On Sep. 3, the No Hate Tour came to Loy Norrix. The event consisted of several of the top BMX drivers like Mason Ritter, Zach Newman and Jared Wiedower performing action tricks like jumping over school staff, tailwhips, flips, inversions and other various tricks to keep kids entertained while someone spoke over the microphone advocating against student bullying.
In one portion of the performance, assistant principal Alex Hill was called up on stage to participate in a trick. The rider amazed everyone by riding up to Hill and stopping inches before hitting him. Then another trick was performed where the BMX bike and its rider flipped up into the air, spiraling over Hill’s head.
Even though the stunts were the main attraction for students, the tour manager, Dan Seig, thinks the most important part of the tour is emphasizing the importance of committing to one’s dreams.
“It doesn’t matter if you enjoy yo-yos or if you enjoy training cats,” said Seig. “You don’t even have to be the best. Just do better than most, and you will get noticed. You can make money that you can turn into a career. Most people tend to give up because they get bullied because they’re being made fun of. Progress is right around the corner: you just have to stick with it long enough.”
Since 1996 Seig has been riding BMX’s, and in 2003, he finished second place at the Vans Triple Crown.
“This iteration of this event [No Hate Tour] has been inspired by the simple fact that the internet’s been so bad for high school kids and bullying,” said Sieg. “We needed to think of a way to reach them, not [through a] boring, lecture-style conversation.”
Although the goal was to advocate against bullying, some audience members noted that the point was lost as the assembly went on.
“At the beginning I was really interested, but I was confused as to how they would tie bullying into it,” said Junior Robin Jennings. “They did mention one small story about one of the riders getting bullied. It didn’t seem like their main intention was spreading awareness, Just kinda felt like a trick.”
