Matt Smithies

Matt grew up in a small village with little to offer a skateboarder; in fact, it would be almost five years before he rode at a real skatepark. Although the influence of the Tony Hawk games and Rodney Mullen videos paved the way for his interest in freestyle, his core trick base was developed in isolation. Due to this, he would make the claim that he had developed a relatively unique style within the community. Matt didn’t realize there was a UK freestyle contingent or even websites for the cause until 2007; he’d always felt like an outsider looking in. After his hiatus from 2007 to 2011, he rejoined the community where he organized the NASS events in 2011, 2012. He then organized the World Championships in 2013 with the help of the late Hans Lucas, whose help was invaluable. Those contests help to contribute to the relaunch of the UK freestyle scene, which Matt considers has evolved to harbor one of the strongest and most varied of individual styles in the world. His main points of inspiration come from Tim Byrne, Joe Flemke, Tony Gale, Stefan Albert, and Marco Sassi. In 2012 he was featured on Andy Schrock’s (Revive Skateboards) YouTube channel where it had amassed over half a million views.
In 2013 Matt graduated from Plymouth University in Computer Sciences with a focus on Android development. He is currently the lead software developer for Coursematch, an Edtech startup and technical consultant for DOVU, focused on carbon offsetting transport. Matt went on to create the YourFreelanceMentor website, where he has developed a free course and content to help passionate graduates transform into remarkable professionals. He teaches them a range of frameworks for building a personal brand from marketing, mindfulness, niche development, and market research. His overall long term aim is to encapsulate and teach the soft skills and mindset that we all develop from years skateboarding to a general audience. This goal is inspired by Rodney Mullen’s TED talks on ‘Getting Back Up’ and the response that he received from his peers. He also has a blog, World-Class Remote, which helps startups and developers cope with remote life. I have created a software service to help people find out if a movie or TV show is safe for them to watch. I enjoy mentoring others start their journey in a career in software.
When he is not skating, he loves to spend time with my partner and cat. He also dabbles with magic card tricks, and wants to become an accomplished yogaist, loves cooking, and making awesome handmade chocolate, and finally, when he has the time, he loves to explore abstract programming concepts. He also says that he plays a fierce triangle, but hasn’t played in years.
Since 2013 Matt has been primarily focusing on growing his skateboarding abilities and his professional career. He’s been to a few small freestyle events in the UK with regulars such as Tony Gale, Alex Foster, and Callum Bowran, but feels he’s now ready for the World Round-Up. Apart from that, he has been pretty reclusive and feels great to be able to come out of hibernation and start releasing videos again. He is looking forward to building new relationships and meeting his friends, where texts have been the only contact for years. As Matt has been skateboarding for over a decade now, he’s developed and grown thanks to skateboarding in ways in which he could never imagined. His hope is that at this year’s World Round-Up, he will be able to truly earn his place in the amateur ranks with the goal of one day pushing into the professional division.
RECENT CONTEST HISTORY:

2018 UK Round-Up: 4th Place Pro/Am
2017 UK Round-Up: 4th Place Pro/Am
2017 UK Round-Up: (Offline Instagram Grand Slam): 1st Place Pro/Am
2017 World Freestyle Round-Up: 19th Place Am
2016 Late Tricks Fantasy Freestyle: 1st Place Am