Hi! I’m Sam.
I’m the ninja head coach at Skylark.
I grew up in a very sporting family (several members are professional athletes) and I played almost every sport. Basketball was my main focus and I competed at representative level until I was 18.
From a young age I've loved art and design. When anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, I’d answer ‘Graphic Designer.’ After studying graphic design at university, I started my own studio as a freelancer.
I started my parkour journey in 2007. Parkour was in its infancy in Australia, and I was drawn to the sport and sense of brotherhood it offered. I joined the Australia Parkour association as Vice President and VIC state representative, where I helped develop the parkour discipline and coaching approaches that are now today’s standards.
As a pioneer of parkour in Australia, I delivered the first ever kids parkour classes. This is when I uncovered my hidden talent for working with kids! I continued to teach various sports including quidditch, cricket, ultimate frisbee and circus across Australia. I gravitated to working with at risk and special needs children across a variety of settings including schools, early learning centres and youth detention centres. Now I can confidently say I am one of the most experienced and senior parkour coaches in the country. Lucky Skylarkians!
I found my newest passion in 2014, when I started training Jiu Jitsu at 10th Planet in Melbourne. I’m a driven and commited person, so I worked hard to be ready to compete within months of starting. I won several medals, including gold in my weight division and silver in the master’s absolute division on the same day!
When I'm not at Skylark, you’ll find me either training or coaching Jiu Jitsu. I received my Brown belt in 2021 and I’m on track for Black belt. My goal is to achieve this by my 40th birthday.
Did you know that I met Jaz and Alex more than 10 years ago, before they had met each other!
I started coaching the Skylark ninjas in 2018 and began my role as Head Coach of the Ninja Program during the pandemic. I’ve enjoyed the challenge of developing the program throughout that difficult time and getting back to full strength now we’re back open and continuing to grow.
