16 year old Max McQuoid is aiming to compete at the next GTramp games held in San Diego this year. Photo / Tom Rowland
16 year old Max McQuoid is aiming to compete at the next GTramp games held in San Diego this year. Photo / Tom Rowland
The only way is up for Hamilton teen Max McQuoid in the growing phenomenon of GTramp, after winning big at the GTGames in Takapuna last month.
The G in GTramp stands for Garden as it started and is largely still a backyard sport.
Now Max is bouncing with the opportunity of representing Australasia at the next GTGames in San Diego later this year — if he can fundraise enough.
What started as an early love for parkour, turned into a love for the extreme, with Max, 16, now one of hundreds of 'flippers' across the world who take part in GTramp, a form of free styling trampolining, where athletes push themselves to pull off the most extreme tricks and jumps.
"I got into parkour when I was in Year 8, and then I got into flips with that, so I started going on the trampoline, and then I realised I only liked the flipping part of it," Max said.
He said that while there are other forms of trampolining, including gymnastic style, he prefers the freedom allowed in GTramp.
"You progress at your own rate.
"I did traditional gym trampolining and the coach restricted what I could do and you have to focus on form, rather than just going freestyle."
Max first discovered GTramp off a Youtuber, Tanner Braungardt in the United States, who posted videos of himself doing tricks on trampoline. Since starting his account in August 2011, Tanner has gained over four million subscribers.
Max practices his routines day in and day out after school. Photo / Tom Rowland
"I think that is how a lot of people got into it. He went from 1000 subscribers to half a million in about a month or so."
After practising months on end, Max finally competed at his first event in January at the GTGamesANZ in Takapuna, winning the knock-out TRAMP competition, and the two trick spectacular event.
"With TRAMP, there will be groups of six people, and as you rotate around the group you will set a trick, and everyone else in the game will have to complete that trick," Max said.
"If you can't complete it you get given letter and if you get all the letters to spell 'T R A M P' then you are out."
In the other event, Max was required to do his best tricks, which are judged with the highest score winning.
"I did one trick where you do one backflip, land on your back, two backflips, land on your back, and I got to the fourth backflip and then landed on my feet, and when you practise for so long and you pull it off, I just get so pumped."
Max said that persistence is the main key to being successful in GTramp.
He spends most of his free time on his trampoline outside practising new tricks and timing them to perfection.
He has only ever suffered one broken bone on the trampoline, which was last year when he broke his ankle, which ruled him out for a month.
He also broke his collarbone, but that was while snowboarding.
He is currently in Year 11 at St Johns College and hunting for a part-time job to help with funding for travel and accommodation, while also looking at approaching businesses for sponsorship.
His family have decided against setting up a Givealittle page, saying the money there is better off going to charities that are in desperate need.
