- So, Scott, when did you get the idea to throw a competition of this magnitude?
Well, the idea has been lingering in my mind for a couple of years, and when I was in Sydney recently I met up with Darren and Hagan who own Monster Skate Park. We discussed the idea with them they were keen to host the Sydney round of the Series. Less than a week later, I had booked the other two venues, secured all the sponsorships needed to run it, and set out the structure for the first Series. I have always seen Scooter Hut as a proactive company and I don’t think people realise what my staff and I do for the sport.. Like two years ago we stuck our necks out, got the money together and put Ryan Williams, Mitch Baldry and Max Peters into Nitro Circus. At the time, nobody in our sport could have dreamt about that happening, but we made it happen and look at what that move has done for our sport over the past two years. I hope that the Pro Series will have a similar impact on the sport in years to come, in terms of giving the Pro riders an event they can really enjoy and express themselves through.
- It sounds awesome so far. Tell me about the three skateparks that this competition will be taking place at.
We start the Series off on the 7th April at GC Compound on the Gold Coast. For Scooter Hut, this is like a home from home. We have a shop there, and most of our Queensland Team ride there regularly. The park has changed a lot recently and will present challenges to the non-local pro riders when they come up for it. Famous for its box section, GC Compound will prove a tough but very very entertaining opening Round for the Series. The following Sunday, the 14th April, we then hit RampIt in Melbourne for Round 2. This is a completely different park to GC Compound. RampIt is set up more like an indoor street/tech park (all those who say street can’t be in a park are probably right, but when it’s pissing of rain, nobody complains at having a park like this to ride in). So RampIt will offer a completely different challenge to the riders, and my guess is it will also bring a lot of those who maybe didn’t do so well at GC Compound back in line with those leaders from Round 1. The final event (Round 3) is at Monster in Sydney on Wednesday 24th April. We don’t really know yet how Monster will be set up for the event, because it’s currently closed for its annual Easter break, but I know however they set it up the tension and excitement will be huge on that final night. All the venues are going to be great for the competitors and the spectators alike, and the great thing is by holding the entire Series in indoor parks, we are guaranteed each Round to go ahead regardless of weather conditions.
- Off the top of your head who are some of the riders that will be showing up and competing in the contest?
Riders are being announced each day over the next week, so I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s fair to say we have secured all of the best pro riders in Australia, with the exception of two who were not available due to other commitments. You can follow rider announcements on the Pro Series Facebook Page here: http://www.facebook.com/ProScooterSeries
- How much experience do you have in throwing competitions? Can we expect this to be ran legit and fair?
Scooter Hut has run a fair few smaller comps in the past, and our two most recent ones have been really successful. The Varsity Jam and last weekend’s Chatswood comp both went down well with competitors and spectators alike. The Pro Series is on a whole different level to anything we’ve ever done in the past, so in terms of experience at running a comp like this...we are pioneering on this one! I do believe the Series will be the fairest comp ever held in Australia. The fact it is being held over 3 very different venues means that the playing field is pretty even for the competitors, so nobody will have a Home Advantage. Each Round will be judged by 3 very experienced judges (all current or former pro riders), meaning that a total of 9 judges will be used throughout the entire Series. So, there should be very little issues in terms of bias or unfair marking. Also, competitors will have 3 runs in each Round. They are allowed to completely discard their lowest scoring run, so if they get unfairly judged in one run, or totally screw up a run, it won’t affect their results. I’ve spent a lot of time consulting with pro riders to make sure we get this side of things perfect, so I don’t think there will be any accusations of unfairness following the results of this Series.
- Sounds legit. Talk to me about the Ladder rankings a bit. Will these be posted online so people around the world can keep up with the rankings?
Yeah, we’ve set up a website, facebook and instagram where the ladder will be posted, so it should be pretty easy for people to follow. The website will go live next week: www.proscooterseries.com. We will also be showing the scores live at the event, so spectators will easily be able to follow the scores as the judges mark the runs. It’s important that the scoring is transparent, so we will be showing the scores as the judges mark them. The scoring system itself is great. Riders are scored on their best two runs from each Round. They are then given points based on their finishing position from that Round. So First Place gets 200points, Second Place 180points, Third Place 170points, etc down to Tenth Place getting 100points. Everyone else who completes at least two runs gets 90points. We’ve calculated the points system so that by the final round of the Series most of the competitors will still be in with a very realistic chance of winning the Series.. I think it’s going to be exciting to follow, even for those outside of Australia.
- 5,000 dollars for the winner of this competition right? Why put up so much money?
You’re right, the prize money is huge, and our reasoning behind doing a “Winner Takes All” concept is to give the Pro Riders the incentive to push themselves to their limits during the Series. Our sport has some incredible athletes, and I think it’s fair those athletes are competing for large prize money.
- I think everyone entering will be stoked on that. How many companies as of now are supporting the Pro Series?
We have had amazing support from almost every company we’ve approached. We filled all six available Partner Sponsorships within 4 days. Phoenix, Proto, Apex, MGP, Fasen and District all jumped on board to support the event in a massive way. We’ve also got five Gold Sponsors: Envy, AO, Root Industries, Eagle and Urban Artt. Scooter Hut is the main sponsor, so all in all we have 12 companies currently backing the Pro Series. Personally, I’m stoked at the calibre of brands we have had support from. I think most riders would agree we’ve got pretty much every legit brand supporting this event, with the exception of just a few, who I’m sure will support future Pro Series events.
- Is this going to be an annual competition? Will we see even more stops next year?
Yeah, our plan is to make the Pro Series into a regular twice-annual event, with the goal of having a Street Series run in the summer, and this Invitational event around Autumn/Winter. Once this first Series is run, we will evaluate what we did right and what went wrong and try to make each Series from there on better. We plan to put together a Committee of Pro Riders to help plan and structure future Series as I want the Series to be owned by the pro riders who care about the future of their sport.
- Are you planning to keep this strictly an Australian Contest?
For this year, yes. The Street Series planned for December/January will take place in Australia, but we will invite overseas riders to compete in it. If all goes to plan, this will hopefully become a Series that we can run globally, but for now we’ll concentrate on getting it right on home soil.
- Do you have any last words or shout outs?
Thanks to the great bunch of guys and girls that work for me at Scooter Hut...without them none of this would be possible. The only other thing I’d like to say is if you live in Australia and you want to have an amazing day out, come to one of the events. You will get to meet and ride with the pros, and then get to watch Australia’s top riders pull some of the biggest tricks and work their butts off to win this Series. It’s going to be huge, so get down, have an amazing day out and give support to your favourite riders.
