by Toby Brockelbank & Patrick Kigongo

Nexus are stoked to have the chance to interview Uganda Skate Society. Absolute shredders with one of the gnarliest parks we’ve ever seen. Massive shoutout to Gose Gerald for his kindness and being so keen to work with us. Nexus also thank Patrick Kigongo for guest writing this introduction, his passion for skating, and working with us at such short notice. Check him out on the Mostly Skateboarding Podcast. If you’re not already stoked on Uganda Skate Society, you’re behind with the new wave.

My parents immigrated to the United States from Uganda in 1980, landing in a broke New York City at the peak of the Malaise Era. I was born in Harlem, but we moved to a nearby suburb several months later. While street skating was ascending into prominence and dominance, our family grew. By the time “Video Days” was released, I had three younger brothers. After more than a decade of putting down roots in the States my parents announced that we’d be spending the summer of 1992 in Uganda visiting relatives, many of whom we’d never met.

It was during that first family trip back home that I experienced my first bout of insomnia. The combination of jetlag and a bad reaction to antimalarial medication left me wide awake every night. Rather than being flustered by the lack of sleep, I derived great joy from spending the small hours of the night reading by flashlight, listening to music, or just letting my mind wander.

Fast forward to February 2008. I was fresh out of graduate school, living in Washington DC, and once again found myself unable to sleep. I was working for a troubled market research firm by day and playing in a band at night. One night, while aimlessly digging through random Blogspot and WordPress sites, I stumbled upon the blog of a Brian Lye, a Canadian skateboarder who was living and working in Uganda. During his time there, Brian not only co founded the Uganda Skateboard Union, he also led the construction of the first DIY skatepark in Uganda. I couldn’t believe my bleary eyes. Skateboarding? A skatepark? Back home? No way!

As I marveled at photos of Ugandan skaters old enough to be my nieces and nephews, I was instantly taken back to July of 1996, the summer before my freshman year of high school. Once again, I was in Uganda for the summer and completely out of the loop from skateboarding. Back in New York, all my skate buddies were gossiping about Chad Muska’s untimely expulsion from Toy Machine and the drama unfolding at the Munster competition in Germany. Me? All I had were a couple of back issues of SLAP and Thrasher and some heavily annotated CCS catalogs. Don’t get me wrong, I cherished spending time with my extended family. But it was the mid 1990s, a high-water mark for the skateboard industry and skate culture. By contrast, Uganda was just a decade removed from the end of an incredibly destructive civil war and still very poor. I reckon that for a long time the only skaters in the country at that time were members of the diaspora visiting their relatives or tourists. I probably wouldn’t have lost as many tricks if I’d been able to skate in between chill sessions with my cousins or visits to the market.

Who are the Uganda Skateboard Society?
Uganda skateboard society is a nonprofit organization which I formed in 2011 to promote and grow skateboarding in Uganda through providing free skate lessons, building DIY skateparks and offering free skate materials to all those who can’t access them.

Who are you and what’s your favourite skate video?
I am Gose Gerald and my favourite skate video is cheese and crackers (Daewon Song, Rodney Mullen, Chris Haslam).

Best trick and why?
My best tricks are always the crook grinds no matter which obstacle am making them on. The reason is that they got a special sound down on the front truck and I love it.

How did you guys get into skateboarding?
Personally, I was inspired by a Canadian guy called Brian Lye who had come to Uganda to work on some voluntary projects. He’s the person who taught me how to skate and I inspired the rest through Uganda Skateboard Society.

What does skateboarding means to you?
Skateboarding is freedom and having fun.

How can our readers support skaters in Uganda?
One can support our skate community through donating skate materials through our box address P.O.Box40315Kampala, Uganda or make a donation through our website, ugandaskateboardsociety.org

Do you prefer ramp or street skating?
I grew up skating transitions, but I go for both since street more popular these days.

Kickflips or heelflips?
Kickflips.

All-time favourite skater?
Danny Way.

Best music to skate to?
Ugandan Hiphop Music.

Any Ugandan Music New Zealand should checkout?
They should definitely checkout for a Ugandan rapper called St Nelly Sade.

You guys have rad airs and late flips, why is Ugandan skate style so unique? And what inspires your style and tricks?
I think it’s because we are a bit backwards in technology and internet isn’t very affordable, so we got less ideas on how the mainstream skaters do it and we skate our own way basing on the feelings towards our boards.

All-time best Ugandan skater?
Moses (Morzart), the kid who did a switch backflip on our crazy transition.

Which up and coming skaters outside of Uganda should the world keep an eye on?
Aberham from Ethiopia.

What’s up with your rad skatepark?
Our skatepark got a lot of history behind it whereby it was being constructed by the locals without any international skatepark constructors. It’s super steep and gnarly but the locals can’t stop making crazy tricks on it.

How does Uganda skater of the year work?
The Uganda Skater Of The Year (USOTY) is decided entirely by the fans, 100% of the votes come from an online public poll. The skaters are nominated based on their yearly performance and community votes for their favourites making it a true people’s choice award.

Are you guys close with any other countries skate crews?
Yes of course, we share boarders with Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania and we have been working together with Small steps Skatepark project Tanzania, She Skates Kenya, Dodoma Skateboarding Tanzania, Somalia skateboarding.

Any shoutouts?
I would like to shoutout to everyone who has been supporting our skate organisation since the beginning upto now.

Any final words to skaters and readers in New Zealand?
All we need from y’all is your support so that we build a strong skate community in Africa together.