NAME: Bailey Donnellan.
AGE: I’m 16 years of age. I love to Skate, play footy and skate!
LIVES: Tootgarook, Melbourne Australia.
MUSIC: I don’t really have a favourite type of music, just a bit of everything.
SPONSORS: Shed Nine.
PEARL: So Bailey, the rumour is that you have the biggest toeside slide in Victoria?
DONNELLAN: My biggest measured slide was a toe side slide of 85 foot or 26 metres.
PEARL: Downhill longboarders have been copping a bit of flack as roustabout teens who are getting in the way of traffic. From the groups of down hill skaters I have met locally on the Peninsula, you seem like a fairly clean cut, hardcore, outdoor, sporty group, who skate with a crew aged between teenagers and fifty year olds. As the leader of your pack what do you have to say about your crew?
DONNELLAN: Hah. I wouldn’t say I’m the leader of my group. We all just agree on a place to skate, we are all mates, we just like to chill and do what we love and that’s to go fast down a hill as safely as possible.
PEARL: You meet up with crew all over Melbourne at different spots each weekend to ensure you don’t annoy the same neighbours too often, what are some of the precautions you take to ensure safety.
DONNELLAN: When we go out skating we make sure we have our safety gear on (NO HELMET, NO GLOVES, NO RESPECT) We all look out for each other when we’re skating a hill. If we skate a hill with a blind corner we make sure we have a spotter on the corner to let us know that there are no cars, we have call outs to let each other know if there is a car going down or coming up the hill, we can shutdown slide to stop if we really need too. They are the basics but I could list so many more precautions taken to prove that Downhill Skateboarding is a SAFE sport if you do it the correct way!
PEARL: What are some of the worst reactions you have had to your skateboarding from the general public?
DONNELLAN: Some people have thrown stuff at us, tried to start fights, come out and abused us, threatened us, swerved their cars into us it’s pretty bad and terrifying especially when you think someone is trying to kill you. We just wanna do what we love and have fun the safest way we can without disturbing anyone or harming anyone.
PEARL: What is the worst injury you have witnessed?
DONNELLAN: The worst injury i have ever witnessed was probably when this kook was skating beyond his limits in Mornington and broke his collarbone and ended up with a heap load of road rash.
PEARL: What is it exactly you love about down hill long boarding?
DONNELLAN: It’s just an amazing, exciting feeling that flows through your body when going fast and I love the friendly competition and social side.
PEARL: What would you rather do (A) Stay up all night playing PlayStation (B) Go to a party (C) Get up early, hit the road and find some hills to bomb?
DONNELLAN: I would definitely choose skating over anything.
PEARL: Where do you see longboarding headed in the next ten years?
DONNELLAN: In tens year’s time I hope to see longboarding in the Olympics!
PEARL: Any final words?
DONNELLAN: Doug is a kook…
EDDIE WEARNE