Holy rollers

By Steve Bandy The Daily Iberian
Published/Last Modified on Monday, April 9, 2007 10:50 AM CDT

Ollie. Indy. K-Grind.

Half of a 1930s-era comedy team? A car race in Indianapolis? Britney Spears’ new back-up dancer?

Wrong on all counts. Those are terms familiar to the “skater” sect, referring to different types of “stunts” performed either on skateboards or in-line skates.

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The very term “skater” conjures up images in many of tattooed and pierced youth sporting long-hair and baggy pants with a skateboard tucked under one arm or pair of in-lines hung over a shoulder.

In reality, a small group of local skaters, who have teamed up to call themselves KDY, do little to discourage that mental image — until, that is, you talk to them.

Ethan Lohr, Nicholas Wilson, Randall Thibodeaux and Randy Nowlin are on a mission to spread God’s word and they are using their skating skills to do so.

“It was about a year ago that we decided to make a Christian skate team and spread the word,” Lohr said.

“We started off as a group of really good friends who wanted to make something of ourselves,” Wilson said. “We thought, ‘Why not skate for Jesus?’ ”

The team’s name, an acronym for “Kids Die Young,” also seems to harken back to the perceived darker side of the whole skater mystique. But that’s also a misconception, Wilson said.

“The name refers to the loss of innocence,” he said. “As kids grow up, temptations come in. That’s where praising Jesus helps. It’s all about keeping that innocence.”

The four teens — Lohr, Wilson and Nowlin are 17, Thibodeaux is 16 — have been friends for years.

“We all kind of grew up in or around Belaire (Subdivision),” Wilson said. “Ethan and I have been best friends since fourth grade. We’re all pretty much like brothers.”

Nowlin, who was recruited to the team when his older brother Billy developed back problems and had to hang up his skateboard, now lives in Breaux Bridge and attends Breaux Bridge Senior High. The remaining three team members attend NISH.

Wilson will be moving to New York around the end of May to rejoin his family, who moved there a couple of years ago.

For now, the team practices at Bayou Wheels skate park in City Park. Its goal is to put together a tour of area skate parks, exhibiting their skills and sharing their beliefs and values with other youth.

To fund this venture, KDY members video each other’s performing various stunts and sell the DVDs — and T-shirts — on the team’s MySpace Web site.

“We take turns filming each other, then we all get together to edit it,” Lohr said. “Most of what we made selling the DVDs so far has gone back into buying a better camera, but we have a little saved up.”

To date, the team has put together two DVDs, “Jesus Saves” and “Red Carpet,” which they sell for $5 each. The third DVD is in production. Their “Jesus Saves” T-shirts go for $12 apiece.

And just so you’ll know: An Ollie is a jump; an Indy is a stunt whereby the skater grabs the edge of the board; a K-Grind is the act of sliding along a pole or rail.

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