What is CASL? The California Amateur Skateboard League, explained

CASL is the California Amateur Skateboard League, a series of amateur skateboard contests held at skateparks around Southern California. It calls itself “The Little League of Skateboarding” and says it is the longest-running amateur skateboard league there is. Tony Hawk and Ryan Sheckler both came through it.

For a family, CASL is the usual first contest. The 2026 season is nine weekends from March to November, each at a different skatepark, with street, park and bowl contests for kids from 7 and under up to 16 and over. Girls have their own divisions in all three. Points from each stop count toward an invitation to CASL’s National Championship.

Anyone can enter. There are no tryouts and nothing to qualify for, and CASL’s own FAQ says a skater can simply show up and register at the park on the day. A parent or guardian has to sign the waiver for anyone under 18.

Every stop runs three kinds of contest: Street, Park/Mini Ramp and Bowl/Vert. Each one has the same seven divisions, split by age and by skill.

Divisions a girl can enter

• It is low pressure. CASL says it wants an inviting space for skater kids. You can register at the park on the day, or just come and watch one first.
• It is close to home. The 2026 stops are in Oceanside, Huntington Beach, Fontana, Vista, Encinitas and La Quinta.
• She can try everything. Street, park and bowl all run on the same weekend, and she can enter more than one.
• Girls go first. At the October 2026 stop, the Girls division opens both the park and the street contest at 10am, so she is not waiting all day to skate.
• Awards go deep. The October 2026 flyer lists trophies or medals for the top five in every group.
• It leads somewhere. Points from each stop count toward an invitation to the National Championship.
• It has history. CASL lists Tony Hawk, Ryan Sheckler, Louie Lopez and Christian Hosoi among the skaters who came through it.

The Southern California season is a run of weekend contests, about one a month. Each stop is two days. At the October 2026 stop, Saturday is Park/Mini Ramp followed by Bowl/Vert, and Sunday is Street.

• Skaters earn points for where they finish. In the 2026 Southern California rankings on LiveHeats, a win is worth 1,000 points, second place 860 and third 730.
• Her season total is all of her results added up, so showing up to more stops matters.
• Each division in each discipline has its own ranking. A girl who skates Girls Street and Girls Park/Mini Ramp is ranked in both.
• Each flyer says how a stop is weighted. The October 2026 stop is marked single points. On CASL’s 2025 rankings sheet, the last two contests were worth about double.
• Season points decide who is invited to the National Championship.

The 2026 Southern California schedule

CASL has not published details of the California Showdown beyond the date. The 2027 schedule is not out yet.

A CASL contest is built on timed runs. Each skater’s best score decides where she places in her division. CASL’s published rules do not describe any elimination rounds.

• Each skater gets two runs: 45 seconds in Park/Mini Ramp and Bowl/Vert, one minute in Street.
• Three judges score each run from 0 to 100, and the run’s score is the average of the three.
• Only her best run counts. A fall in the first run is not the end of her day.
• In most divisions the judges start from a base score of 70.
• A tie is settled by each skater’s other run. If it is still tied for an award place, they each take one more run.

What the judges look for

CASL lists nine things: how many different tricks she lands, how hard they are, how she uses the course, consistency, style, height, speed, creativity and risk-taking.

The Advanced divisions are different

Girls Advanced and Open Advanced are judged in a format closer to the Olympics. In park and vert, each skater gets three 45-second runs, a fall ends the run, and the best run counts. In street, she gets two one-minute runs and five single-trick attempts. Her best run and her two best tricks are added for a score out of 300.

The running order

At the October 2026 stop, on-site registration opens at 9am and the contest starts at 10am both days. Saturday’s Park/Mini Ramp runs Girls, then 7 & Under, 8–11, 12–15, 16 & Over, Girls Advanced and Open Advanced. Bowl/Vert follows straight after. Sunday’s Street contest also starts with Girls.

Our guide to how skate contests work covers judging, formats and what to pack in more detail.

1. 1.Find the next stop on CASL’s Southern California page or its LiveHeats page.
2. 2.Register online through LiveHeats. You will need a LiveHeats account to do it.
3. 3.Pick her divisions and pay. For the October 2026 stop it is $35 for the first division and $30 for each extra one.
4. 4.Or register at the park. CASL takes entries on site. For the October 2026 stop, on-site registration opens at 9am and online registration closes at 9:30am on Saturday.
5. 5.Sign the waiver. CASL’s 2026 form must be signed by a parent or guardian for anyone under 18. You can download it from CASL’s What You Need To Know page.

Entry was $35 and $30 at six of the first seven 2026 stops. The June stop at LVLUP Academy was $50 for the first division. Check the price on each event page.

Do you need a CASL membership?

The sources do not agree. CASL’s website FAQ says you do not need to be a member to skate a contest. Its LiveHeats page sells a 2026 membership two ways, $145 for an annual membership or $21.51 for a one-time membership, and every 2026 Southern California stop is tagged with it. We could not see the checkout without an account. Look at what is added before you pay, and email CASL at caslskateleague@gmail.com if it is unclear.

Safety gear

• CASL’s behavior code says skaters must wear the required safety equipment at all times, in practice and in the contest. It does not list the items.
• California law says a skatepark operator cannot let anyone ride without a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads. Pack all three.
• Each stop is at a different skatepark with its own rules, so check the venue before you go.

Not sure what board she should be on? See our skateboard buying guide.

The next rung is CASL’s own National Championship, which brings together skaters from the Southern California league and its sister leagues in other states.

• It is invitation only. A skater has to qualify through her league’s season points.
• The most recent one, for the 2025 season, was the fifth. It was held January 17–18, 2026 at Kona Skatepark in Jacksonville, Florida.
• Entry was $50 per category, plus a $20 venue fee paid to the skatepark.
• CASL posts the list of invited skaters. It does not publish how many points or what ranking earns an invitation.
• The date and place of the championship for the 2026 season are not published yet.

CASL results also travel. The October 2026 flyer says points from the contest go into the rankings database kept by The Boardr, a national contest organizer. USA Skateboarding supported the Northern California league’s 2026 season opener.

Beyond CASL, the path runs through bigger amateur contests and, at the very top, the Olympics. The full ladder is in our guide, So you want to compete in skateboarding.

The Skateboarding Hall of Fame dates CASL to 1982. It was started by Frank Hawk, Tony Hawk’s dad, together with the parents of Jeanne Hoffman and Sonja Catalano. Catalano went on to run the league as president and director of events for close to half of its history, and the Hall of Fame honored her in 2017. Its list of pros who started in CASL includes Tony Hawk, Ray Barbee, Chris Miller, Daewon Song, Torey Pudwill and Ryan Sheckler.

A Northern California league ran for decades and faded around 2010. CASL restarted it in 2022. Florida’s league opened in 2021, Utah’s in 2022, Virginia’s in 2024 and Texas’s in 2025. The National Championship held in January 2026 was the fifth.

Today the league is operated by a company, Enlarge Media Group, LLC, which does business as CASL.

Yes. CASL’s FAQ invites families to come by and watch a contest, and even skate around, before entering one. It is the easiest way to show a kid what a contest looks like. Girls skate first at the October 2026 stop, so arrive for the 10am start.

CASL does not list a spectator fee. Each stop is at a different skatepark, so check that park’s rules before you go. Every upcoming stop is on our events page, with dates and a link to the details.