DISCIPLE, MASTER TO MAKE DEBUT TOGETHER

Felix, 11, eager to show skateboarding skills; mentor Farris, 31, sees competing as a bonus

- Joel Chang

When Farris Rahman and Felix Balzer first met at a skate park in East Coast in 2022, an eight-year-old Felix was still getting to grips with the more complex skateboarding tricks.

Impressed by Farris' advanced proficiency on the skateboard, Felix's father asked him to teach his son a few tricks, which started a mentor-mentee relationship.

Fast forward three years, Farris, 31, and Felix, 11, will be making their SEA Games debuts together, with another Games debutante Tina Wan, 19, in the women's category.

While the mentoring frequency has reduced recently due to Farris' work commitments, it felt like a full-circle moment for him now that Felix is a full-fledged competitor.

The youngster, whose dream is to win an Olympic gold, finished second at the National Skateboarding Championships in August, just behind Farris as both earned their spots at the Dec 9-20 Games in Thailand.

"I'm proud of him for coming so far, so quickly. He reminds me of myself when I was younger," said Farris, who works as a high performance sport manager with Sport Singapore.