Cesar Mora talks about his begining in skating, the role model Pros should be, school and drugs…

by Felix Rioux

Two years ago Cesar Mora stunned the skating world by being the first to pull a 1080 degree rotation, and last year's fakie 1260. Cesar is more than an accomplished vert skater; coming from a soccer backround he knows about discipline and professionalism. It is good to see that some skaters have alot on their mind and speak out. In the following interview he talks about his begining in skating, the role model Pros should be, school and drugs…

Félix : How are you doing? Cesar : Good!

F: Start with the usual…

C : I'm 25 years old from Sydney (Australia) and I ride vert for K2.

F: How long have you been skating for?

C : It's my sixth year.

F: What got you into inline skating?

C : I was playing soccer, my car was crashed and I didn't have any money. I saw someone just skate around and I thought it would be fun so I bought some to get into soccer training. Then, I got a job in a skateshop and I bought new skates 'cause mine were really bad. One day I was fixing some skates and the person said « Why don"t you come and ride a ramp with me? I`ll show you. » I went to ride and I didn't like it the first day but the second day I learned a handstand and then a fakie 360'. I just wanted to get good at skating 'cause it was a lot of fun.

F: Did you start vert skating right away or did you do a bit of street or just rolling around?

C : It was just street, rolling around, jumping off stairs, doing crazy stuff. Nobody had done stuff before, so we were just discovering all these things you can do on rollerblades.

F: Just having fun rolling?

C : Yeah, Just going fast down the hill and jumping stairs, whatever stupid stuff. Then I got onto the ramp and I rode mini ramp for about six months and then I rode vert. After six months on the mini the vert ramp scared me, it was very big. I couldn't do airs, I could do big fakie airs better than 180'airs. I was used to do everything on the mini ramp. Then I entered a comp and did pretty good, got sponsored by Roces and got an invitation the next year to go to the X-Games'95. It was pretty hard to leave soccer, it was a hard choice to make and I think I've made the right decision.

F: Who did you skate with back then?

C : Just all the people at Bonday Beach, like Josh Pinkus and my friends Ben and this little guy called Mike who was twelve, he was incredible back then and if he'd still be skating, he'd be the best. Then Matt Salerno came into the scene and he was a little shit 'cause all he wanted to do is copy everybody's tricks and it was annoying. We had a little argument and we didn't talk to each other for a year. Then he started getting really good and I talked to him about him getting very good very quickly and…he grew up very fast, put it that way. Now we're very good friends, but back in the day we battled each other on the ramp, it was very funny.

F: With all the different attitudes and the way they act, what do you think about pros today?

C : Well, for me , to be a pro is to be a role model to help the kids that are coming up. A lot of guys that are coming up, like Shane Yost, have no way of getting here to compete, for people to see them. I think it's a pros job to scat new kids that are coming up and hook them up somehow, buy them new skates or help them travel or something, just help them. We're not gonna be around forever and we need to let the young kids coming up in skating, especially in vert.

F: So, what's going on in Australia with vert ramps? I heard there was less and less.

C : They just took all the vert ramps down in Sydney. Now there's one or two and they're very, very bad and not even worth riding. Hopefully there's plans to make new ones, but the councils there they don't understand it. Some of the best skaters in the world come from a little area in Sydney and it's incredible that we don't have anything to skate.

F: Why is that? How come there's so many Australians coming out?

C : The only thing I can say is that years ago, like five years ago, it was very easy to get sponsored and people were like « get sponsored, get money and relax ». They didn't think they had to learn anymore. In Australia there's no money for sponsorship, there's no videos, it's very hard. Australians skate every day 'cause they like to skate and if you see Tim Ward out here doing what he was doing, going crazy, that's what he does in Australia and that's what alot of Australians do. They skate 'cause they like to skate, not because there's a camera around or anything like that. They skate bad ramps and when they come to America or Europe where they have beautiful ramps, they skate alot better. I think that it's because they love skate, it has nothing to do with the money or anything like that.

F: So, you think they put more effort into it especially because it's not about getting sponsored but about skating.

C : Well, at the beginning I skated because it was fun, like table tennis, you just play with your friends because you're having fun doing it. To me, skating was like that and it slowly took over. I never thought it would, but if you can make money out of skating, well, there's nothing better 'cause you're killing yourself, you're putting your body on the line every day. You wanna be able to skate, not work, so you wanna be able to make a living off what you love, wich is skating. You have to find a sponsor that is good to you, everyone thinks that the skater has to be good to the sponsor but it works both ways. You need a sponsor that is good to the skater as well so you have a good relationship and everything goes well. Everyone's loyal to everybody. I think that in this business there hasn't been enough of that.

F: Where do you think the business is going now since there's more and more money?

C : I think it's just necessary to allow us to do what we wanna do. Before, I was working and skating and I would be too tired to skate after work. I had to take days off work to come to America and it was pretty hard that way. Now I don't have to work, I just skate. We get rewarded for what we do and if you're good enough and smart enough, you can make a living out of it, you know, when you're finished skating you have money to do other things. I think it's good that people are getting money these days. The competition money is going out and I think it's good, it's the way it should be. As long there isn't too many greedy people and they skate for the right reasons, I mean that you can skate for money, there's nothing wrong with that, but don't forget where you came from and why you skate. Once you start hating it, then you should just stop.

F: What are your plans for the future?

C : I'll still like it at least. I have contracts for three years, so I'll still be skating for another three years, after that I'll stop, have a look and see what my options are. My ideal is to obviously open a very good skatepark in Australia, with a shop, a school…I wanna teach kids not only how to skate but also how to act, you know, why go out and talk trash to people. I did it before and it's no good. I don't want the general public to think « Oh! That skater`s a punk! ». I want skaters to dress nice, you know, they don't have to dress like rats, we have clothing companies now. I also wanna teach why drugs are no good and why school's important. When I was playing soccer at eleven years old, I was playing in the top teams in Spain and if I didn't have good grades I didn't play on the week ends. Basically, I don't have soccer now but I have a good mind. I wanna teach these kids that there's so much more about skating, that we're people before we're skaters and that we're people after we're skaters.

F: Do you think that sponsoring companies should be more conscious about their skaters education?

C : A few companies do that, they tell a 16 years old wonderkid to stay in school for another year and they'll still sponsor him the next year. I think companies should be more responsible and have team managers that take care of them properly, make sure they're not drunk every night before skating. When you get drunk and you compete, you're not 100% and you can get hurt. General behavior, be respectful, we're professional athletes, so act like it. We don't have to act like saints but we don't have to trash the hotel room. Just go and have a good time, skate, enjoy the town, enjoy the people and move on to the next thing. People will see you on TV and they will respect you.

F: How do you explain that inline was not as popular as BMX or skateboarding at this year's X-Games?

C : I think that it's because of the head people of each sport, we didn't have any. We didn't have any representative at ESPN to go to and say what we wanted and what we needed. The commercials were more about skateboarders and bikeriders, even at the Gravity Games there was no inline on the commercial or on the pamphlet. I spoke to one of the ladies there and we were told that it lost its following but it obviously didn't because there was thousands of people watching us, so next year there's gonna be a change. We need to have someone in our sport to represent us and tell them what we need. Inlining is a new sport, it's the youngest sport, so we have to fight to get what we want. We are a little bit spoiled sometimes but it happens that we have to wake up to ourselves and fight for what we want.

F: Any last words?

C : Hmm…Just skate because you love it, if you can make money that's great, if you can't, just skate in the streets after school anyway. Be original, don't copy everybody else, I' m sick of seeing copies of pro skaters, there isn't just one certain style to stick to, make your own tricks up, go your own way and you'll be noticed alot quicker. Be rspectful to other people and don't take drugs, they're useless, smoking's useless, drinking's useless, it's just a waste of money and it's not good for your body. When you're 22, you wanna be able to walk properly and breathe properly. Play a nice healthy life and enjoy your skating.

F: Well, thanks alot Cesar!

C : Thanks!