Cool Flo Rider: Sol Hawkins
Posted on May 22 2017
The latest addition to the Cool Flo Riderz is Sol Hawkins, a 14-year-old surfer and skater from Newquay.
Great to see you Sol, can you give us a little bit of background for those who haven’t heard of you yet?
I'm a keen surfer and skater, born and raised in Cornwall. I have been surfing since the age of eight and skating since I was little.
I have recently been selected for the under 16's England squad and made many finals in 2016. Some of my best results included a 1st place finish in the under 14's Ripcurl Grom Search, 2nd in the under 16's Oakley invitational, 4th in the Thurso pro under 16's, 2nd in the under 16's British nationals, 2nd in the under 18's valentines memorial comp.
When I’m not skating or surfing I like to visit the local gym where I practise kickboxing to stay fit.
Who inspires you?
My brother was my biggest inspiration to start to skate. I was driven all around the UK to find the best skate parks. My whole family used to surf so it was natural I followed in their footsteps as I got older. My favourite skater is Greyson Fletcher he inspires me to push my skateboarding to the highest possible level. The surfer that I feel inspires me is Noa Deane because he has a very innovative style.
Any tips for newbies?
The best tip I could give to someone who wanted to start surfing or skating would be to have fun and to try their best.
Got a favourite trick?
When surfing my preferred style of surfing is to stay close to the pocket and do critical turns. Also, I tend to do a lot of front side airs when at the skatepark.
What do you like best about becoming a Cool Flo rider?
The best thing about riding for Cool Flo is representing the VW culture and riding for a really cool brand.
What takes your fancy from the latest clothing collection?
My favourite items from Cool Flo are the new baseball tee-shirts.
If given you had the keys to one of VW buses, where would you head to?
Given a choice of Cool Flo campers I would most definitely choose the 54 split screen camper as I have wanted to travel in one of those for years. I would go on a road trip through France and down to Portugal surfing all the breaks on the way down.
Any plans for the year ahead?
So far in this yearI have competed in the WSL pro juniors and I hope to continue to compete in all the British comps - and hopefully a few more international competitions this year.
I am also looking forward to going on surfing holidays to Portugal and hopefully Indo along with competing in international surf competitions.