context, Renton organised the events, just finished judging the Am Jam, and still found a minute to jump in the bowl for the Old Man Jam to show the crew how it’s done. Weapon.
Photo: Brown
One of the best skatepark designers in Australia, Darren “Daggers” White from Baseplate designs, launches a BS air over the channel. I tried to bribe him into adding more slappy curbs into his designs, but being the professional that he is, he respectfully declined.
Photo: Brown
However, Daggers was happy to take some cash for his BS air over the channel, and Pivot to Fakie…way less controversial than the “bribes for slappys” conspiracy that I am trying to generate viral content out of.
Photo: Brown
Once again, it was an absolute honour to call both events. And yep, everyone was ripping.
Shout out to event photographer Luke Brown for capturing these two significant side events that sometimes sit in the shadow of the main show, but are every bit as important to the spirit of Belco.
Up the AM Jam and up the Old Man Jam.
Shan
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