The entire block from 14th to 15th streets was closed and the street filled with launch ramps and jumps, a quarter pipe, and lips — or edges — to grind on.

"This is chillin'," said a young skater, cranking up his iPod before he made a run at the quarter pipe.

Downtown is usually a ghost town on the weekend, but there was no ghost town Saturday, said Kara Fortune, an Oakland teacher and skateboarder. "This is great. We don't have that many events in Oakland for young people.And the energy here is all good."

ESPN has the X-Games, which unfold in places like San Francisco and Los Angeles, said Oakland High Visual Art Academy director Keith "K-Dub" Williams. But what about the 'hood?"

Williams said he was at the X-Games in Los Angeles a couple of years ago with skateboarder pro Karl Watson, they looked at each other and came to the same conclusion: "We ought to do something like this in Oakland."

"Yeah," one said. "We'll call it the 'hood games.'"

The idea was to encourage Oakland's skateboarders of every ethnicity to come out and have a good time and help raise money for a new skateboard park at Seventh and Jefferson streets in Oakland. Admission was free, but money came from concessions and a series of raffles of donated skateboard equipment.

Back home, Comet Skateboards, an Oakland-born business, signed on and other sponsors lined up. The Hood Games were born. The first edition was held last May at the East Oakland Youth Development Center. The next was held in South/Central Los Angeles and a third was held at the Youth Development Center.

Moving Hood Games 4 was another great leap forward. The street Saturday was lined with skateboard company booths; there was live music, and a disc jockey. Williams' Oakland High students had their skateboard art on display. But the skaters drew the crowd.

Many of the skaters had stories of starting out as kids with no money.

"I found my first skateboard in a garbage can when I was 9," said D'Oatae Smith, 16, of Oakland. "It's fun. It's interesting. Anyone can skate."

Possibly the oldest skateboarder Saturday was Ron Allen, 43, founder of Energy Skateboards of Oakland. "Last year, I was the oldest at Vancouver and I was 42 then," he said.

He placed fourth.

Allen credits his good grades in school growing up in Visalia to skateboarding. His parents bought him a skateboard; when his grades sagged, they took it away. He got the message, he said. Grades up, skateboard returned.

"I love it," Allen said. It's an individual sport. You can get within yourself."

His company focuses on making environmentally friendly boards. Wood comes from ecologically harvested trees; paint is non-polluting.

Allen say he hopes to keep going for many years. "Did you know — Fred Astaire broke his wrist skateboarding. He was 75," he said.

One of the few women taking part was Magdazena Zaviezo, 31, Allen's friend. "It just looked like so much fun," she said, after making a run down the course. "Once I tried it, I got the bug."

She said she has broken a leg and blown out her knee, but it has not stopped her.

Besides encouraging young artists at Oakland High, Williams has also spread the skateboarding gospel. He formed a skateboarding club at school, he said.

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