By Natasha Fujimoto
IN an ever complex and challenging world, it has never been more important for individuals to sustain the crucial link between mental health and physical fitness, particularly for young people.
Local skateboarder and coach, Josh Harvie, understands this critical link only too well. Having tackled significant mental health issues in the past, skateboarding has been his panacea.
Having spent the last six years honing his skills, Josh is offering his talent as a coach to skaters of all ages who want to reap the benefits of this ever popular and evolving sport.
Coaching for the YMCA and Gnarly Neighbours in Seymour, Josh now sees great potential for his own coaching brand, Ramp Rascals amongst Shepparton’s vibrant skating culture.
“Kids will be able to get one-on-one lessons, and as a coach I’ll be guiding them from getting on a board, feeling comfortable riding and most importantly, having fun.
“There’s a lot of different benefits to skateboarding and I feel skaters will be affected uniquely. Not one person has the same experience with skateboarding. But for kids, its confidence, persistence, foot-eye-co-ordination and maintaining focus that is key.”
With the experience to take older skaters into competition if they wish, Josh said,
“With older individuals I can help them achieve exactly what they’re after and one of the things I found helped me a lot in the past, was being able to open my mind to completely different tricks.
I’ve learned so many things from someone saying, ‘What if you tried it this way or that way? So, for older kids, the possibilities are endless, just like skateboarding, I believe,” Josh said.
If you would like to book a one-on-one lesson with Ramp Rascals or to find out more, contact Josh @ramp_rascals on Instagram.
