Sport / Local duo train up to offer skateboard lessons for first time
IT WAS just over a decade ago that Lerwick’s skatepark opened, capping off years of fundraising and hard work.
Overlooking the Knab and the expansive sea, it has been described as the skatepark with the best view in the country.
There could now be a new generation of skaters in Shetland set to enjoy its bowls, rails and ramps after two established locals completed training in England which will enable them to offer lessons.
David Sutherland and Kevin Stove, who have been skating for decades, recently attended The House Skatepark in Sheffield to undertake Skateboard GB’s training course.
Once paperwork is complete, they will be equipped to take bookings for skateboard lessons in Shetland, the first time this has been available locally.
Their hope is that they will be able to help newcomers to learn the ropes – both youngsters, and adults too.
The pair certainly have the experience; Sutherland, 42, has been skating since the late 1990s and Stove, who is 27, reckons he has been using boards for around two decades.
They are also the chair and vice-chair respectively of the association which runs the Lerwick skatepark.
As Shetland News meets up with the pair earlier in the week the wet weather has put paid to a trip to the skatepark itself to see it in action – with a warm cafe instead having to be the venue of choice.
The changeable weather is cited as one factor which plays against Shetland somewhat when it comes to skating; rain and skateparks do not really mix, and it is why an indoor one appears to be a long-term goal.
But as Sutherland says, much of the basics of skateboarding can be picked up on flat ground – and potentially indoors too.
“When I was younger, I spent half my winter in my dad’s garage practising kickflips, and shove-its and ollies,” he says.
Sutherland and Stove – who will work under the name Skate Shetland – plan to offer both individual and group lessons.
Anyone interested is invited to get in touch via the Skate Shetland Facebook page.
Sutherland said a key aim of offering lessons is to “encourage skating and to get more younger folk into it”.
“I’ve got three bairns myself and I’ve been teaching them how to skate,” Sutherland continues.
“And then being up at the skatepark too, you meet folk coming up there and you’re showing them bits and pieces, but I think it would be good to have something really structured.
“Young people can come to it and they’ve got a proper lesson and they can get taught the basics the proper way.
“When I was starting out skating nobody taught me anything, and I learned a lot of the things the wrong way and it took years to figure out I was doing it wrong.”
There would also be skateboards available to use for anyone who does not have one.
Another aim comes from a desire to bring local skaters together, and tackle any perceived notions of inferiority from newcomers if they are at the Knab park at the same time as veterans.
“I think there’s a lot of folk that feel that if they see folk skating up there, it kind of puts them off in a sense,” Stove says.
“What this is about as well is to try and bring everybody together and make not so much of that awkward barrier. Anybody is welcome to it and everybody’s got the right.”
Sutherland adds: “There’s a few times I’ve been to the skatepark in Shetland and there’s been folk there with boards, and as soon as I started skating they just went.
“I think they shouldn’t do that – it’s better if everybody skates together.”
Prior to the Knab park opening in 2014, areas like the Sound School and the North Ness business park were often used by skaters where they could practise flips and tricks.
But the purpose-built skatepark gave the local community a focal point, and a facility which stands up well to others on the mainland.
“It’s a lot better as most skateparks that’s for sure,” Sutherland says.
“And it’s got a brilliant view. I don’t think there’s any skatepark with a better view than the Lerwick one.”
The skatepark is still getting good use, although it appears there are less BMX bikes being taken there these days.
Parents can also be found taking children there to let them roam on scooters.
It is not just used by locals either, with visitors sometimes making an appearance too – even folk coming off cruise ships.
“Maybe some random Italian guy will rock up and be absolutely shredding the park to bits and then you’ll never seen him again,” Sutherland smiles.
James Stewart, who was the chair of the skatepark association in its development phase, said he first became involved in fundraising for the facility around 1999 or 2000 when a certain computer game series put a whole new global spotlight on the sport.
That game – a huge, best-selling hit – was Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, named after the US skateboard icon.
“We managed to get money that wouldn’t be available now due to Brexit – EU funds,” Stewart explains as he reflects on the fundraising for the skatepark.
“And the council provided some too. We were aided in this effort immensely by June Porter who helped us write the successful grant applications.”
Stewart, who no longer lives in the isles, said it is “great” to see dedicated skateboard coaching now available in Shetland.
“It’s an activity that requires a great deal of technique to do and professional trainers will not only teach folk that, but also how to stay safe doing it,” Stewart continues.
“Skateboarding has become an Olympic sport in recent years, and Sky Brown who represents Great Britain had a podium finish at Tokyo and Paris.
“Shetland skateboarding talent, like Matthew Henderson, have had photographs of their skateboarding featured in UK skateboarding publications and were known in the Scottish scene for their talent.
“The Shetland skatepark is the most northerly one in the UK, and definitely the one with the best view in my opinion.”
Beyond private lessons, Skate Shetland has also approached the council-run Active Schools project about whether a link-up could be a possibility.
Whatever may happen with training the next generation of skaters in Shetland in the future, Sutherland and Stove know first-hand the benefits of the sport can bring – both mentally, and physically.
“If you’re feeling annoyed or anything, you go out there and it just clears your head out completely,” Sutherland says.
“And of course there’s the physical side of it as well – you’re getting out and moving your body…the cardio, strength and everything. It’s so good for you.”
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