Live stream: Western Australia skateboarder Josh Birtwhistle ready to take on BMD Western Rumble

At 22 years old, Josh Birtwhistle is already feeling like the ‘old man’ at the skate park... but this veteran has a few tricks up his sleeve. See him in action this weekend in the Western Rumble.

At 22 years old, Western Australian skateboarder Josh Birtwhistle is already feeling like the old man at the skate park.

“I have noticed I am beginning to feel a lot like the veteran at these events,” he said.

“Last year at the Australian Skate League titles, in the final I was 21 and everyone else who got through to the final were under 18. It is weird, I know I am not old at all, but I feel it.”

But he hopes his added experience on four wheels, and intricate knowledge of every bump, rail and stair at the Port Kennedy skate park, will put him in the box seat at the BMD Western Rumble.

WATCH THE WESTERN RUMBLE LIVE AND EXCLUSIVE ON MARCH 2-3

Check out the LIVE STREAM schedule below.

Birtwhistle, who took home silver in last year’s event, is one of the favourites for the open men’s division in the street section of the event which will be exclusively live streamed on Saturday.

And for the first time this year, KommunityTV’s coverage will also include the bowl competition on Sunday.

The Perth-based regular footer said experience on the competitive circuit would give him a natural edge over his rivals at Port Kennedy, with a conservative approach key to getting it done.

Josh Birtwhistle grinds a rail in competition.

“I have really been thinking over what tricks I do and how to best structure my runs,” Birthwhistle said.

“I have certain things I want to do in my run, but it isn’t so much about the best tricks, but putting together five solid tricks I know I can do well. What will score high and how do they tie together.

“I have been competing for more than 15 years now, and I have learnt over that time to be smarter with how I approach it. I used to rush into it a lot more and try to do the best and the hardest tricks all the time, but that doesn’t often work.”

Birtwhistle admitted with the lack of bona fide skateboard competitions in the Wild West, the Western Rumble had quickly become the most important weekend on the calendar.

Josh Birtwhistle (right) after winning silver at the Western Rumble last year.

“This is the biggest event in Western Australia across the year,” he said.

“It’s the biggest competition circuit around the country, and to go up against the best in the country is exciting. It really fires you up.

“We used to have the Skate WA program a few years ago, which was a government-led initiative that held best trick or jam events most weekends, but since that shut down, there has really been a lack of opportunity to compete in the state.

“It is a real frustration for me, especially with the guys coming through having less opportunity.”

The BMD Western Rumble is the second stop on the Pacific Action Sports Rumble Tour, which kicked off in Adelaide’s suburbs with the Southern Rumble earlier this year.

Originally published as Live stream: Western Australia skateboarder Josh Birtwhistle ready to take on BMD Western Rumble