He's still skating, saw him pulling travelling backflips at Hastings bowl 2 years ago at Slam City Jam, he's doing well, business wise, as he co-runs RDS Skate Supply and Centre Distribution out of Vancouver, Canada, retired from World a couple of years ago at age 32, but still skates everyday and gets a lot of stunt work in the many films made in BC, here's a news story from "Business In Vancouver" on Sluggo and Colin McKay - 40 under 40 feature;
http://www.biv.com/40under40/boyce.htmlAge: 34
Since stepping on skateboards many moons ago, Rob "Sluggo" Boyce and Colin McKay have combined their passion for the sport with an entrepreneurial acumen that's resulted in a soaring business.
Ten years ago, the two avid skaters -- both of whom have performed professionally -- fulfilled one of their dreams. Along with another friend, they pooled some money and opened RDS Skate Supply, a skateboard shop now located in North Vancouver.
"We bounced the idea around for about three years before we actually did it," Boyce said. "It was a business doing something I love and something I had a good grasp on."
From its humble beginnings, the business has grown to include another shop in California, a distribution business and a clothing line. Altogether, the ventures employ about 36.
RDS Skate Supply has annual revenues of about $1 million. The Centre Distribution locales in North Vancouver and Ajax, Ontario -- which exclusively distributes footwear and clothing for DC Shoe Co. USA to hundreds of shops in Canada -- pull in combined sales of about $17 million. And the Red Dragon clothing line boasts revenues of about $2.5 million a year.
Boyce said running a business "definitely" hasn't taken the fun out of skateboarding, something he still does every day even though he retired as a pro last May.
Now the day-to-day details of running the various businesses are looked after by others.
"We were able to hire people to do a better job than us to take over," Boyce said.
From ages six to 16, Boyce was involved in gymnastics and competed at the national level. But his aspirations took a turn after watching a classmate skateboard at a local park. He was quickly hooked: "It was just a free-flowing sport. You could express yourself any way you wanted." Boyce quickly excelled at skating and sponsor tours took him around the world.
Even though Boyce has a wife and two small children, he still likes to live on the wild side sometimes. His favourite skateboard trick is the McTwist: a 540-degree aerial manoeuvre performed on a half pipe.
As if he isn't busy enough, Boyce is also a stuntman in the local movie industry. He recently worked on two big productions shooting locally: Chronicles of Riddick starring Vin Diesel and I, Robot starring Will Smith.
Meanwhile, McKay remains a sponsored pro. Although based in San Diego, he spends much time in Vancouver. He's still amazed at how the business has grown since the first RDS shop.
"That was a blast opening up that store," he said. "I never thought that we would make it this far."
Boyce and McKay haven't lost their entrepreneurial flair. Along with two other partners, they've set up the largest indoor skate park in Canada, the Richmond-based 30,000-square-foot RDS Skate Park, opened December 6. It too features an RDS shop.
McKay said the sport has changed since he first started skating. "It's evolving and it's maturing," he said, noting that the industry used to be run by 20-year-olds. "Now those 20-year-olds are 40 and they've learned from the mistakes that they've made."
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