Vans Canada has one of the most diverse and respected teams in the country. I sat down with marketing coordinator/TM, Alex Forbes to learn more about the squad and see what they have going on this year. Read what he had to say below.

How long have you been with Vans and how did you get involved?
I’ve been working for Vans for the last 2 years and a half. I got involved by Bobby Gascon who is the marketing manager for Vans Canada, who told me about the job. We’ve known each other for a long time. I was stoked to have the opportunity to be part of a historical company such as Vans.

Most of the Canadian industry is based out of Toronto and/or Vancouver. What are some of the benefits of being based in Quebec?
Montreal being the second largest city in Canada makes a really good spot to establish your head office. Since the last couple years, a few distributors also decided to choose Montreal to base their offices: Raj with Mehrathon and Jesse with Tiger. Montreal is also really close to many east coast cities like Boston, New York, Philly and T.O. This results in a lot of people visiting Montreal to see what the city has to offer to skate or just to come chill and party.



The Vans Canada team is sick and really well rounded. I know it's broken up into three sections; Nation Team, Canadian Legends and the Flow team. Tell us who's on the National team and a bit about them.
The National Team consists of Antoine Asselin, Riley Boland, Jesse Landen, Adam Green and Wade Fyfe. Antoine and Riley are both 2 well established Canadian skaters with unique styles. Antoine is really versatile and constant, whether he’s hitting the street, tranny or a contest, he always land his stuff with grace and style at full speed. Jesse, Adam and Wade are Canadian iconic street skaters that kill spots everyday. Watch Wade’s newest part in the new Studio movie, Mood Lighting if you haven’t check it yet.



Antoine was hurt there for a while. How's he doing
Last year was a tough year for him, but he got back at the end of winter, went on an SF trip and a Real trip as well. In late May we did the King Shit Escape To L.A. road trip and he killed it. Now he’s been working for his upcoming part in the new Dimestore video.

Who's on the Legends and tell us about the guys?
Barry Walsh, Marc Tison and Richard Sarrazin. Those dudes are truly Canadian legends, there’s no other word to describe them. They’ve been skating for over 20 years and they still do it with the same passion as when they started. Check out the Vans ad with Marc Tison, it’s next level. It’s really motivating to see dudes like them killing it and he’s a great addition to have them on the team.



I saw Barry in Thrasher shredding the Big O. Have you gotten a chance to skate with him there?
To tell you the truth, it’s been almost 5 years that I haven’t skated the Olympic stadium. I mostly spend afternoons skating flat ground and the bench at Parc Lafontaine or some other places downtown.

Lastly, tell me about the Flow guys.
Kyle Macdonald, Joey Larock , Drew Merriman, Leon Chapdelaine, Dane Pryds, Jorden Murray, Ethan Kilgour, Adam Hopkins, Luc Baslanti, Geoff Strelow, Gab De Lery and Jesse Jean Bart. All those guys are the next generation, as you can see we have one of the biggest teams in Canada, but everybody who is on team fits perfectly. They’re all great individuals and sick skaters.



I always see you on trips to New York and know you took a trip to S.F. to skate recently. Are these trips for work team managing or just to get out of the office and skate?
I did 2/3 trips as a TM like when I saw you last September to go film for Jeremy with Kyle, Bob and Joey who got stuck at the boarder. I also went to Toronto with Adam, Kyle, and two of our Quebec flow team riders, but I mostly just go to New York to skate new stuff and take some time off. New York is so close to Montreal and for me it’s one of the best cities to go skate so I try to go there every time I can. I feel the same about SF, but it’s a bit further so I can't go as often, but it’s a great place to go for escaping the east coast Canadian harsh winter and skate outside.

What can people expect to see when they visit the Vans Canada website?
The Vans website is up and running right now. You are able to know about products, national events, global events, find a Vans dealer, information about Warped Tour, web episodes on offthewall.tv and of course our team section.



What do you guys have planned for the rest of 2012?
Right now we have the Empire Backyard party presented by Vans, The King Shit Escape to L.A. with Kyle Macdonald, Antoine Asselin, Riley Boland and Geoff Strelow, a Spitfire DIY contest with Flat Spot, The Vans Roadblock in Van, for it’s 3rd edition. On top of that, all kinds of grassroots events at local skateparks across Canada. And and we are launching a Canadian exclusive collaboration shoe with Projet 45 in Montreal and Leeside in Vancouver for September. All proceeds from sales will be donated to both organizations. We’re pretty hyped on that collab, we will do a launch for both shoes. I want to say thanks to all the mags that agreed to advertise the ad for free: Kingshit, Exposé, SBC and Color. Visit Vans.ca for upcoming details.