DRIVE starring Mike Vallely: Barbados (2008) - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nLWUGOA60o Transcript: (00:09) [Music] skateboarding has always been a statement of individuality and at its core an individual pursuit no team no coach no rules no right and no wrong but skateboarding is far from being a lone pursuit at its best it is a shared experience skateboarding first connected me with me and then to other skaters first in my own town and region and then to a world community i have made friends and shared amazing experiences with skaters in all corners of the world skateboarding destroys boundaries and borders of all kinds and brings people together (01:10) skateboarding brings people together [Music] so we are all individuals connected links in a chain (02:15) strengthened by each other the island nation of barbados is known more for the sport of cricket than it is for its skate scene but people have been quietly skating here for 20 years one of those long time skaters paul wilson has taken it upon himself to bring all of the skaters of barbados together to finally build a legitimate scene based on camaraderie cooperation and a come one come all attitude yeah hey what's up sorry man what's going on barbados welcome to everyone's skate show thanks man my wife jamie hi there (02:59) we got some local skaters here just waiting to shred it up with you up man so what we're going to do is go try to hit up some spots and try to get a session on so let's roll guys let's do this all right [Music] so [Music] by opening his shop paul and his wife jamie have exposed an entirely new generation of the island's youth to skateboarding and what many of them lack and experience they make up for an enthusiasm to simply ride [Music] (04:19) [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh so i get the feeling that uh once these guys haven't skated many ramps that's a pretty new thing yeah skating this they definitely want to learn more transitions i can tell the energy's right and the guys are all anticipated but it's it's not a new experience yeah it's a (05:22) new experience yeah it's definitely not smart even for me but it's good we all learn together we all enjoy skating together so ah that's all we need to grow together [Music] [Music] so there used to be a guy that used to just screws around through my neighborhood to go to work and they'd always see on my skateboard like that's so sick you know just to see someone going to work cruising on a skateboard one day he passes away in the afternoon and i go like whenever they can really say yeah sure it did (06:16) and that was the end of that from that one meeting that one guy with that skateboard and him giving me the opportunity to to grab skateboarding and enjoy he passed away and i was like dude he changed my life i got to do something i want to have something real i was like dude what what can i do to make things much easier get a shot get kids right you know i think almost every skateboarder has a similar story is like there's that person that got them started that person that introduced them there's that moment in time where (06:53) it's just like everything opens up and then from there it's like really hard to let it close because you've seen another side of life yeah and and it's not this isn't just like some children's play thing it's not a toy it's not a sport it's something greater it's something bigger and we'd only really be half alive if we didn't experience the whole thing and make the effort to pass it on it's almost like it almost feels like once you're handed that torch you have that responsibility (07:23) you know i mean i've always felt that way so you open the doors to skate shop the skate scene grown from there yeah it definitely definitely is grown because we gave them a reason to want to skate it after they buy our boards hey this saturday we're going to be displaced and we're going to session hardcore and if you want to meet other kids that are down for skating this is rare to meet and then they come there and then they meet people from st lucie st george and kids that never even i'm still seeing kids (07:50) that have never even seen and they've been skating for like a year like where were you kids you know and they were like where was your shop right the skate shop has sort of unified the skate scenes you pulled people from all over the island together yeah it gave them a place where they can come and feel at home and like feel as one body you know everyone here who rides a skateboard is done for skateboarding whether they can jump 12 stairs or whether they can do a norcomplete or whatever it's like we're all (08:15) skateboarders in this one huge world we're just we're skateboarders that's the bottom through the all island skate tour paul has injected the small skate scene of barbados with the excitement and freedom of getting out on the open road and sessioning different types of terrain all right everybody we got rolo we gotta go the next spot so get your last drop in let me roll out and everybody for the bus grab all your helmets everything you brought in the bus how did you start doing these tours how did that process get (08:55) from watching the videos i've always dreamed of having an original skate tour cram a van with like sweaty skaters pocket boards let's have a traditional road trip nice man jamie's like let's do it let's get it together yeah man it's a good feeling that's probably one of the best things we've done so far the end of the day those kids are smiling they're ready for another tour and they're ready to like just get it done [Music] [Music] so [Music] so in barbados (10:01) this is a skate spot you don't really skate this spot too regular but every time you come on the tour for some strange reason the kids like it so usually bring them back how often do you do these tours um we try to do these tours usually when there's a bike holiday we do it the day before the bike holiday so they have the next day to prepare for school and stuff but we try to do it like say like once a month as soon as the bus stops it's like everyone just busts out yeah they just bust down they just start attacking i (10:29) guess that's what it's made for you know getting them i'll get them and like that environment where they just want to bust out right and not not hold back nah they're not holding back no not today at all i mean it's blazing hot and they're just devastating non-stop nice little bank nice little downhill you know that's a cruise around travel around the world and uh growing up in new jersey on the east coast i always see stuff that because you have that skater's eye you know you see those things you know i go (10:52) oh in new jersey that's a good skate spot and uh apparently that's the case in barbados as well [Music] [Music] all right kids got around let me get some food got some maple some burgers everybody [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] (12:01) so [Music] [Applause] [Music] okay guys grab your helmets grab your bites grab all your belongings make sure there's no garbage army ready for the bus so let me go to the bus let me roll next spot hit it up [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] skate tour is coming to an end yep i still tripped out on like the bus door opens and it's on man everyone just everything just gets attacked isn't that what a tour supposed to be though yeah (13:04) like funny tiny tour bus opens everyone yeah no analysts whatever is supposed to be annihilated yeah yeah no i mean it's been great i've had a great time and i tell you everybody is just so cool from the little kids to the older guys to the old school guys i mean everybody's been so cool yeah and so appreciative i mean and i'm not saying just appreciate me being here appreciative of like what's happening here in barbados right now what's happening in the scene they really they really are appreciating what you're (13:31) doing and uh and they see they see potential in their skate scene [Music] we call ourselves the movement skit team movement skate team is a movement of people that were trying to change the the views of skin and vibrations skin and virus is considered that underground sport or elite you're trying to change that trying to let people know that you guys don't hear this we've taken it as a sport we take it seriously we want to skate we love it that's the most important part because i don't i won't say we're like the best in (14:12) any place actually but we just love skating [Music] so uh if you don't have a skate park i guess mobile skate park's the next best thing yeah once you got transportation yeah yeah there's something some hard work some elbow grease yeah we're gonna start with the big wedges first [Music] how did the whole mobile skatepark thing get started well that came about in the sense like where are our shops situated there's a guy who builds like cabinets and that kind of stuff (15:15) he is a skateboarder and he found out that my store was there and he's like what if you got a skate shop you got to have ramps what's the sense of having a shop and that you don't have something to facilitate skateboarding he donated some money he built those ramps and i was like well we can't skate him on grass so we got to get him to somewhere to skate and all we had to do is get that stuff on the truck and we just go to random car parks and just on a day where there's no business or after hours and (15:44) just set that stuff up and be scared of that stuff because of what you're doing with setting these ramps up have you had new kids come out that's just starting out and that's like their entry point into skating yep skating something that is uh appreciated by by the parents and and people in the community they think it's something that has any value or is it just kind of like kids pain and not really like these kids parents they are but the other parents are just like why don't you do something (16:10) better like skateboarding that there's no goal in skateboarding you can't make money out of skateboarding all you're gonna do is go and fall and break some party and then we got paid but you know what i guess the thing is that's what i'm here for and that's what they're afforded to break that tradition [Music] wavers [Music] [Music] [Music] (17:28) oh [Music] has there been any uh skaters come out of barbados that have made it on the scene internationally at all um really you know what do you think about the kids today i think there's any potential in any of these guys i think there's a lot of potential they just need the facility and they just need to just skate as much as they possibly can and you being here and you know you you show them that because you've been there you've been in it for so long there's you know they can actually get something out of it that's (18:16) perseverance you know yeah just persistence keep pushing and summoning a workout eventually talking about getting a skate park built here in barbados you kind of already have one yeah you know what i mean it's still kind of hard because like when you got to move all of this stuff from the shop to a truck to here skate it get tired and then get those kids after that hard session to take that stuff back it's always a mission yeah getting the kids motivated to do this is like a precursor to getting them (18:46) motivated to get the skate park built you know what i mean how do you get the kids motivated i mean what does it take it's not really hard to get them motivated because once they see me skating they're down to skateboard they want that figure to be there you know they don't have anything to look up to then i guess there's nothing for them to do or enjoy it's not like you have sponsors or anybody helping you out in any way so why why do it i never had any bad neighborhood and if i didn't have a (19:13) skateboard it'd probably be a mid neighborhood or six feet deep this is what kept me alive that's what i'm going to keep doing i'm going to show them that you know do what you love and that's it that's all that matters you know that's really loud [Music] well jamie she's like she's the great motivator you know like let's get this done you want to get it you got to you got to put every uncle your energy into getting stuff set up i guess behind every great man there's a great woman is (20:16) a great woman and that's that's definitely what she is you know she's like this skate mom she gets into the kids you know she gives them that encouragement you know like you're good you know keep doing it you know like don't give up [Music] [Applause] [Music] the future of skateboarding is not in the whimsical hands of father the leader professional skateboarders nor is it dependent on the supply and demand of goods from an industry looking out for the bottom line no skateboarding's future lies solely in (21:15) the hands of the energized individuals who hear a calling to grow and protect skateboarding for generations to come these are the true ambassadors of skateboarding solid links in the chain who selflessly keep it alive and well people like paul wilson in barbados [Music] [Music] you