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Hi Sam! You’re Skateboard GB’s Performance Development Coach. Could you give us a bit of insight into what that means and how you came into the role?So, last cycle I was on the team along with Alex Hallford, Jordan Thackeray, Sky Brown and Alex Decunha. I learnt a fair bit and SBGB helped support me through a knee/ankle injury so I feel like got to see a bit of a different side to supporting people.I was recovering from an ACL reconstruction when this Paris cycle came around and I wasn’t ready to compete and felt like I was ready to take a step back from putting my body through it. The Job came up and I felt like I had something to offer for the skaters and thought it could be cool to get involved. To me the role feels like a formalised version of what a lot of the older skaters did for me. I have had some amazing “mentors” in my life and growing up skating and I wanted to try and pass that on and help skaters improve and navigate this crazy thing they are trying to do.
As one of the original Olympic hopefuls for the 2020 Tokyo Games, how has the switch to a more behind-the-scenes role been? Did you ever consider throwing your name in the hat for Paris?To say it has been an easy switch would probably be false. I did actually end up being entered into some of the competitions at the start of this cycle. We went out to skate the Park where they held the first World Championships for this cycle and it was a big park with lots of vert. I was skating with the team and everyone seemed to talk me into skating the comp. We had quota places to enter people, since I was there anyway it made sense at the time. It opened up a whole can of worms and mixed emotions, I was ranked ahead of the rest of the team and kind of fell back into a place I didn’t want to be. Pushing my body and trying to juggle a handful of different stresses etc.I think was super useful for helping support the skaters, having a real life understanding of what it feels like and all being in it together. It was just too overwhelming to try to support people, work full time and then try to compete at that level, so I chose to step back about half way through and just focus on supporting the skaters.
With Team GBs roster of skaters locked in, what are your main goals as you prepare for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics?I think just make everything is in order and that I’m also on top form physically and mentally so I can show up the best I can for the skaters.
For the uninitiated, skateboarding presents obvious physical challenges, but it’s easy to forget that it comes with its mental battles, too. How do you keep the team mentally strong and focused with the added pressure of Olympic-level competition?This is kind of the main thing with skating comps in general. Just feeling confident in your own abilities and fired up to do it is the main challenge. I think having a solid plan takes away some of those anxieties. Nerves are always going to be a thing but building people's self confidence and comfortability with dealing with those nerves is the main thing. I try to be reflective with people and gain a deeper understanding of how people process those emotions and situations. It doesn’t always work out like that. Some people love the nerves and some people will always hate them.
Lola Tambling, one of Route One’s own team riders, is gearing up for the Women’s Park event. What is it about Lola’s skating that stands out the most for you?Lola is a little ball of energy, she’s got a unique, aggressive style and goes full power. Steezy frontside rock slides. It just always cool seeing someone look like they are going for it.
With the Games quickly approaching, are there specific training programs you’re putting in place to keep the team on top form?Just to keep Lola out skating and feeling good in the lead up to Paris. We are out in the US right now which has been cool. Skating a lot and just staying focused on that. It’s nice to spend some time with Andy too but he’s juggling family and everything else. Just trying to encourage and help everyone to prepare well and go to Paris stoked to show people their skating.
Team GB’s other teen competitor, Sky Brown, has already spent significant time in the limelight. Andy MacDonald has been a household name within the skate community since the ‘90s. How have you found the process of managing these big names?Sky is pretty well sorted with her network and she’s out in Japan preparing for Paris so I don’t have anything to do with her journey. Darren [Pearcy] has a good relationship with those guys so he is their point of contact on our side. I have skated contests with Andy for many years, I was even a camper at Woodward and he was one of the visiting Pro’s almost 20 years ago. I know him well enough for it to be mellow so it’s actually been super sick having Andy on this journey.
As the oldest skateboarder in Olympic history and a founding member of USA Skateboarding, how has Andy Mac’s experience benefitted the other skaters on the team? Have you found his inclusion useful to your role, too?Totally, Andy has a lot of insight and knowledge but is also really open to help. He has been a pleasure to work with. If you had asked me 5 years ago my response may have been very different but I am really proud of the journey that we have been on all together. He also is just hyped to skate, he’s grateful to be doing it all, experiencing new competitions, new places, he’s always down for a session and I think you need that energy on a trip. Especially for some of the younger ones that are still figuring out what they want to do with it all.
Since its inclusion in the Olympics, participation in skateboarding has grown massively. How do you think the Olympic event will evolve, and how will that affect skateboarding outside of competition?I really don’t know, it has certainly made this little splinter group of skating that is just a very small slice of it all, the level is getting pretty insane.I hope that it encourages people that are maybe not into Olympic stuff to do their own thing harder, keep bringing that passion of what skating means to them. It can mean so many things to so many different people and they are all valid.
Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring young skaters who look up to athletes like Lola, Sky, and Andy, and dream of one day competing at the Olympics?
The usual stuff. Get into it sooner rather than later. Conquer your fears and always keep learning the process of over coming challenges. Have love for what you do, without that it’s not going anywhere. If you have a goal in mind and then fall in love with the process. Say your big dream is to be an Olympian, in isolation is a weird dream to have and that’s not going to get you there. Your dream needs to be becoming a skater that has the ability to compete at the highest level and each day has to be informed by you trying to be the best skateboarder you can possibly be. This is kind of what skateboarding has always been like if you get that bug.
