We had the chance to talk with Dudu, one of the most influential Streetboarders of South America. On this exclusive interview he tells us a little bit of his current role in the scene and what his future plans are within Streetboarding.

Sbing.com: Alright man, let’s have a little intro for the people who don’t know you.

My name is Luis Eduardo Gac Rivera, homies call me Dudu. I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil but I’m Chilean. I’ve been streetboarding since 1996, so I’m a veteran.

Sbing.com: Lately you have been really involved in the local scene, pushing it with events and Streetboard schools; tell us a little bit about that.

Well, last year we started a little Streetboard School and Skatepark with the city of La Pintana, I’m in charge of this section. The city invested around US$100.000 in ramps. So far I have organized two championships in this place, and for this year we have nine contests organized as well. We got a few really good sponsors for the last contest, and we are building business relationships with big local brands that are eager to participate in Streetboard events.

Sbing.com: Someone told me you are about to open a Streetboard Shop, what can you tell me about this?

Yeah, Its almost ready, it will be called “XtremeZone” we will sell Streetboards and other boards too, and we will also have a mini ramp in the shop. We still have a little more work to do, but it’s looking good.

Sbing.com: Awesome dude. Now tell me a little bit about your most memorable Streetboard trips.

well, Worlds 2001 in Buenos Aires, Argentina was awesome, we met all the Pros from around the world and we got good connections. 2002 in France was amazing too, I participated in the tour organized by Vianney and then we went to Worlds, I made lots of good friends and we had an incredible time. But I think the best one for me was 2003 in California, because I went with the help of a few sponsors and also five Chilean riders went along, I was so happy to see all of us there, it was amazing.

Sbing.com: A brand new concrete park was recently opened in Santiago, Chile. You think that now with this park the national level will increase in park or will it remain a street oriented country?

Of course the park level will improve with new parks and ramps. The reason that this country is street oriented is because of the lack of ramps; now that we have more parks it will be more balanced. If you look at riders like Oli, he is a ramp machine with almost no ramp training, so I think now all riders will become more overall skaters.

Sbing.com: Do you have any future plans of participating more in international events with a little crew of local riders? Or do you intend to focus more on the local market: Chile, Argentina and Brazil? Markets that are yet to be build.

Yeah I would love to build a little traveling team, and to meet all of my friends at Worlds every year, but we lack resources so far. I really want to build a market here and work towards making Streetboarding big again in South America, we have huge potential and I know that it will rise again and I want to be there when it happens. I believe in the sport and we have to take risks.

Sbing.com: Totally agreed man, well thanks a lot for your time, and I hope this little interview will show the international scene about who Dudu is.

Thanks to Streetboarding.com for the interview, and a big hug to all my homies worldwide, see you all soon!