Alexandria finds her style

In New Zealand, Alexandria found herself facing competitors who were at least 10 years older than her, and many of them were riders she looked up to. The event required her to demonstrate her freestyle scootering skills during two 45-second runs.

“It was all pretty nerve-racking and I was quite nervous while training and getting my 45-second run ready for competition day. I landed everything first try in the 15-minute warm-up session, but when it came to actually competing my nerves got the better of me this time!” she says.

But the international experience has been valuable and, with her coaches, Alexandria is training hard to perfect her skills and tricks on two wheels. She has already landed some complex tricks and techniques.

“So far I’m the first female in Australia to land a ‘nothing front scooter flip’ and I’m one of the few women in the world to be able to front flip,” she says.

Alexandria trains and rides for about 10 to 12 hours a week, with those hours rising during competition season. Having the flexibility to train hard is the reason why she enrolled in Haileybury Pangea.

“I can train and go to skateparks while everyone else is at school,” she says.

“During COVID-19, I loved online learning and being able to learn from home. Because I live in the country, I had to wake at 5.00 am to go to school and I always felt too tired to learn. Learning through Haileybury Pangea means I can communicate quickly and easily with my teachers, get all my work done and my grades aren’t sacrificed because of my training.

Freestyle scootering isn’t yet in the Olympics, but Alexandria believes it will become an Olympic sport within the next 10 years and her dream is to be one of the first female riders to compete at the Olympic Games and to win gold.

“Scootering is a male-dominated sport — in the whole of Australia, we only have 15 to 20 female riders under the age of 30 competing worldwide. The lack of women is a shame and I hope to inspire as many girls as I can to pick up a scooter and give it a go,” says Alexandria.

After she graduates from Haileybury Pangea, Alexandria wants to study business.

“I’ve always been a very business-minded and logical thinker and want to own a business and work for myself when I’m older. I’ve been investing in Bitcoin and Ethereum for about a year now and have seen some amazing outcomes. I’m also learning about how real estate can offer high rewards,” says Alexandria.

Alexandria’s mum, Helen, says Haileybury Pangea has enabled her daughter to continue her journey towards university while pursuing her potential in freestyle scootering.

“As much as we love Alex competing, we want to ensure that she gets a solid education. We want to give Alex the best of both worlds — education and sport — so she has all the options she needs.”