posted by Grizzly on Chaz Ortiz, Paul Rodriguez, Ryan Sheckler, Sean Malto, Shane O'Neill, Torey Pudwill

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The 2012 Street League DC Pro Tour Fueled by Monster Energy kicks off in just 9 days with the first stop returning to Kansas City, MO. Kansas City may not be a new destination for Street League but fans of Street League can expect some new faces and format changes for 2012 to be rolled out at the Sprint Center. In addition to the 6 new pros that will be joining the League there are also some new format changes and as a result, a new course layout that are being implemented for the 2012 series.

The first and probably biggest format change for 2012 is the “Run Section” which will consist of the pros having a 45 second open run on the entire course in which to put together their best line or combination of tricks. This will allow for much more open, flowing and creative skating on each course. When asked about the new Run Section in an ESPN.go interview, Street League founder Rob Dyrdek was quoted as saying, “Flowing is the soul of skateboarding; we tried it without flow and it doesn’t feel good.” Also new will be the format of the Big Section, the pros will be given 6 attempts on the Big Section and only their top 4 scores will be counted. This system will allow for even harder, more amazing tricks to go down at each stop of the series.

As in years past, Day 1 of each stop will be a Preliminary Qualifying day where all 24 pros will compete for a spot in the Finals. The pros will be broken up into four heats of 6 skaters each for Qualifying. However, this year the Qualifying will consist of 2 sections as opposed to the usual 3. The new “Run Section” where each skater will be given two 45 second runs. The highest of the 2 scores will be counted for each pro. Next will the “Big Section”, where each pro will have 6 attempts and their top 4 scores will be counted. The single Run Section score and the 4 Big Section scores are combined to determine an overall score. The 5 pros with the highest overall scores will go directly to the Finals. Pros in 6-12th places at the end of Qualifying will go to the Semifinals which will take place the on Day 2 before the Finals.

Day 2 will begin with the Semifinals which will be one heat of 7 skaters, those who qualified ranked 6-12 in Qualifying. The Semifinals will consist of one 45 second Run Section attempt. The 3 pros with the highest scores move on to the Finals. The remaining 4 are eliminated.

The Finals in 2012 will consist of 8 pros as opposed to 2011 where 10 pros skated. These top 8 pros will skate all 3 sections of the course, the Run Section, Best Trick Section and the Big Section. In the Run Section each skater will be given Two 45 second runs, the highest single score will be counted. The pro with the lowest score at the end of the Run Section will be eliminated. Next up is the Best Trick Section which will be very similar to 2011, 5 attempts and the highest single score counts for each pro. The difference this year is that for the Best Trick Section the pros can skate anywhere on the course excluding the Big Section. This one score is combined with each pro’s Run Section score and the top 6 move on to the Big Section. In the Big Section each pro will be given 6 attempts and their 4 highest scores will be counted. The pros’ Final score will consist of their top Run Section score plus their top Best Trick Section score plus their top 4 Big Section score. The skater with the highest cumulative score will be the winner.

The addition of the Run Section for 2012 has lead to Street League and California Skateparks changing the way courses and individual obstacles are designed. In years past Street League course designs have been one directional and divided in to “lanes”. For 2012 every course design will feature more obstacles and will be skatable in several different directions and styles. On the brand new Kansas City design this can be most easily seen in the large center piece of course. This new design approach will allow the pros to skate continuous lines through the course to put together their 45 second runs as well accommodate the more open format in the Best Trick section. This year the pros will have more opportunity to determine their own unique lines through each course instead of being funneled down individual lanes like in the past. These new format changes and course layouts will provide a better opportunity for each skater’s creativity and individual style to shine through which will make for an over all more exciting contest series.