The Heatley Boys have been ripping up the Aussie park scene for a number of years now. The 3 brothers are based out of Perth Wake Park and have travelled all over Australia (& the world) to ride and share the stoke they have for wakeboarding and the water sports scene.
We are stoked to finally be lifting the lid on this vest and hope you guys love it as much as we do.
The process of working with the boys to create this was epic and we enjoyed the time we spent with them making it all happen.
We enjoyed the journey and process on this as much as the destination. For a little more
insight into this process and the boys experience check out our interview below.
Q. I haven’t done too many remote interviews but I’m legit excited for this one, this should be pretty sick. What is going on Heatleys!! For those who may not know you, in order of oldest to youngest introduce yourselves:
A. Tom: What Up, I’m Tom and I’m the oldest of the Heatley Boys which makes me 20 years old. Ive been wakeboarding for 5 years.
Ben: Hello. I am Ben. I am the middle child. I’ve been Wakeboarding for 5 years also. I'm 17 years of age.
Jake: Hi my name is Jake. I’m the youngest of the boys and I’ve been wakeboarding the same as my brothers.
Q. Who is Mum & Dads favourite?
A. Tom and Jake: (in unison) Ben, he is the golden child.
Ben: No I’m not. It’s a lie.
Q. You guys are clearly great riders, was there anyone in particular that helped you when you were starting out?
A. All the old school crew at the Wakepark. Craig Bond, Christian, Corban, Riley, Josh Quarters, Auzzie, Nile, Pete Buckley, Kuri and Rob Caratti. Also Courtney Angus when we went to a few Development camps at Cables.
Q. We all know your home park is Perth so without talking about how cool Perth Wake Park
is, where is your favourite place/park to ride?
A. We have been to a bunch of parks in Aus and around the world. The ones that we have been to that really stand out are Bli Bli, Gold Coast, and Area 47. We absolutely love the vibe there and can’t wait to get back.
Q. What about competitions & highlights of wakeboarding? Any big wins or epic experiences
you guys have had?
A. Tom: Biggest win for me was placing 2nd in pro mens at Boardstock King of Kicker 2019. Plastic Playground was also epic. It was an amzing opportunity to compete against some of the people that I look up to in the sport.
Ben: One of my big highlights was plastic playground where I got a good insight into the level of riding of some of the big names that i will be seeing in the sport in the coming years. One of my biggest highlights would be knocking myself out while training out at Gold coast and going to hospital by ambulance 2 days before board stock and winning the contest overall for under 17’s.
Jake: My biggest highlight would be coming second and third in board stock and getting sponsored by Jetpilot and Hyperlite. Also getting featured on the one and only JB oneil Mr Youtube extraordinaires Youtube channel and meeting the international Hyperlite guys especially Alex Aulbach and JB.
Q. What’s the best thing about competing?
A. Ben: I would say the best thing about competing would be catching up with all the crew and getting hyped for each other and our runs. Also seeing the tricks that get thrown down, as contests seem to give people some insane confidence that I love.
Tom: Absolutely love seeing all of my great mates hanging in one place and absolutely sending it on and off the water, its always a wicked time hanging with everyone.
Jake: I get to see all of my really good friends and just love competing with them and learning new things!
Q. Any current sponsors you guys would like to shout out? And when did the sponno thing start to come up for you guys?
A. We would love to shout out the one and only JETPILOTTTTTT for giving us all the unconditional love and support, and all the opportunities through our wakeboarding career so far.
Ben: I’d like to thank Liquid force Australia, Tom and all the boys for providing me with the best boards out there.
Jake: Thankyou to Hyperlite and to Dean for the amazing opportunities they have given me! The boards are so sick and I love riding Hyperlite!
Tom: I would love to thank Stu at Ronix for everything and cannot be thankful enough and Ben and Simon at Perth wake park for creating an awesome environment to come and ride!
The sponno thing started when we started competing Nationally at Boardstock rounds in 2017 when we started getting on a few podiums. Our parents took us to a few Wake Development camps over East with Courtney Angus and that’s when our drive to start competing seriously took over.
Q. And what about Jetpilot in particular? I’m sure everyone wants to know if there’s a secret formula or something for getting attention. When did the Jetpilot connection start and how did all that come about?
A. Tom: The first time I ever met Dallas was at Sydney Boardstock 2018 and he was taking some photos of the event and the riders and I went and asked him about the camera he was taking photos with and for his email so I could maybe get some photos, and from that point on we started talking about how us boys could start collaborating with Jetpilot and the rest is history, Jake and Ben came along later as our riding really progressed.
We would say that the biggest secret is to be yourself and keep loving riding and having fun. Let your riding do the talking!!!!
Q. What did it mean to you guys when you were offered the chance to help design some vest concepts with Jetpilot? How did that all go down and how did you find that experience?
A. We were super stoked to be given the opportunity to collaborate with Jetpilot on a vest. It’s every riders dream to be able to collaborate with their sponsor with something in their range whether it be a vest, apparel etc. Being able to be part of the process of creating something with Jetpilot was super exciting, and we loved every part of the process. From the actual designing, the discussions around it and now the final release, it’s still crazy to think about. It’s an absolute privilege and we are super grateful to have the opportunity, and hope that everyone is as stoked as we are with how the vests turn out.
Q. What was it like when you visited Jetpilot Head Office and you got to see the vest in real life?
A. When we first saw the vest, we were psyched on how they turned out. They looked even better than they did in the drawings. But I reckon that’s always the case. Was super sick to work with Kaleb and Dallas in producing the video along side the vest. Talking to the whole Jetpilot team and seeing how much effort was put into it and how much the team loved it as much as we did really made us proud to be a part of such an amazing family. This has made one of our biggest dreams as brothers come to reality and we hope that we can continue to rep the brand in the future.
Q. We all love the vest ourselves and were stoked to be able to colab on it with you. What’s next for you boys? Video projects? Comps?
A. Well, it’s a little hard at the moment with the whole COVID situation and being stuck in WA, but we’ve got some stuff that we are working on not only as brothers but individually as well. We want to try to get another Heatley boys edit going this season, along with a couple of edits with our separate sponsors.
Ben: When the world opens back up i want to see if I can get out to some of the comps not only in Australia but around the world. It would be cool to collaborate with some people, for example, the peacock brothers for like an ultimate brothers session video idea which would be sick. Im hoping that through the next couple years that I will be able to expand my horizon with the sport whilst keeping the stoke alive.
Tom: It was so sick to collab with you guys as well was an absolute dream come true and to work alongside Kaleb on the video was epic! My goal is to keep having fun and just to keep the passion alive while sending it. Would love to also maybe make a collab video of the peacock brother vs Heatley brother game of wake ahahah that would be pretty cool but who knows I guess, maybe a Heatley boys edit 2.0 could be on the table as well just keep a look out on socials ;)
Jake: I just love riding and having lots of fun. I’m currently working on bigger and better tricks and hopefully catch up to my older brothers real soon. Hopefully the borders open and we can travel and ride at different places around the world.
Q. Thanks for your time on the interview and we are looking forward to seeing you guys to hang out again soon!!
A. Thank you guys again for all the opportunities that you have given us and cannot wait to catch up with you all too, it’s been way to long!