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Weekly updates


Last year I had the pleasure of meeting Marc “Snapper” Holland on my travels around Europe. Little did I know that he is recognised amongst the nation’s best amateur skaters, quietly embodying everything that Australian skateboarding culture represents. Snapper kindly allowed me to shadow him at Skateboarding Australia’s Shocklands event over the weekend, giving us a personal account of one of the biggest days on Australia’s skate calendar.

Shocklands is the second leg of Australia’s Pro/Am skateboarding competition. Sponsored by Nike and an integral part of Skateboarding Australia’s Invitational Tour, the event is advertised as “the comp that shines the light on guys who can string it together in ‘real’ street environments. Ledges, manny pads, flat-rails, bump-to-rails, picnic tables, kickers . . . lines, flatground pop and a creative approach to a shed full of unique obstacles are the orders of the day at Shocklands”. In essence, Stop #2 of Australia’s Pro/Am competition is a skateboarding event in its purest form – offering competitors the opportunity to display their talents and ability in raw form, allowing them to showcase their skills on a course that they have become familiar with since the day they discovered skateboarding.

We arrived at Shed 4 in Docklands, which amongst the incredibly industrial and mid-construction setting of the area was difficult to find, tucked away by the docked yachts. The competitors preparing for Shocklands in the scheduled pre-event warm up were exuding excitement and appeal. Tricks were starting to land and the crowd began to roll in with members of the audience ranging from the extended skateboarding community, keen and interested onlookers, supportive family and friends, awe-struck kids and skater babes. An abundance of skater babes.

As we approached Snapper during warm-up, it was clear that he was both excited, but expectedly anxious: spending a whole year away from the circuit on a backpacking tour of the globe, Snapper was surprised to receive the call from his sponsorship rep at Foundation Skateboards. He never expected the invitation or recognition, a sign of his tremendous modesty.

As he stood next to last year’s winner Tommy Fynn, close friends from his skateboarding family, along with a selection of the nation’s most talented skateboarders, Snapper displayed a great deal of humility, seemingly in his element and surrounded by inspiring company. What was also evident was the fact that all of the competitors were there to have a good time. There’s something about these skate events that just astounds me – being an audience member, the event is honestly just like watching a bunch of mates, having fun and doing what they love; supporting and encouraging each other’s successes, whilst laughing at each other’s failures.

Looking over the course, it was apparent that the competitors were enjoying the street environment. Snapper tells me he thinks “the course is pretty rad, I like the way they’ve designed it like a street course, but it would be good if there were ramps, I wouldn’t waste my energy trying to pick up speed!”

Still a little unfamiliar with his surroundings, due to missing the warm-up event scheduled on the day previous to the competition, Snapper feels slightly disadvantaged as “there are now 40 guys sharing the same course, which makes it hard. You sort of have to be aggressive too, which I’m really not.”

The opportunity to attend the warm-up was an option for Snapper, but he evidently loves his job too much. Employed by the YMCA to work at Melbourne’s Riverslide skate park, Snapper teaches kids how to skate, and wouldn’t change his lifestyle for anything. It is apparent that he is fully aware of his talents and ability, yet when I ask Snapper why he doesn’t heavily seek sponsorship or glory, he explains to me, “I just love teaching and enjoy skating so much.

I don’t want that pressure to perform, having someone else controlling my lifestyle. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be awesome – I would love it, but it does make it harder to maintain a living based on performance and sponsorship money”.

Snapper had just discovered that he was to compete in the first heat, which wasn’t exactly ideal.

“I’m a bit worried it will have an impact on how I perform and how well the judges remember what I was able to achieve 10 rounds later”.

Snapper was realistic about the situation however, understanding what needed to be done and never demonstrating any signs that the occasion was beginning to overwhelm him.

“Three other guys out there with me, and eight minutes to showcase our skills…”

As he fell into a reflective mode, premeditating his run and the tricks he was aiming to land within the heat, I began to soak in the situation, paying close attention to the other competitors. The 8-minute timeframe was a length of time that many of them were unfamiliar with. Having a bit of a laugh, one of the boys went far enough to joke exclaiming, “that’s enough time to go outside, take a shit, come back in and still win the heat.”

As we sat there anticipating the commencement of the heat, the audience was energetic, preparing for the excitement of the day’s events. At this point Snapper was primed to exhibit his skills, and no longer nervous about what he was set to face, but “nervous about the fact that I might embarrass myself!”

Although not up to his known potential, Snapper performed well. There were a few frustrating moments during the heat, but after landing a kick flip fs 50-50 on the A-frame rail, and with both arms raised in the air, it was clear that Snapper had accomplished enough on the day to merit his humbling invitation.

Even without a finals berth, which only eight out of the 40 competitors would progress to, Snapper, along with all the other competitors performed graciously, providing mesmerising entertainment for the audience and proving why they were chosen by a select committee to participate on the day.

Eventual winner, and defending champion Tommy Fynn once again outshone his competition, doing more than enough to show why he is truly one to watch with his memorable and lasting performance. The day was an awe-inspiring success, displaying the strength and support shown by the Australian skateboarding culture and extended skateboarding family.

Witnessing this event was like watching a culture that although often misjudged by associated stigmas, is like none other. An amazing example for children of all ages, Shocklands demonstrated the respect and admiration that skateboarders credit each other with. Supporting each other in a culture where Snapper says, “the best thing about these events is being able to see friends from interstate and overseas who I rarely get to see. We’re all busy doing different things with skating, because we all seem to skate just for the love of skating”.

SbA’s recap of the day 
Snapper’s blog
Photography by Georgia Cavanagh