It all began with a contract gig coordinating the summer '08 DC Nationals for long-time Vancouver skater, Trevn Sharp. After that was said and done, and he was about to clear his desk once the event contract dried up, a DC Canada team manager vacancy had him apply and rotate into that role. Presently, the 28 year-old fills quite the pair of kicks as the skate TM for DC Canada as well as the recently formed and developing Quiksilver Canada team. On top of managing this roster of colourful personalities, Trevn still tackles the event coordination for the Canada-wide DC Nationals contest series. This edition of Talkin' TM with Trevn Sharp takes a look at the highs and lows of his gig, the essential art of patience, and looking at skate mags with a magnifying glass even though his vision's 20/20.

Trevn Sharp, self portrait.

Can you briefly describe your background in skateboarding leading up to this point?

Yeah, my roots are deep in skateboarding. I was sponsored by a shop in Abbotsford, BC called Grammas when I was 12, and I had no idea what that meant at the time. I basically grew up on a farm outside of Maple Ridge, BC. Ken Poole from Grammas helped me out a lot and introduced me to a lot of people. One of them was Judah Oakes and Timebomb, where I rode for éS through them for a long time. After that, I rode for a shop called Level, and they gave me a job. I just skated and shot photos as much as possible, but it seemed like every year I'd get some sort of serious injury that would put me out for 4 months or something like that. I tore my ACL and I didn't skate for like 2 and a half years. After that, I was 27 and didn't feel like jumping down anything—my body told me I couldn't do it. I parted ways with my sponsors, and after a few odd jobs I wanted to get back into the industry.

What is the standard you've established in terms of what you expect from the DC/Quik teams?

The huge thing is respect for the company you ride for, and the people that you work with. Nowadays, there are so many people that deserve free stuff; when you do get hooked up you can't just start to chill because you're in there. What we basically expect is communication between the riders and us, and for the team to make an effort at getting exposure. Most of the guys on the main team are definitely out there all the time, usually in the magazines every month or online every week. They're doing what they want to do, so I'm there to try and help them see how far they can go with it. Another huge thing: actually wanting to ride for the company you're on. We totally rely on feedback on the shoes from our DC team so we can relay that to our reps, and they can take that on the road. It's the tried and tested approach.

Who's on the teams right now?

With Quiksilver, we just started in early ‘09, and our first guy was Jordan Hoffart. He's an old friend of mine, and the timing was right since he'd just left his clothing sponsor at the time. It was a good fit, and I'm super happy to have him on. The newest Quiksilver addition would be Cory Wilson, who's an amazing guy and an awesome skater. We're just starting to build the Quiksilver team; we'll fill it over the next year or so, and try to have representation across Canada. With DC, we support a large flow team, but our main guys would be Sascha Daley, Morgan Smith, Paul Trep, Micky Papa, Rory Fulber, Chad Dickson, Josh Clark, Ian Twa, Will Marshall, and Ryan Oughton. These guys have been around for a long time, and a lot of them have been with DC long before I got involved with the team. Josh Clark, coming out of Montreal, would be one of the newer additions that I brought on, and he's really starting to push it now.

DC Canada's Sascha Daley, frontside 180. Brian Caissie sequence.

What's the most rewarding part of your job?

Being sample size [laughs]. I've had some really cool people like Judah Oakes who brought me in when I was a kid. I looked up to him, Sam Devlin, Rick McCrank, Syd Clark, and Alex Chalmers. They helped me see what you can get out of skateboarding if you had the right attitude and the right skills. Honestly, it feels great to help out these kids that are doing what I was doing a few years ago. Also, the people in the office in North Van are great. I'm learning tons every day.

What's the worst thing you have to deal with as TM?

I think any team manager would say it's making the cuts. It sucks. You don't want to do it, but you obviously know when someone's still on the team and just riding it out; you just don't have the budget to support that. You know there's another kid that's right there and hungry for it. Really the most challenging thing is just staying on top of the team, knowing where everybody is at, and making sure everybody's taken care of.

What's the most important thing you've learned along this path?

Throughout all my injuries, the one thing you have no control over and have to learn is patience. You will heal, and it takes a positive attitude. I think learning that patience helped me adapt to having patience with riders now, and the people I work with on a day-to-day basis. The more present-day thing I've learned is Excel [laughs]. I've definitely had to become more computer literate.

When you flip through skate magazines now, what's different as a TM?

It's funny how your mind kind of changes when you're doing the team stuff. Before, I'd just look for photos of the friends that I know, and now I look for who's wearing the DC stuff from our team. I'm checking for logos, tagging the page, and seeing who's going to get paid out for photo incentives. Right now, I'm looking at Paul Trep ["Spring Broken" by Scott Pommier in SBC Skateboard #11.2] and I'm seeing logos. I'm stoked [laughs].