Mega Skate Ramp
Let's meet 11-year-old Keefer a skater who's set to become the youngest competitor at the X Games. And who better to ask the questions, than his sister and fellow skateboarding fanatic, Aaliyah.
KEEFER: Hi my name is Keefer, I'm 11 years old and I love to skate.
AALIYAH: How did you get into skateboarding?
KEEFER: I've been around it my whole life and I saw it and I was just like `That looks really fun! I tried it and I've loved it ever since. You just get to go really high and it just feels really good. To help me practice my skating, my dad and his friends built me a skate ramp in our backyard. But he got a bit carried away. As you can see, it's no ordinary skate ramp. In fact, it's the world's biggest skate ramp.
PETER, KEEFER'S DAD: I've been a builder all my life and my family's been into building, and I got good friends who are ramp builders, so we got together and built the biggest ramp.
KEEFER: The surface which goes on top which you skate on, that got sent from Sydney and then we got heaps of beams and posts from the local hardware. And then some of the ply from Bunnings.
AALIYAH: What is your favourite thing about the ramp?
KEEFER: I like that it's a lot bigger than others. It catches you, so you don't get hurt as much as a regular vert ramp because it's so tight. It's really fun to skate on and I'm super lucky because I get to practice on it every day. We've had some pretty big-name skaters here to try it out like Tas Pappas and Jake Brown. They've been using the ramp to prepare for The X Games.
AALIYAH: What is the X Games?
KEEFER: The X Games is the biggest skateboarding and extreme sports competition. Most of the time it's held in America but this year it's coming to Australia for the first time. I've always dreamed of competing, so when I found out that I'd been invited to it, it was the happiest moment of my life. I'm going to be the youngest person ever to compete at the X Games, which is cool. I have a few tricks ready, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
AALIYAH: What are your dreams for the future?
KEEFER: I wanna become a professional skateboarder and travel the world and be the best one day. I know going pro will take a lot of hard work, but I'm ready to do everything it takes.
AALIYAH: What advice would you give to other kids who want to be pro skaters?
KEEFER: Train hard and never give up!
- Ruby Cornish | Reporter
- Skating Prodigy: BTN | btn
- Dad builds giant skate ramp for X Games competitor son and draws skateboarders from around the world: ABC News | weblink
- Australia:VIC | Map
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