Chasing dreams at World Nitro Games
Will Barlow will live out a childhood dream when he takes centre stage at the World Nitro Games in the United States in June.
Being the ultimate event on the extreme freestyle sports calendar, it will be the first time competing overseas for the Warragul scooter enthusiast.
While he has competed interstate, his trip to the United States comes as a big step as he sets upon competing against some of the best freestyle scooter riders in the world.
Flying out to Los Angeles at the beginning of next month, Will then heads to Utah we here will practice for a month ahead of the big event to be held at Salt Lake City.
Genuinely excited to be on hand to see some of the best tricks on display from some of the world’s best competitors, Will isn’t daunted by the prospects of competing against 40 of the world’s best scooter tricksters in qualifiers.
While just 12 from that group of 40 will proceed to the main event, Will said he wouldn’t be putting any undue pressure upon himself as he lives a childhood dream.
“A lot of people ‘train’ for competitions, but I don’t really think of it like that,” he said.
“I’ve won a few competitions, which is nice, but I never do it to be better than anyone else, I just try to be the best that I can be.
“When I was 10 I thought it was the coolest thing to do tricks, I spent lots of time at the skate park and just got better.
“In 2003 I saw my first backflip on a motorbike and I said to my mum ‘that’s what I want to do’, it was my dream.”
Unperturbed by the fact that he could not afford a motorbike, Will took to the skate park with his BMX before being lured to a scooter following influence from friends.
From there he developed his skills, and will take to Salt Lake City for two 45-second runs which will determine whether or not he qualifies for the big event. “Your best round counts,” he said. “You’re scored on use of park, so you don’t want to be using the same part of the park all the time.
“You’re also judged on diversity, so you want to include a range of tricks, but you’re also judged on difficulty so you don’t want to be doing simple tricks either.”
Will said the event, which had been born following on from the X games, was a significant step in professional extreme sports with some of the worlds’ best on BMX, motocross, skateboards and scooters gathered for competition.
After returning from the United States, Will said he may shift his focus to the world competition in Barcelona next year. “That’s strictly scooters,” he said. “I won’t be able to make it this year as I will be at Nitro, but I might go next year.”
Having competed for the past four years, Will listed The Shed in Cranbourne the Bunker in Braeside as some of his favorite venues, but said it was always nice to get back to his home skate park in Warragul.
“I grew up here, I was here every day,” he said.
“I like Warragul, I know every centimetre because I’ve ridden it my whole life.”