Derry Skate Park

Transcript

00:30Right, so, to start off, if I may, could you introduce yourself, please?

00:51No problem.

00:52My name's Joe Hill, I'm the owner and operator here at DC Skateparks, I'm a skateboarder

00:59from Derry, born and raised here, skated 26 years, and about half of that I've spent

01:04in Germany, and just back now for the last couple of years, so, get the skatepark going,

01:10try and get, like, local ones in the community started again, get a wee scene going, and

01:14it seems to be going alright.

01:16Can you tell me about the journey you had to build the skatepark?

01:20It was sort of, it wasn't really like a big planned thing, we've been trying to get an

01:25indoor skatepark here in Derry for over 20 years, so, like, obviously we're trying to

01:29still get an outdoor free public facility that everyone can use, but an indoor park

01:34has always been something you need in Ireland, just because of the weather, you know, it's

01:38200 more days a year raining, so it's better, like, you need the indoor facilities, and

01:43we've had a couple throughout the years in Derry, and then I just came back, like I said,

01:47after years being away, and there was nothing, so I just thought, I'm gonna need it for me,

01:52and everyone else needs it too, so, slowly started building it, and we had, like, something

01:56about a quarter of this size, and then we doubled it, and now we're, where we're at

02:00today, with nearly a full skatepark with all you would need, pretty much, and we're still

02:05gonna keep going, so, let's see what we got.

02:08Can you tell me what it's like being a skater in Derry, is there enough there for someone

02:12to be a skater, like, is there a community there for people?

02:15Yeah, well, like, community-wise, there's a skate scene here, and there's every skater

02:20from, like, five, six-year-olds, coming out with their parents, right up to, like, the

02:25older ones, some of them are the parents that I used to skate with, and, like, they're in

02:29their thirties, up to their forties, so there's a scene for everyone, but also, you don't

02:33really need, like, skateboarding's that sport where you can just do it on your own, you

02:36know, you, as long as you come up, and there's other people about with the board, you sort

02:41of then do your own thing anyway, so skateboarding's something you can always get in the scene

02:45whether it's a good scene or not, but Derry has, like, always had a good scene, but not

02:49support from government, not support from, like, local media, or, like, say, like, even

02:54skateboard media in the UK doesn't really cover Derry as much, it might get Belfast

02:58and Dublin sometimes, but it's just, like, Derry's always been a little overlooked, facilities

03:03and coverage-wise, so it's just...

03:05Do you feel a little bit under-represented there?

03:07Under-represented, a hundred percent, and also nearly over-represented, where me, myself,

03:11as a skater, I've been all over the world, like, I'm skated representing Derry, I'm one

03:15of the best skaters now, Dee Collins, coming out of Derry, he's, like, the new up-and-comer,

03:20he's all over the place, but he had to move away to Belfast, because he just didn't have

03:24the structure, or, you know, the infrastructure here for him, so it's just always, it's a

03:29struggle, you know, to get where you need to be with skating here, but you can always

03:32do it as a hobby and have fun with it, but of course, like, you need this industry and

03:37the support behind you to get further with the sport.

03:39Definitely.

03:40This is the only skate park down there?

03:42This is the only skate park, no, in Ireland, apart from one in Sligo, there's one in Sligo,

03:47and it's more like a rollerblading park, a lot smaller than this, and the guys run that,

03:51it's an absolute legend, they've been doing it for years, but the price has gone way up

03:55on insurance down south, I think that was a big problem with, down south, and in the

03:59north, they just, they just don't seem to get the support, maybe government or other

04:05sorts of funding wise, because there's just not enough seen, there's not enough people

04:09to keep this sort of thing as a business going, but of course you can run it and keep it going

04:15to have the facility, but once you have, like, a big staff, say if they get a bigger, like

04:21in Belfast, where they had a big facility with, like, a cafe and the whole staff and

04:24everything running, then it gets to the point where it's really hard to do it without support,

04:29I guess, so, and that's where, in England, they've definitely got it with Skateboard

04:33GB, which would be the Federation for Skateboarding, they're getting involved a lot more with parks

04:38and helping them out, because it is something that needs that sort of funding, it's Olympic

04:42sport now, so, it sort of deserves it.

04:45How does that make you feel, being not the only skate park in Ireland, but in Derry,

04:52like, are you kind of proud to have it, or are you kind of like, is it annoying that

04:56this is...

04:57Exactly, it's not pride, because it's not something I wanted to do, obviously, I like,

05:01when I look around and I'm skating and I'm like, yeah, I built that, it's perfect, but

05:04that's my opinion, but it's built for me, I don't really care if anyone else doesn't

05:09like it, I know they will, because it's built well, it's built, like, built to the way you

05:14need something to be built, it's got every sort of obstacle, small, a little bit bigger,

05:19medium, large, you can, like, go step by step in progress, so, that's what you need, you

05:24don't need these 20 foot ramps where you can do triple backflips, we don't have those kind

05:28of athletes, so we're better keeping it nice and small.

05:32Do you think the skating culture here in Derry, or even broader in the north, is welcoming,

05:37or do you think it can be kind of gatekeeping?

05:40It's weird, like, skateboarding's always been really welcoming and gatekeeping at the same

05:45time, it's like, a little bit, skateboarding's all about style and fashion, and you can do

05:51this trick, but he can do it nicer, but that's also what makes it, like, a beautiful sport

05:56to watch, and you can actually judge it, so, like, gymnastics, you can watch, and if

06:00a boy does a backflip, and, like, lands dodgy, or if a guy does a perfect backflip, you know

06:05the difference, it's, like, easy to see, so that's, like, where skateboarding, people

06:10kind of, like, they want to keep it that way, but obviously, everyone, whenever you start,

06:14I'm amazed if you can do an ollie, you know, I don't really care, like, what level you're

06:19at, because your level's your level, and that's how it is, I'm skating 25 years, and I still

06:23always try and, like, push myself, and when I land something, like, someone, like, cheers

06:27for me, I still feel, like, you still feel good about it, so I know whenever someone

06:31younger does something, and they're looking around to see, if you, like, give them the

06:35recognition, people will be happy.

06:37And most likely possible, how old are you?

06:4036.

06:41And you've been skating for what?

06:4236, I've been skating for 26 years, so I started, like, 1999, just going in the first year in

06:48Lumen Christi, and that was, like, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 came out, I guess a whole generation

06:53started skateboarding then, and then when that came out, obviously, I didn't even like

06:58computer games, so I tried it a bit, I was like, hey, can we do this for real?

07:01Once I tried it once, that was me.

07:03And how has it changed in your lifetime, like, since you've started doing it?

07:09Like, so, whenever I first started skateboarding, it was all about just skateboarding, there

07:14was no thinking about money or making videos for Instagram or doing anything, it was just

07:19skateboarding all the time.

07:20And then when you get a bit older, it's like, well, there's a chance to, like, make money

07:24from it, but it's nearly impossible.

07:26You have to go and travel and go to different countries, film some videos, take a lot of

07:31photos, then show that to someone, and hopefully they're going to want to support you and take

07:35you further with it.

07:36So it was always, like, a pipe dream back then.

07:39Now it's really, like, there is a pipeline where we can get people from the start, where

07:44they come to the skate park, I recognise them, I give them help, now I give them, like, lessons,

07:49then they start skating well, then they might get sponsors, and all they need is the park

07:53and then the streets and their phone, and they can pretty much document everything,

07:57move their own way along, send shit to sponsors, they can annoy them and, you know, keep DMing

08:02them and sending stuff, like, we couldn't really do that back then, but what we do,

08:06we phone the house all the time, just keep sending them, like, our videos in the mail,

08:10like, you can't really do it as much back then, so, you know, it's definitely, it's

08:15a whole new world now for it.

08:17Tell me a wee bit about the park here you've built.

08:20Yeah, you can't have proper, but even if you're small, you can't be a large.

08:23Yeah.

08:24What did you have in mind when you were first creating it?

08:30Whenever we first were starting to build this whole place, the idea wasn't even, oh, let's

08:35build, like, a big skate park, it was just somewhere dry, we got a little space at the

08:39back, and at the same time, someone sent me, like, all these ramps on Facebook Marketplace,

08:44so it's like, big BMX park, it used to be down in Craighaven, so I ended up, like, organising

08:51to get these ramps for Next in Aston, had to get a crane to bring them, so I bring all

08:55them up and then there's no space in the little place that we had, so then, because we have

09:00these big ramps and the small space, we just modified everything, took, like, the materials

09:04off the ramps and repurposed them for smaller ramps, and that's sort of how we ended up

09:09building section by section.

09:11The old skate park that used to be in Pennyburn, it closed down and I knew the wood was somewhere,

09:17so I talked to the old owner, Rosie, Rodan Harkin, and he helped me out big time, gave

09:22me, like, the wood, that rail was still the first rail I learned to skate properly on

09:26and used to skate from Rosie's park, so it's, like, come full circle, we've got that now,

09:31and then C Sessions down in Bundorn, Pete Craig, always brought me over, even when I

09:36was in Germany, to do the demos and the shows on the mini ramp at C Sessions, and I know

09:42we got a new mini ramp one year, we got a budget to build one that was bigger for the

09:46BMXers, so I was able to convince them to give me the old mini ramp, it's not mine,

09:52but it's here on a permanent loan basis, it's going to stay there for as long as I can keep

09:56it there, but I appreciate that as well.

09:59Tell me a wee bit about your event, you had a skate jam, we used to call it, with Monster,

10:04was it?

10:05So, yeah, like, recently we just had a skate jam, it would have been a skate jam, it's

10:09just, you know, when you bring everyone together, you do prizes for all sorts of stuff, it's

10:12not a competition as much, it's just, like, a fun day, and then we got Monster Energy

10:17recently to get involved, not just in that event, but the whole skate park, they're going

10:21to help a bit with sponsorship and other events, so this was the first event they wanted to,

10:27you know, bring all the equipment for, they brought up the Monster tents and the Monster

10:32trucks, got a DJ in here, it was really good, they brought everyone pizzas, and we had,

10:37like, a lot of money, 500 euro cash to give out for all the tricks, and that's, it was

10:43for all ages, you know, not just the...

10:47You can't film!

10:50So it was all ages, we had, like, kids contests right up to adult contests, and then you can

10:57win, say, if you do, like, anything, you jump off the little stairs, I'll give you, like,

11:015 euro, or 5 pound, 10 pound, so everyone felt like they won at the end of the day,

11:05we gave out a lot of boards, and DC skate park merchandise, it was really good, all

11:10the families were happy, so, it's the kind of event I think we should do more of, especially

11:14all over Ireland, not just first, second, third, and everyone else is, like, just watching,

11:20like, it's really, everyone has 45 second runs, and everyone's on their own, they're

11:24fun too, and they have their place, but I like these big jam events where everyone

11:28sort of gets about this.

11:30Yeah, are you hoping to do more in the future?

11:32Yeah, well, that's the plan, hopefully, not just with Monster, but everything, everyone,

11:35like, in Ireland, and the Skateboard NI, and the new Irish Skateboard Association, we're

11:40working with them now to try and hold, like, all Ireland events, these sort of championships

11:46that we used to have in, like, places like Cork and Limerick, so that's the, sort of,

11:51the next step, hopefully, is trying to get these bigger contests, jams, events, all that,

11:56just for skaters, by skaters, it's going to be cool.

11:59Uh...

12:17Woo!

12:18I'm gonna call Mo.

12:19Oh.

12:20Recently, skating was introduced in the Olympics a few years ago, how does that make you feel

12:24as a skater, to see it being welcomed into such a big international sporting event?

12:28Yeah, well, that's like a, obviously, a two-forked prong, or two-pronged fork, as they say, like,

12:33it's like, of course, skateboarding getting in the Olympics makes it a little, people

12:38think it's less cool, or it's selling out, or going mainstream, maybe that could be true,

12:43but that means that we're going to get more support, more mainstream, like, companies,

12:48or mainstream, like, businesses will get behind skateboarding, and understand that it's not

12:53just this disruptive thing we do in the streets.

12:56So, I've definitely seen the both sides of that argument, where it makes contests, then,

13:02more, everyone's really, like, going for these couple of spots for the Olympics, and it makes

13:07it a little bit more cutthroat, which skateboarding never was, you used to be like, high-fiving

13:12with the boys that are coming first, you know, you're like, you don't hope he loses, you

13:16just like, you don't hope he falls, you've landed yours, so like, if he lands all his,

13:21he's going to win, but if he doesn't, then you win, that's sort of, you're not hoping

13:25for him to lose, so, but it's definitely, that is obviously, competition's going to

13:30be part of the sport, and I do think, like, the Olympics is going to be good in the future,

13:34it's already been good, it's the sport's grown a lot in the last few years, so.

13:38You teach lessons in here, can you tell us about some tricks, like, you know, you aim

13:43to teach someone, like, at first, where you kind of want them to go.

13:47That's my favourite, favourite question about lessons, what tricks am I going to learn,

13:51I'm lucky to do no tricks, no tricks from me, really, first things is standing on the

13:56board, going and stopping, and then turning, and then going down the ramps, and then turning

14:01on the ramps, but you're not, like, tricks is down the line first, like, the lessons

14:06are really geared at, like, beginners, to learn how to go and how to fall, because you're

14:12going to fall at the start as well, how to fall properly and not get, like, put off by

14:16that, afterwards, of course, I can show you every trick, here, that's it, boom, I'll do

14:21it, no problem, I can do it 20 times, that's what I do to teach a lot of the other ones,

14:25but you have to really, like, put the time in, and the tricks are, it's like a game of

14:30chess or physics, it's just, you need to have all your angles worked out, know how it works,

14:35and then all the tricks are, like, kick it harder that way, or kick it harder this way.

14:39Do you find a lot of people come on here thinking that they're going to walk on, go down the

14:43ramp on, you know, Ollie on the first two weeks?

14:45That's, that's, like, the common misconception, you watch it and go, that looks easy, and

14:50it's by far, like, the hardest thing, to just stand on the board, your feet want to move,

14:55your body's, if you're standing on a flat surface, you might feel alright, but as soon

14:59as you go down the hill, you're going to keep up straight and the board's going to go away

15:03from you, so, you just need to know where to lean and how to use your body weight, those

15:07things, some people do get it quickly, I'm not going to say there's nobody that can come

15:12in and do it straight away, but it is, it just takes time, and that first couple of

15:16things, they come in, they think they're, they think they're getting it, and then there's

15:20another step, and then, you know, they actually do tricks and they start jumping, and then

15:24you can do that, now you need to jump higher, or to get on a rail, so, there's always levels,

15:29you're going to be kept humble with skateboarding for sure.

15:31You said you have age ranges, what kind of age ranges are you competing?

15:36We have all types of age ranges, it's not even, there's no age limit, there's just a

15:40range, so we have like, under 8's, we just let them come in cheaper, as long as the parents

15:45are staying and supervising the whole time, so, and we still do lessons for them as well,

15:50so, we've got, I've had 4 or 5 year olds come in, I've had younger, I've had a guy that's

15:55still in the nappies rolling about, and he was standing up perfectly, but I do have like

15:595, 6 year olds that can go down every ramp here confidently, on their own, you know,

16:04I'm not holding any hands, but they're fully padded up, some of them even have like motorcycle

16:08protection in the back and front, and that's the best way to get them going, start them

16:12young, and then with all the pads and all the equipment, in the right environment, it's

16:17a different sort of animal then, you can then take that, if you go out to the streets, you

16:22know how to fall, you know, like sort of, more what to do when you get there, that's

16:26when they go out, they take a skateboard and they try and do something that they shouldn't

16:30be doing, because no one's told them that it's hard or whatever, so, I think that's

16:35the age range too, and also, never mind, that's for the kids, we've got adults right

16:40up until, I mean later, like late 40's to 50's, buying their first boards, and coming

16:46in and learning to push and roll about, so, it's never ever too late.

16:51You said, 6 year olds, that's coming down these ramps and learning to be able to stand

16:56up properly, you must feel a bit of pride, you know, kind of fostering that to your own

16:59facility.

17:00Obviously, like, that's the one thing I didn't expect from having a skate park, would have

17:05been like the lessons and the kids and that sort of, the wee environment that we have,

17:09the wee community of, even like the younger, the teenagers, it's all drama, but it's

17:13all, it's funny as well, I do like, I like being involved and giving them advice and

17:17stuff, but it's like, it's that sort of side of it I didn't see coming, I was just

17:21like, yeah, well, I'll be skating with the boys all the time, but yeah, definitely the

17:25younger ones and the lessons, those, when you see them going down and they're like,

17:29they're like, so excited to come in and then they're leaving in tears, like crying,

17:33they're like, no, I don't want to leave, I get dragged out, and like, it is good to

17:37see, and obviously, it's not just me at skateboarding, so, everyone loves it as much

17:41as me, I'm happy.

17:44Looking into the future, from their study, what would you like to see happen in the

17:49skating culture and the skating community?

17:53Well, like, I'd love to see loads of things happen, but the things I know are going to

17:58happen someday, might be a bit late for me, but there's going to be a skate park

18:02someday, and then a free outdoor one that's in a nice spot in the town, where

18:06everyone can watch and have this little community hub there, and then that will

18:11just sort of drive the skate community in general, to just sort of get out there more,

18:16go to all the events, travel to the other parks that are built, you know, support

18:20them, and then it will make it better for everybody, so, I'll just keep skating.

18:25And lastly, in the future, for your park here, and yourself, what can we see?

18:31I don't know, we're just going to keep doing what we're doing, we're going to try

18:34and, like you say, do more events, get more kids involved, get more lessons going,

18:39try and get the roller skate nights and the roller discos going again in the winter,

18:44and then, just see where we can take it.

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