Meet the Ballito trio making affordable skateboards to grow the sport

For Heath Delport, Calvin Da Font and Joshua Rogers, Heat Skateboards was never about making money.

The three local skateboarders started the brand to make quality skateboards more affordable and help grow the sport, keeping their mark-up low enough to cover production costs and fund their own skating rather than generate a profit.

Da Font, a former professional scooter rider in the UK who is well known for landing backflips, said the idea had been on his mind for a while after seeing how expensive skateboards had become and how easily many of them broke.

“We wanted to make a board that was affordable but still lasted,” he said.

The trio imported sample decks before settling on a design they were happy with and launched Heat Skateboards last June.

Giving boards away has become part of the project. They regularly donate decks as prizes at competitions and give them to young skaters who cannot afford their own equipment.

They have also been impressed by how long the boards are lasting. While a skateboard deck typically needs replacing after about three months of regular use, they said some of the first Heat boards released more than a year ago are still being ridden.

Delport said members of the Red Bull skate team told him during the recent Ballito Pro Skate Jam that KZN reportedly now has the second-highest participation in skateboarding in South Africa, something they attributed in part to the rise of Heat Skateboards and the local skate park, The Lot.

The three all have careers outside skateboarding. Delport is completing his Honours degree in Supply Chain and Marketing at UKZN and has secured academic and sports bursaries to continue with a master’s degree. His sports bursary was awarded for his achievements in basketball and badminton.

Rogers owns a photography and videography business, while Da Font works in social media management and merchandise reselling.

“We do it because we love it,” they said.

Although the brand plans to expand into apparel, its biggest ambition remains seeing more people rolling into the sport they are passionate about.

Check them out @heatskateboard on Instagram.