Derry Skate Park
An interview with Derry Skate Park owner, Joe Hill.
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00:30Right, so, to start off, if I may, could you introduce yourself, please?
00:51No problem.
00:52My name's Joe Hill, I'm the owner and operator here at DC Skateparks, I'm a skateboarder
00:59from Derry, born and raised here, skated 26 years, and about half of that I've spent
01:04in Germany, and just back now for the last couple of years, so, get the skatepark going,
01:10try and get, like, local ones in the community started again, get a wee scene going, and
01:14it seems to be going alright.
01:16Can you tell me about the journey you had to build the skatepark?
01:20It was sort of, it wasn't really like a big planned thing, we've been trying to get an
01:25indoor skatepark here in Derry for over 20 years, so, like, obviously we're trying to
01:29still get an outdoor free public facility that everyone can use, but an indoor park
01:34has always been something you need in Ireland, just because of the weather, you know, it's
01:38200 more days a year raining, so it's better, like, you need the indoor facilities, and
01:43we've had a couple throughout the years in Derry, and then I just came back, like I said,
01:47after years being away, and there was nothing, so I just thought, I'm gonna need it for me,
01:52and everyone else needs it too, so, slowly started building it, and we had, like, something
01:56about a quarter of this size, and then we doubled it, and now we're, where we're at
02:00today, with nearly a full skatepark with all you would need, pretty much, and we're still
02:05gonna keep going, so, let's see what we got.
02:08Can you tell me what it's like being a skater in Derry, is there enough there for someone
02:12to be a skater, like, is there a community there for people?
02:15Yeah, well, like, community-wise, there's a skate scene here, and there's every skater
02:20from, like, five, six-year-olds, coming out with their parents, right up to, like, the
02:25older ones, some of them are the parents that I used to skate with, and, like, they're in
02:29their thirties, up to their forties, so there's a scene for everyone, but also, you don't
02:33really need, like, skateboarding's that sport where you can just do it on your own, you
02:36know, you, as long as you come up, and there's other people about with the board, you sort
02:41of then do your own thing anyway, so skateboarding's something you can always get in the scene
02:45whether it's a good scene or not, but Derry has, like, always had a good scene, but not
02:49support from government, not support from, like, local media, or, like, say, like, even
02:54skateboard media in the UK doesn't really cover Derry as much, it might get Belfast
02:58and Dublin sometimes, but it's just, like, Derry's always been a little overlooked, facilities
03:03and coverage-wise, so it's just...
03:05Do you feel a little bit under-represented there?
03:07Under-represented, a hundred percent, and also nearly over-represented, where me, myself,
03:11as a skater, I've been all over the world, like, I'm skated representing Derry, I'm one
03:15of the best skaters now, Dee Collins, coming out of Derry, he's, like, the new up-and-comer,
03:20he's all over the place, but he had to move away to Belfast, because he just didn't have
03:24the structure, or, you know, the infrastructure here for him, so it's just always, it's a
03:29struggle, you know, to get where you need to be with skating here, but you can always
03:32do it as a hobby and have fun with it, but of course, like, you need this industry and
03:37the support behind you to get further with the sport.
03:39Definitely.
03:40This is the only skate park down there?
03:42This is the only skate park, no, in Ireland, apart from one in Sligo, there's one in Sligo,
03:47and it's more like a rollerblading park, a lot smaller than this, and the guys run that,
03:51it's an absolute legend, they've been doing it for years, but the price has gone way up
03:55on insurance down south, I think that was a big problem with, down south, and in the
03:59north, they just, they just don't seem to get the support, maybe government or other
04:05sorts of funding wise, because there's just not enough seen, there's not enough people
04:09to keep this sort of thing as a business going, but of course you can run it and keep it going
04:15to have the facility, but once you have, like, a big staff, say if they get a bigger, like
04:21in Belfast, where they had a big facility with, like, a cafe and the whole staff and
04:24everything running, then it gets to the point where it's really hard to do it without support,
04:29I guess, so, and that's where, in England, they've definitely got it with Skateboard
04:33GB, which would be the Federation for Skateboarding, they're getting involved a lot more with parks
04:38and helping them out, because it is something that needs that sort of funding, it's Olympic
04:42sport now, so, it sort of deserves it.
04:45How does that make you feel, being not the only skate park in Ireland, but in Derry,
04:52like, are you kind of proud to have it, or are you kind of like, is it annoying that
04:56this is...
04:57Exactly, it's not pride, because it's not something I wanted to do, obviously, I like,
05:01when I look around and I'm skating and I'm like, yeah, I built that, it's perfect, but
05:04that's my opinion, but it's built for me, I don't really care if anyone else doesn't
05:09like it, I know they will, because it's built well, it's built, like, built to the way you
05:14need something to be built, it's got every sort of obstacle, small, a little bit bigger,
05:19medium, large, you can, like, go step by step in progress, so, that's what you need, you
05:24don't need these 20 foot ramps where you can do triple backflips, we don't have those kind
05:28of athletes, so we're better keeping it nice and small.
05:32Do you think the skating culture here in Derry, or even broader in the north, is welcoming,
05:37or do you think it can be kind of gatekeeping?
05:40It's weird, like, skateboarding's always been really welcoming and gatekeeping at the same
05:45time, it's like, a little bit, skateboarding's all about style and fashion, and you can do
05:51this trick, but he can do it nicer, but that's also what makes it, like, a beautiful sport
05:56to watch, and you can actually judge it, so, like, gymnastics, you can watch, and if
06:00a boy does a backflip, and, like, lands dodgy, or if a guy does a perfect backflip, you know
06:05the difference, it's, like, easy to see, so that's, like, where skateboarding, people
06:10kind of, like, they want to keep it that way, but obviously, everyone, whenever you start,
06:14I'm amazed if you can do an ollie, you know, I don't really care, like, what level you're
06:19at, because your level's your level, and that's how it is, I'm skating 25 years, and I still
06:23always try and, like, push myself, and when I land something, like, someone, like, cheers
06:27for me, I still feel, like, you still feel good about it, so I know whenever someone
06:31younger does something, and they're looking around to see, if you, like, give them the
06:35recognition, people will be happy.
06:37And most likely possible, how old are you?
06:4036.
06:41And you've been skating for what?
06:4236, I've been skating for 26 years, so I started, like, 1999, just going in the first year in
06:48Lumen Christi, and that was, like, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 came out, I guess a whole generation
06:53started skateboarding then, and then when that came out, obviously, I didn't even like
06:58computer games, so I tried it a bit, I was like, hey, can we do this for real?
07:01Once I tried it once, that was me.
07:03And how has it changed in your lifetime, like, since you've started doing it?
07:09Like, so, whenever I first started skateboarding, it was all about just skateboarding, there
07:14was no thinking about money or making videos for Instagram or doing anything, it was just
07:19skateboarding all the time.
07:20And then when you get a bit older, it's like, well, there's a chance to, like, make money
07:24from it, but it's nearly impossible.
07:26You have to go and travel and go to different countries, film some videos, take a lot of
07:31photos, then show that to someone, and hopefully they're going to want to support you and take
07:35you further with it.
07:36So it was always, like, a pipe dream back then.
07:39Now it's really, like, there is a pipeline where we can get people from the start, where
07:44they come to the skate park, I recognise them, I give them help, now I give them, like, lessons,
07:49then they start skating well, then they might get sponsors, and all they need is the park
07:53and then the streets and their phone, and they can pretty much document everything,
07:57move their own way along, send shit to sponsors, they can annoy them and, you know, keep DMing
08:02them and sending stuff, like, we couldn't really do that back then, but what we do,
08:06we phone the house all the time, just keep sending them, like, our videos in the mail,
08:10like, you can't really do it as much back then, so, you know, it's definitely, it's
08:15a whole new world now for it.
08:17Tell me a wee bit about the park here you've built.
08:20Yeah, you can't have proper, but even if you're small, you can't be a large.
08:23Yeah.
08:24What did you have in mind when you were first creating it?
08:30Whenever we first were starting to build this whole place, the idea wasn't even, oh, let's
08:35build, like, a big skate park, it was just somewhere dry, we got a little space at the
08:39back, and at the same time, someone sent me, like, all these ramps on Facebook Marketplace,
08:44so it's like, big BMX park, it used to be down in Craighaven, so I ended up, like, organising
08:51to get these ramps for Next in Aston, had to get a crane to bring them, so I bring all
08:55them up and then there's no space in the little place that we had, so then, because we have
09:00these big ramps and the small space, we just modified everything, took, like, the materials
09:04off the ramps and repurposed them for smaller ramps, and that's sort of how we ended up
09:09building section by section.
09:11The old skate park that used to be in Pennyburn, it closed down and I knew the wood was somewhere,
09:17so I talked to the old owner, Rosie, Rodan Harkin, and he helped me out big time, gave
09:22me, like, the wood, that rail was still the first rail I learned to skate properly on
09:26and used to skate from Rosie's park, so it's, like, come full circle, we've got that now,
09:31and then C Sessions down in Bundorn, Pete Craig, always brought me over, even when I
09:36was in Germany, to do the demos and the shows on the mini ramp at C Sessions, and I know
09:42we got a new mini ramp one year, we got a budget to build one that was bigger for the
09:46BMXers, so I was able to convince them to give me the old mini ramp, it's not mine,
09:52but it's here on a permanent loan basis, it's going to stay there for as long as I can keep
09:56it there, but I appreciate that as well.
09:59Tell me a wee bit about your event, you had a skate jam, we used to call it, with Monster,
10:04was it?
10:05So, yeah, like, recently we just had a skate jam, it would have been a skate jam, it's
10:09just, you know, when you bring everyone together, you do prizes for all sorts of stuff, it's
10:12not a competition as much, it's just, like, a fun day, and then we got Monster Energy
10:17recently to get involved, not just in that event, but the whole skate park, they're going
10:21to help a bit with sponsorship and other events, so this was the first event they wanted to,
10:27you know, bring all the equipment for, they brought up the Monster tents and the Monster
10:32trucks, got a DJ in here, it was really good, they brought everyone pizzas, and we had,
10:37like, a lot of money, 500 euro cash to give out for all the tricks, and that's, it was
10:43for all ages, you know, not just the...
10:47You can't film!
10:50So it was all ages, we had, like, kids contests right up to adult contests, and then you can
10:57win, say, if you do, like, anything, you jump off the little stairs, I'll give you, like,
11:015 euro, or 5 pound, 10 pound, so everyone felt like they won at the end of the day,
11:05we gave out a lot of boards, and DC skate park merchandise, it was really good, all
11:10the families were happy, so, it's the kind of event I think we should do more of, especially
11:14all over Ireland, not just first, second, third, and everyone else is, like, just watching,
11:20like, it's really, everyone has 45 second runs, and everyone's on their own, they're
11:24fun too, and they have their place, but I like these big jam events where everyone
11:28sort of gets about this.
11:30Yeah, are you hoping to do more in the future?
11:32Yeah, well, that's the plan, hopefully, not just with Monster, but everything, everyone,
11:35like, in Ireland, and the Skateboard NI, and the new Irish Skateboard Association, we're
11:40working with them now to try and hold, like, all Ireland events, these sort of championships
11:46that we used to have in, like, places like Cork and Limerick, so that's the, sort of,
11:51the next step, hopefully, is trying to get these bigger contests, jams, events, all that,
11:56just for skaters, by skaters, it's going to be cool.
11:59Uh...
12:17Woo!
12:18I'm gonna call Mo.
12:19Oh.
12:20Recently, skating was introduced in the Olympics a few years ago, how does that make you feel
12:24as a skater, to see it being welcomed into such a big international sporting event?
12:28Yeah, well, that's like a, obviously, a two-forked prong, or two-pronged fork, as they say, like,
12:33it's like, of course, skateboarding getting in the Olympics makes it a little, people
12:38think it's less cool, or it's selling out, or going mainstream, maybe that could be true,
12:43but that means that we're going to get more support, more mainstream, like, companies,
12:48or mainstream, like, businesses will get behind skateboarding, and understand that it's not
12:53just this disruptive thing we do in the streets.
12:56So, I've definitely seen the both sides of that argument, where it makes contests, then,
13:02more, everyone's really, like, going for these couple of spots for the Olympics, and it makes
13:07it a little bit more cutthroat, which skateboarding never was, you used to be like, high-fiving
13:12with the boys that are coming first, you know, you're like, you don't hope he loses, you
13:16just like, you don't hope he falls, you've landed yours, so like, if he lands all his,
13:21he's going to win, but if he doesn't, then you win, that's sort of, you're not hoping
13:25for him to lose, so, but it's definitely, that is obviously, competition's going to
13:30be part of the sport, and I do think, like, the Olympics is going to be good in the future,
13:34it's already been good, it's the sport's grown a lot in the last few years, so.
13:38You teach lessons in here, can you tell us about some tricks, like, you know, you aim
13:43to teach someone, like, at first, where you kind of want them to go.
13:47That's my favourite, favourite question about lessons, what tricks am I going to learn,
13:51I'm lucky to do no tricks, no tricks from me, really, first things is standing on the
13:56board, going and stopping, and then turning, and then going down the ramps, and then turning
14:01on the ramps, but you're not, like, tricks is down the line first, like, the lessons
14:06are really geared at, like, beginners, to learn how to go and how to fall, because you're
14:12going to fall at the start as well, how to fall properly and not get, like, put off by
14:16that, afterwards, of course, I can show you every trick, here, that's it, boom, I'll do
14:21it, no problem, I can do it 20 times, that's what I do to teach a lot of the other ones,
14:25but you have to really, like, put the time in, and the tricks are, it's like a game of
14:30chess or physics, it's just, you need to have all your angles worked out, know how it works,
14:35and then all the tricks are, like, kick it harder that way, or kick it harder this way.
14:39Do you find a lot of people come on here thinking that they're going to walk on, go down the
14:43ramp on, you know, Ollie on the first two weeks?
14:45That's, that's, like, the common misconception, you watch it and go, that looks easy, and
14:50it's by far, like, the hardest thing, to just stand on the board, your feet want to move,
14:55your body's, if you're standing on a flat surface, you might feel alright, but as soon
14:59as you go down the hill, you're going to keep up straight and the board's going to go away
15:03from you, so, you just need to know where to lean and how to use your body weight, those
15:07things, some people do get it quickly, I'm not going to say there's nobody that can come
15:12in and do it straight away, but it is, it just takes time, and that first couple of
15:16things, they come in, they think they're, they think they're getting it, and then there's
15:20another step, and then, you know, they actually do tricks and they start jumping, and then
15:24you can do that, now you need to jump higher, or to get on a rail, so, there's always levels,
15:29you're going to be kept humble with skateboarding for sure.
15:31You said you have age ranges, what kind of age ranges are you competing?
15:36We have all types of age ranges, it's not even, there's no age limit, there's just a
15:40range, so we have like, under 8's, we just let them come in cheaper, as long as the parents
15:45are staying and supervising the whole time, so, and we still do lessons for them as well,
15:50so, we've got, I've had 4 or 5 year olds come in, I've had younger, I've had a guy that's
15:55still in the nappies rolling about, and he was standing up perfectly, but I do have like
15:595, 6 year olds that can go down every ramp here confidently, on their own, you know,
16:04I'm not holding any hands, but they're fully padded up, some of them even have like motorcycle
16:08protection in the back and front, and that's the best way to get them going, start them
16:12young, and then with all the pads and all the equipment, in the right environment, it's
16:17a different sort of animal then, you can then take that, if you go out to the streets, you
16:22know how to fall, you know, like sort of, more what to do when you get there, that's
16:26when they go out, they take a skateboard and they try and do something that they shouldn't
16:30be doing, because no one's told them that it's hard or whatever, so, I think that's
16:35the age range too, and also, never mind, that's for the kids, we've got adults right
16:40up until, I mean later, like late 40's to 50's, buying their first boards, and coming
16:46in and learning to push and roll about, so, it's never ever too late.
16:51You said, 6 year olds, that's coming down these ramps and learning to be able to stand
16:56up properly, you must feel a bit of pride, you know, kind of fostering that to your own
16:59facility.
17:00Obviously, like, that's the one thing I didn't expect from having a skate park, would have
17:05been like the lessons and the kids and that sort of, the wee environment that we have,
17:09the wee community of, even like the younger, the teenagers, it's all drama, but it's
17:13all, it's funny as well, I do like, I like being involved and giving them advice and
17:17stuff, but it's like, it's that sort of side of it I didn't see coming, I was just
17:21like, yeah, well, I'll be skating with the boys all the time, but yeah, definitely the
17:25younger ones and the lessons, those, when you see them going down and they're like,
17:29they're like, so excited to come in and then they're leaving in tears, like crying,
17:33they're like, no, I don't want to leave, I get dragged out, and like, it is good to
17:37see, and obviously, it's not just me at skateboarding, so, everyone loves it as much
17:41as me, I'm happy.
17:44Looking into the future, from their study, what would you like to see happen in the
17:49skating culture and the skating community?
17:53Well, like, I'd love to see loads of things happen, but the things I know are going to
17:58happen someday, might be a bit late for me, but there's going to be a skate park
18:02someday, and then a free outdoor one that's in a nice spot in the town, where
18:06everyone can watch and have this little community hub there, and then that will
18:11just sort of drive the skate community in general, to just sort of get out there more,
18:16go to all the events, travel to the other parks that are built, you know, support
18:20them, and then it will make it better for everybody, so, I'll just keep skating.
18:25And lastly, in the future, for your park here, and yourself, what can we see?
18:31I don't know, we're just going to keep doing what we're doing, we're going to try
18:34and, like you say, do more events, get more kids involved, get more lessons going,
18:39try and get the roller skate nights and the roller discos going again in the winter,
18:44and then, just see where we can take it.