In our initial entry in the 15 under 15 series, we get to know Neve Harvey. Neve is 13 from the UK and is a powerful tricker and really fun to watch. Enjoy!
I got into tricking in 2017 by mistake really. I first started doing dance classes when i was younger and the teacher wanted us to learn back flips so she took us all to UTX Academy to be coached on how to do these moves. I saw people like Sam Kojo, Kyle Skelley, Alex Omidar, JJ Battel training while we were doing our class and thought this dance thing is over for me and i am going to do what they are doing its cool.
My favourite trick is TDR cork swing cork, I just like the power and feeling of the twist and control that you need.
My dream trick is dub dub, I am half way there at the moment but hopefully it wont be long.
My biggest role model is JJ Battell purely for the fact he was the first person I saw tricking. He trained me on my first day and he still trains me now, he certainly trains me super hard which I need. He trains so hard himself and is a perfectionist but i suppose thats what you need to do.
My first gathering was “The Garrison Leaving Gathering” this was when the Garrison (Sam Kojo, Kyle Skelley, Alex Omidar, Sean Sevestre) all went there own way and stopped living together. I remember Bailey Payne was there doing his usual crazy stuff and i got to do a combo with him, not bad for a first gathering.
My favourite gathering is Hooked. I went last year, I was the only female, plus the youngest person to enter the tricking battle, it was the best experience ever, plus I landed all my combos. All the best trickers are in one place going super hard, some of the tricks and battles are crazy at this event.
I am really lucky where I train at UTX as probably the best trickers in the UK all train there, so the tricking community around me is very good so i get great coaching and advise every lesson. Instagram has also been good for me as i have been able to speak to international trickers plus watch other peoples tricks to learn from.
I love both, I only really started doing martial arts 2 years ago so kicks are really still new to me but I love tornado kicks. I do love twist tricks as well because you can change your body position whilst you are spinning it just feels amazing.
My biggest tricking challenge is getting over the fear of the big tricks and then pushing myself to mentally do them as i have not been doing that, i have just been getting angry at myself.
My advice is do it now, its the best thing i have ever done, i have met some really amazing people some who have become real close friends, I have travelled all over Europe competing at amazing gatherings, plus everyone i know thinks what i do is amazing and a little bit crazy.
I am only 13 so never really thought about it really. I guess when i go up against someone in a battle i don’t think too much about them being a boy or girl i just concentrate on what i need to do. I must admit though its always nice to beat the boys, I think they are more worried about getting beat by a girl so maybe I am at an advantage.
I must admit tricking, martial arts and school pretty much take up most of my time but i have really got into cooking for my family lately, hopefully i wont make them too ill haha.
My favourite thing about tricking and the community is definitely the people, coming from a dance background its a bit intense and a highly competitive if you know what i am talking about. Tricking is completely different, the person you train with or battle, claps or cheers when you land your combo, older trickers are always giving me advise to help me get better, it just makes you feel great and part of one big team.
Outside of tricking is mainly school and family time, family time is massive to me, as me and my brother take up so much of my parents time. My brother has been a top national level swimmer most of his life, so my parents have dedicated most of their time and money to helping me and my brother achieve our goals, so when we are all together spending time together is what I like doing. School is something I enjoy but a difficult one for me, not many people know this (I guess they do now if they are reading this) but I have dyslexia. I struggle with reading and writing but I can assure you it doesn’t hold me back, sure I have a few difficulties and I wear glasses with funny tinted coloured lenses to help me read but its no great issue, like my dad says tell everyone “all superheroes have cool coloured glasses” then he tells me to point them in the direction of my tricking videos, it usually gets a good reaction.
Thats what i like about tricking you never know, i may have a great session and bang out the dub – dub, but i guess just keep tricking with a smile on my face, enjoy what i am doing and hopefully keep travelling to loads of gatherings.