Parked Up, But Chicago Bound: A Q&A with High-Flying Kiwi Skateboarder Bowman Hansen

It was off the kitchen bench of my family home on a farm outside Taupo that I first heard of Bowman Hansen. Holding a gold medal up and an index finger up, the 24-year-old was the A3 lead in the March 8 edition of the local paper, the Taupo Times.

Hansen was celebrating his victory in the Van Park Series Continental Championship in Sydney, which he'd won the weekend before. Hansen was the only Kiwi to enter - and will now take a spot at the World Championship Finals in Chicago in September.

He's the first New Zealand to ever qualify for for the Park World Champs - and it comes at a crucial time in skateboarding's transition from the edge of the mainstream bowl to deep down inside it.

Last year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided that skateboarding would be included at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Though it is yet to be decided what particular disciplines will be included, there's a pretty reasonable chance that Hansen will be in the mix if park and/or terrain are there.

After learning how to skateboard at the Taupo park and coming under the wing of future Nitro Circus cyclist Jed Mildon, who is also a Taupo lad, Hansen headed to Melbourne to improve his skills.

That's where he lives now, and works as a construction labourer when he's not skating. Since moving across the Ditch, he's become a regular top ten ranked Aussie skateboarder in park and terrain. His victory in Manly at the Van Park Series event proves his regional standing.

After getting in touch with Hansen and finding that the two of us attended the same Taupo high school - Tauhara College - there was no doubt that an interview was on the way. Nepotism? Well maybe a little, but Hansen still a bloody interesting bloke to talk to.

Kia ora, Bowman. Tell me about winning the Van Park Series Continental Championship round in Sydney, and what it means to qualify for the World Champs later this year.

"There's Duke's, but the Vans parks series is the new one that has started up. This is the second year they are going to be having it. So I'm real hyped that I got the golden ticket for it. I'm the only Kiwi that was in Sydney, so getting through to Chicago is huge.

"It's the world's best skateboarders that only get the invite. It's a big step for me, and opens up lots of possibilities for me if I do well."

Your winning move was a backside boneless revert on tombstone – what exactly is that?

"It's a trick when you take your front foot off the board, and plant it on top of it. A tombstone is a ramp that goes up and kind of turns into a jersey barrier. They just call it a tombstone, on the top of the ramp.

"You spin 180, plant the foot and jump 180 back in, and roll back down the ramp backwards. That was the trick that topped it off at the end of the run – it sealed the deal. There were a lot more tricks that were involved – 360 tricks. The works."

What's the life of pro skateboarder like for you? Do you live tough, and have to hustle to get sponsorship?

"Skateboarding does pay off, but you've got to be invited to these competitions that are offering the big money. You've got to have good sponsors backing you, making good profit.

"People usually send in videos to sponsors, and get it that way. I've actually got my sponsors by going to skate competitions and doing well. They'll come and approach me.

"At first, there was a bit of sleeping on couches but, as of lately, Vans has been flying me around everywhere and sorting me out with accommodation. At the beginning, it was hard. Working all week with next to no practice, just to get to a competition, and then try and do well. Just having to repeat that constantly – it was hard."

Taupo skateboarder Bowman Hansen tearing it up on the Gold Coast back in 2015. Source: Youtube.

How did you first get into skateboarding?

"When I first got started, the Taupo skate park was getting built. My brother had been skating – he's three year's older than me – for a year or two, and I was only nine. At first, it was just a way to hang out with my older brother, really.

"I got a skateboard for Christmas, and started rolling around with my brother and his mates. It came natural with me. My brother would make me 'test dummy' moves that he wanted to try.

"Being the little brother, he'd force me to test dummy things without me wanting to. He'd be like 'you better do it or else.' Just from being pushed, I'd started trying more and more myself. I ended up getting better, and heaps better than my brother."

Taupo is definitely small town New Zealand. Was a good place to grow up as a skateboarder?

"Back when Taupo's skate park was built, it was pretty much the best skate park with transitions in New Zealand. Now, there's more. Chad Ford, the guy who built it, runs a lot of the competitions in New Zealand that deal with transitions – like Bowlzilla in Wellington. He says that Taupo is one of the funniest skate parks that he has built.

"It had a lot of input from the community and incorporated a lot of that with his own when he made it. Back then, there were heaps of skateboarders to skate with and learn off. These days, it's just full of scooters. It's sad."

Last year, the IOC voted to bring skateboarding into the 2020 Tokyo Games. It's been pretty controversial, but what are your thoughts on it?

"I've heard from guys in Australia that run the Aussie Skate Federation, and are part of the international federation, they are going to have five different categories. I've heard it will park, vert, bowl, street and ramp.

"I think it will be close to the Dew Tour and X-Games set-up, but I don't really know. I'm hoping they'll be park and terrain. I suppose there will be only small teams, but you've got to get to comps and do your best.

"Imagine if this comp in Manly was an Olympic qualifier. I mean, wow. It is definitely on my cards, to try and get to."

Why do you think the IOC bought skateboarding into the Olympics? Do you think skateboarding is finally getting the recognition it deserves?

"I love that skateboarding is finally getting the recognition it deserves. It's such a technical sport. You can't just pick a skateboard up and do what that people who've done years of practice, and broken bones, can do.

"Some people think going into the Olympics is pretty rubbish. Skateboarding was frowned upon for a long time, now corporates are trying to get it in there because they see it's a new market and they're trying to make a bit of money.

"X Games makes millions off it. Me personally, I like the idea it's going to be in the Olympics. The athletes that skate deserve something on the level of the Olympic athletes.

"My grandfather got really angry at me when I stopped playing rugby, and started skateboarding. But I didn't have as much passion for rugby as I did skateboarding."

What's the talent like in New Zealand skateboarding ranks these days? Do we cut it against the rest of the world?

"We do, but Kiwis are limited by their training facilities and what they see in front of their face and do themselves. I got to the point where I was struggled to learn any more. That's why I went to Melbourne.

"There's so many Kiwi skaters in Melbourne, and most of them who move over get a big rep of being some of the best skateboarders in Australia. So, yea, New Zealand does produce heaps of mad talent, but they get to the point that they can't learn any more and stop.

"They need to get out of New Zealand to see what the rest of the world can do. That way they can get better and better and better."

"Kiwis have heaps of mana and self-belief, and when they see someone else doing something they go 'man, I can do that.' Next minute they're doing it, but better."

"There's kids in Australia who are 12 years old that are better than what grown men are doing in New Zealand. They're so much further along, and they've got skate schools here, too. Parents drop their kids off at these schools and they're there."