Steve Douglas (skateboarder)
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Steve Douglas is a retired professional
skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. S ...
and longtime employee of the skateboard industry from
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
(UK). Since April 2014, he has been the Vice President (VP) of
Dwindle Distribution Dwindle Distribution, based in El Segundo, California, is an American skateboard distributor. It is a component of Transom Capital Group Limited. The company was founded by Steve Rocco and Rodney Mullen. Its formation is recognized as a key eve ...
.


Biography


Early life

Douglas was born in 1967 in
North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...
. He began skateboarding at the age of 10 at various
skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, q ...
s in the city, such as
Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...
, Skate City,
Rolling Thunder skate park Rolling Thunder UK Built inside the Old Market in Brentford, Chiswick (London, England), Rolling Thunder was one of the first wave of British skateparks to be made in the late 1970s. Designed by Richard Wrigley (co-designer of London's first s ...
, Crystal Palace Vert Ramp, and Harrow Skate Park. Douglas frequented Harrow from the day it opened, along with Rodga Harvey, John Sablosky and Jeremy Henderson. Later, the "H-Boyz crew" Douglas helped found would become regulars at Harrow Skate Park.


Skateboarding

In 1981, at the insistence of skate-photographer Tim Leighton-Boyce, Douglas began entering English Skateboard Association (ESA) contests. He won all the "under-16" events that he had entered. Douglas' success caught the attention of American sponsors such as Madrid Skateboards, Vans Shoes,
Independent Trucks Independent Truck Company is a skateboard truck manufacturer based in Santa Cruz, California. Established in 1978, the company is owned by NHS, Inc. and sponsors an extensive list of team riders. History The company was co-founded by Richard No ...
and Quiksilver Surf Wear . Throughout the early 1980s, Douglas wrote and published a skateboarding magazine with Benjamin Thomas called ''Go For It!'', named after a
Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...
record. In the absence of any other topical periodical Douglas and Thomas' magazine became influential within the British skateboarding scene. A total of 16 issues were produced, the last three of which were in a glossy, printed form. The penultimate issue, entitled the ''Swindle Issue'', only had one glossy cover. In 1984, the European Skateboard Association managed to convince their US counterparts, the National Skateboard Association, to label their contest series as a 'world championship' so the ESA could obtain government grants to send a UK team to participate. The first-ever UK team included Douglas, Harvey, Lucian Hendrix, and Sean Goff. In 1986, following the release of a ''Go For It!'' calendar, Douglas prioritized overseas work commitments and ''Go For It!'' closed. By this time, Tim Leighton-Boyce's ''R.A.D.'' publication was available, followed by Shane Rouse's ''Skate Action'' and Steve Kane's ''Skateboard''. Douglas was assigned a professional status in 1987 by his skateboard deck sponsor, Schmitt Stix . The company released a Douglas signature model deck in 1988, which featured a picture of a
spoof Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to: * Forgery of goods or documents * Semen, in Australian slang * Spoof (game), a guessing game * Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets __NOTOC__ ...
beer bottle label with the caption: 'Imported from Crystal Palace, London, England'. After releasing a final signature model, Paul Schmitt decided to dissolve Schmitt Stix, at Douglas' behest. Schmitt then relaunched under a new name, 'New Deal Skateboards,' with a new team, new product line and renewed focus. Schmitt, a notable international skateboard manufacturer at that time, created the new brand with Douglas and Andy Howell. Douglas used the 'New Deal' name to co-found a skate shop in London, originally located in a retail unit in the Harrow and Wealdstone shopping mall and later moved to Harrow Solid Surf Skatepark. Along with Tony Magnusson's H-Street and Steve Rocco's
World Industries World Industries is a skateboarding company that offers skateboarding products, accessories and clothing. The company was founded by Steve Rocco in 1987. In 1988, Rocco was joined by skater, Rodney Mullen, and then Mike Vallely in 1989. As of ...
, New Deal developed into a successful skateboard brand in the early 1990s by embracing the emerging street-based skateboarding revolution that favored new skateboarders such as
Ed Templeton Ed Templeton (born July 28, 1972) is an American professional skateboarder, contemporary artist, and photographer. He is the founder of the skateboard company, Toy Machine, a company that he continues to own and manage. He is based in Huntington ...
, who appeared in New Deal's first promotional video, ''
Useless Wooden Toys Useless may refer to: * ''Useless'' (film), a 2007 Chinese documentary by Jia Zhangke * ''Useless'' (EP), a 2000 EP by Unloco * "Useless" (song), a 1997 song by Depeche Mode * "Useless", a 2009 song by Cavo from '' Bright Nights Dark Days'' * ...
'' (1990). Bolstered by New Deal's success, Douglas co-founded the Giant Distribution skateboard company in the early 1990s Giant Skateboard Distribution
/ref> and eventually became the company's president. Hugh "Bod" Boyle, Douglas' UK friend and former professional skateboarder, eventually joined the company after a knee injury prematurely ended his skating career in the early 1990s. Boyle won the skateboarding World Championship in 1990.
/ref> In 1992, Howell decided to form his own skateboard brand. With Douglas' help they founded 'Underworld Element', later renamed to
Element Skateboards Element Skateboards is an American skateboard company, founded in 1992 by Johnny Schillereff, that manufactures skateboard decks, apparel, and footwear. In 2014, Element created and moved to The Branch, a creative space in Costa Mesa, California ...
, which remains a prominent skateboard company today. John Lucero, Douglas' teammate first at Madrid then at Schmitt Stix, started his own skateboard brand in 1988 called 'Lucero Skateboards,' soon renamed Black Label Skateboards. By the mid-1990s, Black Label was run out of a garage and Douglas restructured the company to further facilitate its growth. Douglas also co-founded
411 video magazine ''411 Video Magazine'' (commonly abbreviated as ''411VM'' or ''411'') was a skateboarding video series. 411 was created in 1993 by Josh Friedberg and Steve Douglas. ''411'' released four issues per year, until its last issue, issue 67 was release ...
''411VM'' and later the ''On Video'' series, both crucial to skateboarding's development through the 1990s and the new millennium. He also founded a new truck company in the late 1990s, Destructo Trucks, with the usual success, and took over production of
Bam Margera Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV reality s ...
's notorious ''
CKY CKY may refer to: * CKY (band), American rock band, formerly "Camp Kill Yourself" ** ''CKY'' (video series), named after the band **CKY crew, people involved in the video series and related projects *CKY-DT, a television station in Winnipeg, Manito ...
'' before Margera moved the series to television. In 2004 Douglas accepted an offer from
Burton Snowboards Burton Snowboards is a privately-owned snowboard manufacturing company that was founded by Jake Burton Carpenter in 1977. The company specializes in products aimed at snowboarders, such as snowboards, bindings, boots, outerwear, and accessorie ...
to be
general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
at their clothing subsidiary Analog.SURF Magazine
A year later Douglas was reunited with his old friend 'Bod' Boyle when they both came to work at Giant's rival
Dwindle Distribution Dwindle Distribution, based in El Segundo, California, is an American skateboard distributor. It is a component of Transom Capital Group Limited. The company was founded by Steve Rocco and Rodney Mullen. Its formation is recognized as a key eve ...
; Boyle as president and Douglas in an advisory position. In addition to his work at skateboarding companies, Douglas is also a committee member of both the IASC and USA Skateboarding, the national governing Body of American skateboarding.


References


External links


Historical UK skateboard website

H-Boyz official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Steve Living people English skateboarders Sportspeople from London 1967 births