They decided to collect the best (not only skill-wise, but no-pricks-allowed) skaters around, and in their age range. The first incarnation of the team had Alex, Paul, Chris O’Neil and Marcial Bones. On an early filming mission with prospect skater Greg Penney, it was almost unanimously decided that Marcial had to go, due to erratic behavior and a general dissent towards some of the other skaters. After Marcial got the boot, Greg was the new skater for the Hesh Republic, where he remained for about a month, until it was clear that due to his sporadic availability and a recent move to another school. It seemed at this point that Alex, Paul and Chris were the true rocks of the team. It wasn’t long until Colin Harrington and Mike Sousa were added under am status. Colin and Mike both showed promise, as well as a restricted trick repertoire. But stagnation gave way to progression and Mike soon ascended to pro status. Colin expressed his wishes to not continue his skating career, and he was summarily dropped from the lineup.
Filming for the first video began in December, but spots were limited because of the harsh New England winter, which would last well into March, with flurries lingering as long as May. Getting tricks out of some of the skaters was difficult, (from December until mid-spring was still a time of turmoil for the team members). As soon as the snow melted, though, it was a full-on dash for video completion. Everyone compiled an impressive list of tricks, except for Chris O’Neil who had been somewhat inactive since December. Having joined in on one or two sessions in June, but failing to get any tricks, many were becoming skeptical. He would silence the critics when he banged out a more than respectable part in a single day. Half-Cabbing the purple hill, ollieing the Batch ledge, tricking off the Carpet Crafts banks…it was impressive. Alex stayed up until around 3 AM to finish the video the day before the premiere. The day of the premiere was filled with nervousness and standoffishness. The crowd was diverse to say the least. After watching the video twice, they headed out for an impromptu game of SKATE. Everyone busted out, and enjoyed some refreshments. As the day waned and the sky grew dark, a fierce game of water-balloons occurred. Some people threw Mike into the pool with his clothes on, Alex soon followed. He chased down Brian Blackwood, tackled him and held him down so they could pour an ice cooler all over him. It was a great day for the Hesh Republic, their labor of nearly 8 months had culminated in a well-rounded freshman effort.
The Hesh Republic ("hesh" being a shortened version of hessian) was the brainchild of, initially, Alex Hart, who soon pitched the idea to Paul Lucci. When thinking of a name for a skate team, Alex looked over and saw Ben Hodgkins reading his history book, and the title of the section was The Czech Republic. So, he changed it up a little and that was that.
They decided to collect the best (not only skill-wise, but no-pricks-allowed) skaters around, and in their age range. The first incarnation of the team had Alex, Paul, Chris O’Neil and Marcial Bones. On an early filming mission with prospect skater Greg Penney, it was almost unanimously decided that Marcial had to go, due to erratic behavior and a general dissent towards some of the other skaters. After Marcial got the boot, Greg was the new skater for the Hesh Republic, where he remained for about a month, until it was clear that due to his sporadic availability and a recent move to another school. It seemed at this point that Alex, Paul and Chris were the true rocks of the team. It wasn’t long until Colin Harrington and Mike Sousa were added under am status. Colin and Mike both showed promise, as well as a restricted trick repertoire. But stagnation gave way to progression and Mike soon ascended to pro status. Colin expressed his wishes to not continue his skating career, and he was summarily dropped from the lineup.
