Living the dream at 16 years young, Trey Wood appears to have it all and knows how to keep life under control.
Trey grew up and still lives in Arizona with his family, but thanks to family friends with a little guest room he spends as much of his time that he can in California to keep his skateboarding career on point.
Life is busy for this young man. While constantly traveling, buying and modifying a car for his sixteenth birthday, starting a new year of online schooling as a sophomore, and competing against legendary pros on a regular basis—Trey is mastering the art of juggling life responsibilities.
Curious to catch up with this up-and-coming minor that is proving to be a major threat on the competition scene, Dew Tour tracked down Trey to talk about life outside of skateboarding, what first turned him onto it, his craziest travel experience, and how he manages to balance his life around constantly traveling to compete.
Hey Trey, happy belated birthday.
[laughs] Thank you.
You turned 16 on September 6, right?
Yeah, 16 on the sixth.
Did you buy yourself a car?
Yeah, I actually bought myself a car a few months ago. So, I’ve been driving around with my permit and my parents in the car. It’s nice to finally be able to drive my car without my mom watching over me [laughs].
What did you get?
I got a 2016 [Scion] FR-S. Since I am just starting to drive I’ve been doing a lot with my car—like [modifications] and going to car shows. That is kind of my second hobby.
What have you done to your car, so far?
I have done the exhaust, headers, a flexo-kit, and I just ordered bags for it. That’s pretty much it so far, but I have a lot more that I am going to do to it.
“ON OUR FLIGHT WE HAD ENGINE FAILURE TWICE. WE WERE FLYING ON BACKUP ENGINES, SO WE HAD TO FLY BACK TO WHERE WE LEFT FROM AND CIRCLE FOR A SUPER LONG TIME.”
How did you first get into skateboarding?
Watching it on X Games, actually. Then I just went to the park, and my first time going I split my head open. That was pretty crazy. I’m not sure how I ended up sticking with it, but many more falls after that. I knew it was the right thing because I slammed the first time that I tried it and kept with it. I was probably five or six.
Well, good for you on sticking with it. How long have you been entering skateboard contests?
I think my first contest was at seven, I took last in that contest. It was here in Arizona at Apache Junction Skatepark. Jagger and Jett Eaton-other skaters from Dew Tour contests-skated in that contest and placed second and third while this other local kid, Shane Short, took first. I got the last spot [laughs].
Did you know Jagger and Jett back then?
No, that was my first time encountering them. I didn’t know who they were or anything. They live like 25 to 30 minutes away from me. I pretty much grew up skating with them after that.
What’s the story behind you sneaking onto a MegaRamp at eight years old?
[laughs] I was nine, actually. I went up to Woodward West for a CASL (California Amateur Skateboard League) contest, and they had just built the MegaRamp. It was brand new. There were some kids that came back to the park and said that they had just tried to get on the Mega but didn’t do it. So we went up there to look at it. I just grabbed my board and skated it. Next thing you know, this car pulled up and told us that they already called the cops and that they were on the way. So, we dipped out, and that was my first Mega experience.
That’s awesome, a successful barge. When you were 11 you skated in Dew Tour, X Games, and won a Damn Am event. How crazy was that year for you?
That year was sweet. That year I also skated my first year of skating the Combi event [Vans Pool Party], as well. I won the Am division and got to skate in the Pro Tec Pool Party and did pretty good in that. It was definitely a good year.
(540 melon. Watch the Best of Bowl: Dew Tour Team Challenge Long Beach 2016.)
Have you had any crazy experiences while traveling out of the country?
My actual first time out of the country I went to Brazil with my mom, she just had my brother and he was super young at the time. We were going to Rio and on the way there it was like nothing worked out how it should have. On our flight we had engine failure twice. We were flying on backup engines, so we had to fly back to where we left from and circle for a super long time. When we finally landed they said they were going to transfer us onto a different plane, but they didn’t end up doing that. Instead, they worked on the engines and we got back on that plane only for the same thing to happen all over again. We flew to a different city and were transferred around a bunch before finally taking off again and reaching Brazil. That was terrible. The worst experience I have had traveling still to this day. Rio was gnarly, too.
Were you traveling with any other skaters?
Bob [Burnquist] was on my flight that time, actually. It was just a coincidence that we were on the same flight but we ended up hanging out. Bob came up and watched a movie with me—I was so stoked [laughs].
Sounds like you are livin’ the dream.
Yeah, for sure [laughs].
Alright, let’s talk about your career as a contest skater. You are doing quite the juggling act. What is your study-skate-travel schedule like?
[laughs] Pretty scrambled. Since I do online [schooling], I try to get as much work done as possible while I am traveling but it’s pretty hard because I’m always doing something. Usually, though, I will come home, take a few days off [skateboarding] and get all caught up on school. That is pretty much “the plan” for every time I go on a trip. I try to do my best to balance it out.
How exactly is the online schooling set up?
I do Prima Veera, and you have to finish all of your classes within a certain amount of time. It doesn’t really have a day-to-day deadline, you just have to finish everything by the end.
Sounds like a solid system. How crazy has 2016 been for you? What events have you skated in, which ones have you won or podium?
I can do my best, but there has been so many [laughs]. To start my year off I went to Chile, it was a Bowlzilla contest. Then I had Vans [Pool Party] and X Games, then the Vans Series contest started. I went to Florianopolis for the Red Bull Generations contest. I went to Melbourne and did okay in the qualifier but I blew it in the semi final—that was kind of lame. Then it was the Bondi Bowl contest and then to Newcastle for the Australian Open where I placed second. Next was Manly that I took third in. From there I went to Canada. I did alright. I didn’t podium, but it was a fun trip, for sure. Dew Tour was after that. I did the Clash at Clairemont Skatercross thing. [laughs] It was pretty funny, but fun, and I won that.
It seems like right now is a good time for contests, especially for transition skating.
Yeah, definitely. Tranny skating is kind of like the new thing. I feel like Street League is still up there, but they had their time when that was huge for a while. Now, I think people are focusing a lot more on tranny skating.
Which events have been the most fun, or what makes each event fun or different?
Dew Tour was definitely one of the more fun ones. I had the most fun competing in that.
Why is that?
Because it felt like a mellow contest. I liked the jam sessions rather than runs because that takes a lot of pressure off of you. The whole format just felt pretty sweet.
(Kickflip stalefish.Best of Bowl: Dew Tour Team Challenge Long Beach 2016.)
Let’s recap Dew Tour real quick. What do you remember most about this year’s event in Long Beach?
This year, the whole Team Competition was sick. There were so many other skaters that usually wouldn’t have been there because there are usually just street and bowl, but instead it involves all these dudes from various teams that probably wouldn’t be in contests. It was just sick to see so many guys shredding what they are best at.
Thanks for taking the time to chat, Trey. Any final statements or thoughts about this past Dew Tour Long Beach event?
Just that the whole team killed it! Now I’m just hoping we get to go back and defend our title.
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