Alexis Sablone: "I'm just a skater like anyone else" - Heads - Interview

Thrasher Magazine, Nov, 2002 by Erin Dyer, Michael Burnett

Let's get all your stats: Age, home, years skating?

I'm 16, I'm from Old Saybrook, Connecticut. I've been skating for about six years. I skate for The Firm, Coliseum, and eS.

Have you been getting a lot more attention since you were in the Coliseum video?

Probably, yeah.

What's your school like?

I'm going to be a junior. It's super hard and there's a lot of work, but only two more years. It's a private school so there aren't too many kids. No one skates at my school.

Which classes are completely worthless?

Many of 'em. Anything that involves writing papers. Latin class.

You take Latin?

It's horrible.

A lot of girls like to write letters to the magazines describing all the difficulty they have being accepted by other skaters. Have you ever had it rough being a girl skater?

Not really. I'm just a skater like anyone else.

Do any of your girlfriends skate?

No. I don't skate with any other girls. I don't know any.

Have you ever gotten in a fight while out on a skate mission?

Like in a fist fight?

Absolutely.

I don't really know.

You don't remember if you've ever gotten in a fight before?

No. Security guards, but never in a fist fight. I just get hassled by security guards and cops, but that happens all the time.

Have you ever heard of Lori Rigsbee?

No.

She said she wanted to skate until her bones were old and would break and she couldn't skate anymore. Do you feel like that? Are you a lifer?

Yeah. I don't know how many stairs I'll be skating when I'm an old lady, but I'm going to skate as long as I can.

What do you think about the Patty Segovia All Girls Skate Jam presented by Patty Segovia in conjunction with Patty Segovia Enterprises, Inc?

I don't really like contests in general, but I think girls should just skate in regular contests. I don't think girls should have to have their own category--they should just be in a skateboard contest. Girls just skate with guys, it's all the same.

Do you enter those things?

I did a few years back, but I'm over it now. I'm kinda sick of contests anyway. They freak me out.

Why do they freak you out?

I don't know, they shouldn't but before it's my turn I get all numb and I can't skate. I get all nervous.

Have you always gotten that way before a contest?

Yeah.

Do you pay attention to what the other girl skaters are doing?

No, not really.

Do you have a favorite girl skater?

No.

Favorite dude?

There're are a lot: Donny Barley, Tim O'Connor, Marc Johnson, Bob Burnquist, Rodrig--there are a lot of people.

What's your favorite meal served at Woodward?

I try to just stick to the salad, 'cause once I found a spider in my broccoli. I check out my food first.

How many times have you been?

I went there my first year of skating, and then I just went back for a few weeks each year after that. I usually go for two weeks every summer, so five- or six-years now.

Where do you end up skating most of the time?

I skate my garage, pretty much all the time. Then on the weekends when I can I come up to Boston. I skate the ground, flatground sessions all the time. I have a box, but it's not in my garage 'cause my garage is really small.

One similarity I've noticed between you and Elissa is that you can both take a beating. How hurt do you have to be to quit?

Just never; never quit. You can't stop 'til you land a trick, then after you land it is when you really feel it. But, until you land it.

What's been your worst injury?

Nothing too serious, just sprained ankles all the time, cracked ribs, hippers, swellbows. Never like, broken legs--well, hope I don't now that I've said it.

Are your parents stoked on your skating?

Yeah, they're cool.

Do they get really into it, like knowing the names of tricks and stuff?

No, I don't let them watch me skate.

Why not?

I don't know, it's just weird. It makes me nervous.

What are your thoughts on the old-school revival?

Old school stuff is sick, but I can't do any of it. All skating's cool.

What do you most wish you could do?

I just wish I could skate everything, like the old guys that skate pools.

You're not a pool skater?

No, not really.