Ruby Trew: Not your average teenager
INTERVIEW: Ruby Trew was only 12 years old when she locked in her title as the Women’s ASF Australian Park Skating Champion 2021 with a 540 McTwist at BOWLZILLA 2021 on the Gold Coast.
We checked in with her to hear what she’s been up to the past year - and learn what life’s like when you’re still too young to drive a car but already an experienced elite athlete with titles galore, dreams of the Olympics and a full-time high school study to take care of.
While Covid did put a bit of a downer to her 2021, Ruby has kept busy with contests in USA and can now also call herself U14 girls National Surf Champion 2021.
Safe to say, Ruby Trew is not your average teenager, so get to know this absolute champ - on and off the board(s) - a bit better in the warm-up for BOWLZILLA 2022.
Hi Ruby, you were killing it at last years Bowlzilla. How was your experience at Elanora last year?
I had such an amazing time at Bowlzilla last year. It was the first time I really got to skate the bowl, I was so surprised to see such as a hard-core crew of skaters there that was just totally dedicated to the skateboarding we had some RAD warm up sessions with some of the local crew and it was so nice to see so many young girls just ripping.
The local crew there were really kind to me and made me feel really welcome. I was so stoked to finally go and compete in Bowlzilla .
How would you describe the atmosphere there?
The atmosphere was insane and it was so good to be part of an Australian skateboard competition again where so many people were having a good time and the pressure wasn’t too bad. The younger crew were really throwing down and the MC was really good at keeping everyone hyped. It was especially good to see so many girls there throwing down some pretty decent tricks too.
[Interview continues below the photos]
Kuckles at Bowlzilla 2021. Ruby & Aimee Massie.
Ruby Trew wins Yeah Girl Womens at Bowlzilla 2021 and gets a warm congrats hug from Poppy Starr.
Ruby Trew, Bowlzilla 2021. Photo: Beach Burrito / Yeah Rad
Ruby Trew Bowlzilla 2021. Photo: Beach Burrito / Yeah Rad
What have you been up to since the last Bowlzilla? You went to the States, right?
Well, after Bowlzilla I left to go to the states to the Dew Tour competition which was the last Olympic qualifier, so we headed over to California but unfortunately Covid put a stop to all of us competing.
It was a bit tough because I needed to make the final to qualify for Tokyo, I made it through to the semi-finals and the morning of the contest the third person in our team came down with Covid and myself and other close contacts that were still in the contest got disqualified.
It was pretty tough the fact that I never got a chance to really skate to my best but you know Covid has been tough for everyone and I guess I was just lucky to have an experience overseas and represent Australia and just improve my skate skateboarding and meet new friends.
When I got back to Australia everyone was in lockdown so I thought I would enter Exposure. An all-female worldwide online Skateboard competition that normally runs in California that I go overseas every year to compete in. Amelia Brodka who runs the contest has had to run it online for the last two years. I landed a fakie 540 on vert and I ended up winning the best trick contest. So I was pretty stoked with that.
Yea, 2021 was all about adapting. We’ve seen you win some surfing contests as well?
Yeah, after that we have been focusing a bit more on the surfing side of things, as I really love my surfing as well . So I managed to win the New South Wales U14 state titles and then U14 girls National titles at Cabarita in November. So even though I missed out on Tokyo I was still stoked to see Poppy & Hailey go out there and represent Australia.
You’re quite involved in the girls skate scene and have been doing some girls skate events. Seems like you’ve kept yourself busy?
Excactly. Recently we did a local skate contest here in Sydney’s Northern Beaches called Drop in for Youth. Lifeline contacted me and asked if I would be interested to be an ambassador for them as they are really keen to run a skateboarding competition for mental health. So after everyone had been locked down for so long it was such a good thing that Lifeline wanted to get behind skateboarding and run a local competition.
So I contacted Hurley, my major sponsor, and they said yeah they’d love to get behind the contest and would give prizes for all the finalists. It was a really great day. It was just a fun competition with a lot of younger divisions as well as separate conditions for the boys and girls which was really great to see. So that was a really fun way to give back to skateboarding.
“Bowlzilla is an amazing competition to get started or even if you’re a pro the local vibe is lit and you know it’s a real skateboarding competition. Just getting those nerves tingling and you feel like everyone’s watching you. The crowds not too big but it’s really great to compete in Australia. ”
You are skating and surfing at a high level. How do you manage to do everything — what does your typical week look like?
Well my week Is pretty crazy because I go to school full time. I'm in Narrabeen which is a sports High school and I do surfing as part of our curriculum there which is really fun. So probably most days I wake up around 6am and alternate between skating or surfing until 8.30am if it's raining then I get to sleep in.
After school we head into Sydney skate Park and do a session with my coach Alex Donnani or just hang with some friends at Mona Vale skate park. It just varies day to day depending on the weather so much as we have no indoor skate parks here. Then on weekends we try to go and skate somewhere different, maybe a newly built park I like to stay close to the coast where I can surf and skate.
How are you preparing for this years Bowlzilla, if you are going this year?
I definitely want to go to Bowlzilla as I had such an amazing competition last year and so I'm hoping to come up to Queensland in the next few weeks and can go to Eleonora and maybe work out some new lines and put some new tricks down but I'm definitely frothing for it.
Ruby Trew at Bowlzilla 2021. Photo by Mark Fulloon for Slabzoo
You’ve done quite a few International competitions too, how does Bowlzilla compare to those?
So yeah I have always wanted to compete in Bowlzilla but it always runs pretty much the same time as the Vans girls Combi in California and that competition is invite-only and I've been fortunate to get invited to it and so by the time I’ve competed in the US and then come back to Australia
I’m so exhausted that I really haven't got the energy to go up and do another competition because it's nice to go hard and then have a break. But last year Covid stopped most international skate contests so it gave me opportunity to compete in Bowlzilla so it worked out for me .
Bowlzilla is an amazing competition to get started or even if you’re a pro the local vibe is lit and you know it’s a real skateboarding competition. Just getting those nerves tingling and you feel like everyone's watching you. The crowds not too big but it's really great to compete in Australia.
It feels like more of a fun competition rather than a real kind of serious one where the pressure is much more intense and it's so good that it’s supported by local business and the local council, it’s so great to have an annual skate contest on the Gold Coast
What do you look forward to this year?
Hopefully I will be able to surf and skate a bit more overseas, just hanging out and meeting new friends, just pushing myself to see what new tricks we can come up with and yeah just trying and encouraging more girls into skateboarding and also try and be a positive role model to the younger girls. As I've had a lot of girls that have looked after me that I've traveled with in America and I want to do the same back to the next girls who are coming up .
I did my first overseas competition when I was six years old and I'm 13 now so I feel like I've got a bit of experience and confidence to go and travel and compete overseas a bit more.
Any plans for the future what do you want to share? Are you going for the Olympics in Paris?
Well yeah of course Paris is coming up and hopefully I'll get to be part of the Australian team heading to do some of these Olympic qualifiers. I try not to get too excited about things because your plans still get changed or canceled because of Covid, I don't really want to get my hopes up too high and then everyone's back in lockdown and I just really want to enjoy the small things and just hang with my family learn new tricks and just keep cruising and having fun still enjoying my school and just keeping it balanced I enjoy my drawing and hanging out with my sisters and I've got really close friends who I surf and skate with here on the northern Beaches as well.
Epic. Thanks for your time Ruby
Of course, see you guys soon!
Slabzoo will cover Bowlzilla again this year — Check out our dedicated Bowlzilla Page to find all the info you need
