When Tom Green’s older brothers showed an interest in scooters he followed suit and bought one of his own.
Nine years old at the time, the fledgling rider simply wanted to emulate his siblings but has now well and truly usurped them on the skill front.
The Traralgon 17-year-old will jet to Spain next month to participate in the Extreme Barcelona International Scooter Association World Final.
He secured his ticket to the world stage after he scraped into the top 13 in the professional division at last month’s national titles in Sydney.
Always a hard task master, Tom assessed his first-run performance at the nationals as “all right” but said it all came together the second time around.
“I had my first run and I wasn’t too happy with it so I had to bank on the second one and just try my hardest,” he said.
“I don’t think there was a safe play in the second run – it was either go hard or go home.”
The Kurnai College student finished 12th out of 32 riders at Warehouse 11 and will head to Spain on June 12 with mum Karen and dad Mick in tow.
“We are just so unbelievably proud,” Karen said.
It will be the family’s second trip to Barcelona after Tom’s maiden ride at the world titles last year.
“It’s definitely a next level of riding over there … everything has stepped up,” Mick said.
While competing on the world stage is undoubtedly a daunting task, the skate park at Extreme Barcelona is rebuilt every year and competitors have just one hour to familiarise themselves with it before riding starts.
For Tom, the test of high level competition and the unknown is a big motivator.
“Competitions are probably my strength … I love how it pushes you,” he said.
“You can’t really practice for it.”
Mum Karen admits she tended to feel the pressure more and was given a scare recently when Tom had a hiccup during training in south Yarram.
“I get really nervous … sometimes I would prefer to walk away and come back when it’s finished, but I’d kill myself for not watching,” she said.
“He did have a bad crash about six weeks ago … he sent the clip of the accident to me and I was eating at the time and nearly threw up, it was that bad.
“But he just eats, sleeps and breathes it. This is his life.”
For all the thrills and spills, Karen admits the pay-off is worth it.
“The competitors are from all over the world and they’re all mates … they might not see each other except for this one time a year but you’d think they had spent all year together.
“The help they all give each other, the camaraderie is amazing … they’ll be out there having their go and they’re always cheering each other on, and you don’t see it in individual sport.”
