A Sermon for Sunday

Scoot Nation writer/contributor Joshua Rochelle-Bates sent us an old article from Issue #9 with some words of wisdom that we think that many riders still need to read. Worth checkin out specially, if you live in the UK!

Scootering as a sport and industry in the past 3-4 years has developed very fast, with new companies and new riders joining the sport every day. The sport is almost at mainstream status, which means companies are pressuring people more to ride harder than ever before both for comps and media coverage. This pressure is being put on riders everywhere and affects almost everyone to the point of constant competition being seen both at events and public skate parks. As well as having negative effects socially, riding styles as a whole are being heavily influenced by the pressure companies are putting on the sport.

         
People now feel pressure to learn certain tricks by both companies, and the riding community and as a result of this most kids coming into the sport now are more or less the same. I think it is safe to say that at almost every competition, public skate park, or riding event there are going to be those that are doing footless rewinds, backflips, briflips or flairs, either on quarter/half pipes or on/over a box. 
Mainstreaming is causing riding to be seen as an obligation rather than something you can express yourself or be unique with. Across all action sports, riding is seen as a form of self-expression or a gateway to creativity. 
There is a spectrum to riding that I have noticed in recent years, and that is tricks being on one end and style being on the other. Scootering as a sport seems to be solely at the ‘let’s learn loads and loads of tricks that everyone else is doing so we look good’ side of the spectrum. A good rider can match the tricks he has with a sense of style or creativity, something that can make them selves different to everyone else. Most riders that are respected and revered in the sport are those that push the boundary in style and creativity, not because they can footjam.


Before you can even conceive about getting your own style, riders must ask themselves why they are in the sport in the first place, if you find yourself answering the question by saying ‘because I want to be sponsored’ or ‘I want to be famous’ then you shouldn’t be bothering at all. Riding is about creativity and self-expression. The music industry mirrors this very closely. Bands/artists that conform or do what everyone else is doing aren’t the ones that you remember or listen to. Riding is the same in every respect, the guys that do something different or have their own influences to both their tricks and styles are the ones that are sponsored and are also the ones that more people respect.


Every action sport ever conceived has the aim of conquering an obstacle. Whether it be riding something not conceived of before, or throwing a certain trick off something else. The more creative riders are able to take their tricks and do them off anything that is in front of them, whether it is park or street. The guys that ride the same obstacles and do the same tricks are the guys that when you ride a new obstacle can’t do anything at all. This is for both park AND street riders, despite street giving you more opportunities to be creative and different. I think it is really important to highlight at this stage that being creative doesn’t mean you have to ride street to do it, skateboarding and BMX have shown us that it is still possible to push the boundaries of park riding by interpreting a course or set up in a certain way and hitting it with different ideas on what can be done. I hate how some scooter riders approach sessions as a chance to show off or use it as an opportunity to get ‘sweaty’ from trying to land bangers all the time, whilst at the same time talking to no one and having their earphones in the whole time they ride. These ignorant riders personify what I hate about Scootering, they lack style, creativity and are generally un-cool to ride or speak to. The sad truth is that the number of these ‘sweaters’ are beginning to rise up in numbers which makes me sad, riding is about getting together and having a laugh, not about trying to show off and to be ignorant to everyone else on the park.


Riding to me is so much more enjoyable when I am with a few of my mates, riding a certain set up or obstacle and seeing what their perception on the set up is and seeing what lines and tricks they can pull out of it. To me, I don’t think there is a ‘best’ rider, which is why I disagree with all these competitions and events that try and find ‘the best’ rider. Riding is too broad to be narrowed down to one person being the best at everything, EVERYONE is good at something, and EVERYONE has a different style, no matter what any company tells you. Riders that play off their strengths and are influenced by the area, culture, music they listen to, the riders they individually admire and the people around them are the riders I find a lot more interesting to watch and are also the riders I tend to respect more than the ‘let’s do a gazillion tail whips/lets land a world first because I want to get money’ sort of people.
 Riders that lead rather than follow are the riders that have the capacity to be creative and stylish.


The final piece of wisdom I can give, is the fact that you should never allow to let yourself be pressure into doing a trick, whether it be by your mate or a company, because at the end of the day you want to be able to distinguish yourself from everyone else, and by doing that, you learn the tricks that you want to, not what everyone else is doing.

- Joshua Rochelle-Bates