Jeff_Phillips_(skateboarder)
Jeff Phillips (skateboarder)
American skateboarder (1963–1993)
Jeff Phillips (June 11, 1963 – December 25, 1993) was an American professional skateboarder.
Phillips grew up in Dallas, Texas and started skateboarding at 10 years old. In 1973, his grandmother Annice gave him a Shark skateboard with steel wheels. Jeff and his father, Charles, crafted skateboards at home out of scraps of birch and plywood. As a teenager he frequented Wizard Skateboard Park in Garland and then a few years later Skate Time at Bachman Lake, in Dallas featuring the infamous Blue Ramp/Clown Ramp.[1]
Phillips won his first contest as a sponsored amateur in July 1982 at the Kona/Variflex Summer Nationals.[2][3] In March 1986, Phillips placed third at the opening NSA Pro-Am event in Houston.[4] Later in December, he claimed a victory at the NSA Pro-Am Final in Anaheim, defeating competition favorite Tony Hawk. The next year, Phillips featured on the cover of Thrasher Magazine's March 1987 issue.[5] During his career, Phillips featured in magazine adverts for such brands as Sims Skateboards, G&S, and Tracker Trucks.[6]
Phillips popularized the skateboarding trick that he called the Phillips 66. The trick was adapted from the Fakie 360 invert, which Phillips credited to Shawn Peddie.[7]
In the late 1980s, as Phillips' career as a competitive sponsored skater was winding down, he bought an indoor skateboard park and named it the Jeff Phillips Skateboard Park.[8] Phillips ran the park with fellow Zorlac skater Billy Smith.[9] However, by 1993 the park had developed financial difficulties, which led Phillips to consider selling it. The park stayed closed for several months after Phillips' death until Charles Kieser, an in-line skater who had known Jeff, rented and renovated the park, recovered some of the old ramps and reopened in April 1994 as Rapid Revolutions.[1]