| Sam Light Interview |
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| Written by JohnLucio |
| Sunday, 07 February 2010 17:43 |
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There are no translations available. 
Profile : Name: Sam Light Age: 19 Home spot: Hayling Island, South Coast UK Sponsors / partners: Naish international, O’Neill Things you like (in general): Wakeboarding, Beer. Things you hate: Hates a strong word
When did you start kitesurfing and what inspired you to do such a “different" sport? I started when I was young (13), I think it was September 2003. I’m lucky enough to live very close to one of the best kiting beaches in the UK so I always watched people out at the beach, and I have always been in the water from sailing to surfing, my cousin got into it before me and it was the next sport to have a go at! What is kiteboard for you? Work , amusement , or way of life? Lifestyle for sure, at the moment it is my life, I never wanted it to become work. I always try and separate it from working, for example I hate teaching people to kite just because I can’t stand not being out on the water. I love traveling and learning different cultures and meeting different people, I think that’s one of the best things about my ‘job’, oh and the fact that I get to kite the best spots in the world!
How many days a week do you enjoy kitesurfing and for how many hours each time? Depends where I am really, right now I’m out in Perth and its one of the best places to come for my winter because the kiting is so good here. I kite most days for an hour or two, I stop myself kiting too much because you can get burnt out and over it so I do other things like wakeboard and skateboard, I try and take inspiration from other sports Its good to have a bit of time off every now and again to get exited to be back on the water. When I’m back home its not always windy so I just chill and see friends and go out drinking lots to catch up from being away! I soon get bored and need to get away or kiting again. Do you do any other sports that help you be physically fit for Kiteboard? Yea, I do a lot of other sports that indirectly help keep me fit for kiting and improve my kiting a lot like wakeboarding and the cable, or surfing and paddleboarding. Meaning that I do them for fun and they happen to keep me fit! Have you ever stayed out of competition due to an injury ? If so, tell us a few things about that and especially how you were able to get over it and return to winning again….how difficult it was .. I have been lucky enough to not have a big injury (touch wood). I did have trouble with tennis elbow from kiting too much but other than that its hard to comment. Give us your predictions for the PKRA upcoming season and the next champion. That is a good question, it has been a weird year this year with having so few events which I think stirred it up a bit. For 2010 there are 4 or 5 riders that will be killing it and very hungry for the title, and with rumors of Aaron taking a year out its going to be so close. The question is can he stand back from it all for a whole year? I think names such as Youri Zoon, Alex Pastor, and Kevin will be seen a lot in 2010. As for me competing, its not going to be my focus at all I really want to push Wakestyle kiting and travel to new kite spots and push kiting in different ways and take it to different audiences to try make it legit! I will definitely compete in a few events both British and PKRA because I love the buzz of a heat and it pushes your riding loads. You have been in the best places in the world for kiteboarding! Which of them is your favorite and why? I don’t have one favorite place as different places are better in different ways, like as far as the kite spots go Brazil has to be up there, its so good in the lagoons but it’s a hard place to spend a long time and they don’t speak English but its cheap. Perth is one of my favorites as it’s a great place to hang and the kiting is so good too. The Caribbean has such a cool culture and lifestyle. For me its not all about the kiting but the culture, and normally if there’s a good culture then your stoked and happy so you kite better and enjoy yourself more!
What does it mean for you to be the BKSA champion in a highly competitive national kiteboarding championship? Its one of the big ones ticked off my list, I definitely am really happy I finally got it after a few years of being 2nd. The standard is so high, like a PKRA event as there are so many good riders, there’s no easy roots and anything could happen!
Since kiteboarding in Greece is still picking up and we are in search of a national association, could you tell us a few things about BKSA….what kind of association it is and how it works in terms of racing schedules, organization and so on… The BKSA is a great organization that run events and is doing a great job of standardizing safety across the beaches in the UK and have stopped a lot of places from being banned. Kiting is one of the fastest growing water sports in England and with a lot of new people accidents happen. Its not an easy job though but it’s a great way to bring new people into the sport running a national tour, it can feed young talent and help them get sponsorship to get traveling and competing internationally Are you going to visit us soon? I would love to come over for a trip! I have a lot of cool trips planned this year and would definitely like to make Greece one of them. Lets make it happen!
Finally, give an advice for the rest of us (the Kiteclub.gr community)! Hmmm keep riding hard! And follow your dreams, anything can happen because you can make your own luck. Commitment, breaking tricks down and visualizing is the best way to learn a new trick. I Think that’s about all the advice I have apart from to drink beer, gives you style! Thanks a lot! See you soon All photos courtesty of Naish Corporation and Bill Doster
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| Last Updated on Monday, 08 February 2010 09:08 |
