By Rhonda Bartle

Hot wheels

New Plymouth skateboarder Russel Laird is a fast bloke on wheels. At 23, he's currently sponsored by several New Zealand companies who recognise his talent and want to cash in on his style.

They know the impact he can have on other skaters when he steps on his board. Red Dragon Clothing, Boom Skateboards and DVS shoes have all signed Laird to take their products to the streets.

Laird sits in a high, sheltered square of inner-city deck, in a philosophical, 'can't complain' mood. Skateboarding in this country, he says, is less about competition and more about street appeal, showing your stuff to new waves of skaters coming up the ranks.

In 2007, starring in skate videos and magazine photo spreads is what it's all about, and while being good enough to be noticed brings a certain amount of street cred and glamour, it brings little cash to the sport.

"I'm sponsored by a few New Zealand companies. You do things to show you're riding for that company, and I guess kids see it, look up to you, and they're going to buy the products.

"It's not really that much of a stress here in New Zealand, because you don't get paid the big money, so you don't have to go out and have to shoot photos. You have a bit more control over things."

Better backing

The sport is in much better shape than it was five, ten years ago, Laird says.

"There is a lot more money going into it now and it's endorsed more by bigger people, who are putting in bigger money to run events, like X-Air in Wellington earlier this year.

"There's a lot more potential, and there are more New Zealand guys on the worldwide scene, particularly in America and Australia."

It helps to be a show-off, but it's not a prerequisite. "Yeah, during demos and stuff, that's kinda what you do. Often there're four or five of you skating for a crowd or whatever, but mostly you get in your own zone and do your own thing."

When he's not skating, Laird works for Hamilton-based Revolt Distribution.

"Revolt brings in brands like Red Dragon, a skate company in Canada, and Lifted Research Group clothing, which supplies hip-hop artists, athletes and skaters. The brand is really big in the States at the moment, and I sell it around the country."

As sales rep, he also deals with advertising and other associated tasks.

"It's a good job. Sometimes, it gets a bit stressful being in the same industry you love living in, because sometimes, at the end of the day, skating becomes a bit of a chore. But if you can keep it separate…"

Good moves

But that doesn't mean he keeps all his eggs in one basket - or all his wheels under one board.

After full-time study at New Plymouth's Pacific International Hotel Management School (PIHMS) Laird now holds a degree in applied hospitality and tourism which he fully intends to use in the future.

"It was an uninformed decision," he laughingly admits. "I went out there thinking I would train as a chef. But it wasn't like that, and I loved it."

The school's training program offers students overseas experience to its students - something that worked well for Laird on several levels.

"The great thing about that degree," he says, "is that I really enjoyed it. You get to study here for six months and then you get to go out somewhere for six months.

"I worked in Hong Kong and got to live and skate there, and then after that I went to Melbourne. Same deal."

With a grin, Laird lists some of the places where he got air. "There are quite a few places in Hong Kong to skate, including the Space Museum, which has an outdoor area with marble and a good ambience. There are always places to go.

"I used to work in a bar until three in the morning and even then, everything was all lit up, and I would skate at the Immigration Building, close to where I lived.

"That place is really great for skating. It's been in magazines. I think places with a lot of money generally have good architecture for skating, though it's not done deliberately."

Concrete ideology

If terms like ollie-indy, fakie-grind and Madonna don't mean much to the uninitiated, they're a second language to Laird. But he sometimes finds himself on the back foot over the seriousness of his skating.

On his favourite local run - the New Plymouth waterfront, with its eight kilometres of snaking concrete - he's had few run-ins with those less enamoured of the sport.

"Yeah, the walkway is one of my chosen places, probably to the dismay of other people," he smiles.

"I guess some don't see skating as art. And some, you simply can't explain to, or talk to them about it. Most have no idea of the level we do it on."

A mellow dude, Laird confesses to being a perfectionist when he's on wheels. "In a way, yes, most of the time I am.

"I have a friend who never, ever, stresses - he's always the same. But sometimes, it gets to you and you think, right, go back, start fresh and do it again.

"I haven't figured a way to explain it exactly, but basically, if there's something you know you can do one day, and then the next day you're doing everything right and it's not working for you, it gets frustrating."

A look at the locals

The sport is all about trying new moves seen in photographs or videos - and doing better than the inventor.

Recently, Laird took his own turn in front of the camera for a film shot by Mark Lahood, also a skateboarding pro.

"It's a gritty, edgy take on the local scene, with innovative camera angles and a memorable sound-track.

"Six of us had parts in that video. We're all in basically the same position, all locals, and all sponsored by Cheapskates here in New Plymouth.

"It was a good thing for Taranaki, as a lot of the shots showed what skating locally is all about."

After the film's release, Lahood moved to Brisbane to begin the second in the series.

Laird, who somehow manages to sound grounded with his feet and wheels in the air, is a long way from the ten-year-old who used to hang out at Ōākura School after class, banging around on an old wide fish-tail board borrowed from a friend.

Those were the days when he and his mates would roll off the seats, drop down, race each other, fool around.

Though initially into body-boarding, karate, and 'a bunch of other stuff, too,' Laird eventually pared his sporting life down to simply skating - though there's nothing at all simple about the moves he makes today.

Pain and perseverance

"I guess I just kept at it," he says. "With practice comes more tricks. I think I always had good balance and the will to push myself to try new stuff.

"You do fall off a lot when you're starting so it's all about whether you want to keep falling off, or give it up."

Injuries? You bet. The sport is not without pain. Over the years, Laird's done quite a bit of bodily damage and is working through the result of some now.

"I fell on my wrist about two years ago, bent it funny, and didn't think anything of it at the time.

"A recent MRI scan showed there's no blood flowing to the bone anymore, which means it might have to be taken out, or I might need a bone graft."

He shrugs. It's all part of skating life and he's seen worse things. Besides, he comes from a line of extreme sportspeople who try not to fuss over such things.

His parents won Taranaki's 2007 Mountain to Surf relay, and his sister is a downhill mountain biker who has spent real time laid up in hospital as a result.

"Dad was a PE co-ordinator in schools and we always had access to all the sporting stuff. We'd have a play around. I was never an inside person."

Waves of inspiration

Laird is not sure where his talent is going to take him, but he's buckled in, whatever the ride.

"I've been around New Zealand a few times, and to Australia. I guess it depends on whether you get to a level where your sponsors are willing to pay for you to go overseas more.

"I've got something coming up soon, a North Island tour for Manual magazine, that comes out four times a year.

"The guys who run it are really good, and it's cool to have something like that in New Zealand. There used to be only one mag, but Manual is different. It's 90% skate-based."

He can list many skaters whom he admires. Rodney Mullen, an old veteran who still skates, invented many of the modern skateboarding tricks. Louie Barletta is a different inspiration.

"His video - well, it's one of those that makes you want to go out skating. Straight away, it explains how you feel about it.

"There are so many of those guys out there, so many. Even the guys whose style I don't personally like, there is still a respect for them and what they do."

Unlike many sports, skating isn't age-discriminating, Laird says.

"In the professional world, there is definitely a use-by date, but all the rest you can do till you're forty, fifty, or whatever. I've had some fun in my life already, and there's plenty more out there."

Laird's future looks bright enough for several pairs of shades.