Sauce

Spurred on by positive reactions to a recent promotional video release, clothing label Coping has decided to hit our streets in September – filming, photographing and documenting gifted skater Ivan Vargas in an eight-day journey from Hobart to Launceston. Ivan told me more.

I understand you’re coming down to Tasmania in September to shoot a video. Is that correct?
Yeah. Me and Donnie are coming down to shoot a video for Coping [Threads]. We’re going to go around street spots, skating … go to a couple of parks … hopefully hand out some products to little kids. So, yeah – looking forward to it.

I understand you’ve been sponsored by this brand for over a year now. How did they first approach you? And how did you get their attention?
Well, I was just skating at some skate parks, and Donnie must have seen me skating, and came up to me one day, and asked me if I wanted to skate for him. And I happily agreed. It’s a really good team too, because they just look after you and stuff – give you heaps of product. It’s good.

So what kind of stuff do they provide you with?
Clothing … boards every now and then, and I get some hoodies and some beanies.

As a skater, what kind of doors were opened to you by getting this sponsorship? What opportunities do you have now that you didn’t have beforehand?
To travel – that would be the best bit … Meet new people … just go to different places; places that I never thought of going before … and skating with different people.

Where are some of the places you’ve been skating?
Well I went overseas last year, but that wasn’t for Coping or anything. I went to South America; I went to Chile, and skated there. It was so much fun.

Is the skate scene pretty big over there?
Yeah, kind of. But I mean, they don’t really have a council there, so they just skate off streets and stuff – they don’t really have any skate parks.

How old were you when you first started skating? What inspired you to take it up?
Just all my friends in high school; they started skating, so I went, “Hey, that looks pretty cool.” I kind of just grabbed a board one day. I never thought I’d be skating for this long, but, yeah, about four years ago.

Do you have a regular haunt, as far as skating in your local area? Have you got a favourite place?
Yeah, I’ve got this local skate park I always go [to] – it’s one tram station away from me; just use public transport. I skate there every time I can. It’s got everything there – rail, banks, quarter-pipes, everything.

What have been some of the physical rigours you’ve endured in the time you’ve been skating? What kind of injuries have you managed to chalk up?
I’ve only had one pretty bad injury, so I guess I’m pretty lucky. I’ve broken my wrist … just rolling down from a skate park, a little rock ran under my wheel … I kind of just fell back and landed on my wrist pretty bad.

Ouch …
[Laughs] Yeah. Apart from that, it wasn’t too bad. Other people who skate have [had] broken legs and broken arms and stuff. I guess a broken wrist isn’t too bad, I guess.

Ivan will be in Tasmania in September.

www.copingthreads.com