A Day In The Life: Amateur Skateboarder Ben Loates
Skaterboard Interviews
Inserted: Wed.11.Feb.2009
and
Last Updated: Wed.11.Feb.2009
From Edmonton Alberta Canada
Skateboarding is a difficult sport but for some skaters the sport itself might not be the hardest part. When a skateboarder reaches the amateur level they are faced with the decision whether to leave everything in their life behind and do what it takes to be a professional skateboarder or carry on as a amateur. This dilemma is something that Spruce Grove’s Ben Loates had to deal with. When looking back on it now Loates could say that the choice was as easy as an Ollie. Along with being an amateur skateboarder Loates is a husband, he has an education degree, he teaches skateboarding lessons, he is the team manager for Alberta based company Olive Skateboards, he is Christian, he is a musician, he is a soon to be father and he is only 23 years old. Nine years ago Loates remembers riding his red bike at the age of 14 with his friend who was “shredding” on a skateboard down paths. Loates thought it looked like fun and he fell in love. That love for skateboarding is what pushes Loates to keep doing it. He has the sponsors, talent and everything a skateboarder would need to turn pro. “A skater keeps rising up until they get to this ceiling,” Loates said. “There are only a few skaters who get above that ceiling.” Loates chose not to launch himself off of a set of stairs into the lifestyle of a professional skateboarder. He met the right girl, who he married in May 2007 and decided that skateboarding should take a back seat in his life. On this winter day Loates’ sits in the front seat of his white Chevrolet Astro van. It’s -4 C at 11 a.m. in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and it’s a nice enough day to only be wearing a sweater but it’s still too cold to skateboard and there is too much snow to even attempt to try riding a skateboard. Unless there’s an indoor skateboard park like the one where Loates teaches kids how to become better skaters as part of the Gnarboots Skateboard School. On this day there are only Loates and two teenage boys, Cade Turlock and Brendan Kronewitt, riding and absorbing whatever Loates is throwing out there. It has been awhile since the last session of Gnarboots but Loates hopes it will pick up again soon. He started Gnarboots four years ago in Spruce Grove with his own ramps and has now moved the school into Edmonton at Avenue Skate Park. After three years he says business is “brutal” but he never started the school to make money. “Right now it’s the relationships with the kids. I love these kids. I honestly do, especially these kids from Spruce they’re just so rad and it is a time to get to know them and get in to their lives and allow them in to my life,” Loates said. “The whole reason why I started Gnarboots was because it’s an opportunity to change someone’s life or to give them an open door to see that you don’t have to be a complete douche growing up. There are other things you can do.” The impact Loates has as a mentor on Turlock and Kronewitt is as easy to see as a gnarly skate spot and many other young skateboarders around the Edmonton area look up to him. “He does a lot for the kids. Just running Gnarboots shows he is a positive influence on kids growing up with skateboarding,” Nick Zinger, friend of Loates, a graphic and motion designer and someone who has filmed Loates skateboarding said. “It’s sometimes easy to get mixed up with the wrong group.” After an hour or so the Gnarboots session is over and now it’s time to go to Loates hometown of Spruce Grove. Turlock and Kronewitt climb into Loates van that has a for sale sign hanging in the drivers side back widow. After a couple of 7-11 stops and a stop at Kronewitt’s house to pick up a skateboard film called Fully Flared the gang arrives at the Loates residence. He has a nice little cozy apartment on the fourth floor where he lives with his wife Jenna. She is away at a camp for the weekend which is too bad because they say she can make some great homemade banana bread, pizza and even homemade jerky. After watching Fully Flared Loates jokes that the movie was so good that it blew his mind so many times that he needs to take a nap to collect his thoughts. Loates then put on another skateboard film, that was done by Zinger called Popular, that he said got him his sponsorship with one of the biggest skateboard companies right now, C1RCA. Although Loates isn’t teaching right now he keeps busy by doing masonry work. Also, there aren’t too many people who can say they have an education degree and are an amateur skateboarder. In fact, Loates was an amateur skateboarder when he was still in university. He said he would park about four blocks away from the University of Alberta and skate to and from class just because he loved to be on his board. “It’s a weird balance being someone who’s a sponsored skateboarder who jumps down rails, stairs and does things that probably to your stereotypical teacher makes them think, ‘what is that young man doing? He’s an idiot, he’s just hurting himself.’” Loates said. “The biggest thing is I want and try and be who I think I am. It’s what I want to be and I don’t want to try and portray anything else.” Being a Christian is a part of Loates that lets him be who he wants to be. He takes that with him to more places than he brings his skateboard. He feels that he wouldn’t be able to live his life the way he wanted if it weren’t for God’s guidance. He is a busy guy but he loves what he does. He is even happy when he cleans the kitchen. Anyone who sings Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing while they clean the kitchen must be enjoying their life or maybe he just misses Jenna. Loates said that the plan to not become a professional skateboarder won’t change unless a company discovers him and wants to represent him without changing his lifestyle. He has everything he wants in his life and even if he woke up tomorrow and skateboarding wasn’t a part of him it wouldn’t matter to him. His marriage to Jenna is what he values the most and that’s all he needs.
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