Jeremy is one of those people who I’ve been seeing and hearing a lot of good things about the past year or two. I’ve wanted to find out more about him for a while now, and figure it was due time to get him some questions. I was a little worried since he’s got a real good interview in the new Case that I suggest you check out too. Luckily, the questions didn’t overlap much at all so let’s take a look at what he had to say along with a bunch of real good photos courtesy of Greg Dickson. Don’t forget to leave some love in the comments as well!
Name: Jeremy Ball
Location: Quincy, Michigan (United States)
Sponsors: Deluxe BMX
Years riding: 17
What was it that first got you into BMX? Any early memories come to mind?
There are a variety of reasons of why I got into BMX. The first would be that my dad raced motocross and I wanted to be as much like him as possible. So I started off mimicking my father riding his dirt bike on a BMX bike when I was a kid. I grew up racing motocross for a long time and still do too. My parents have some of the funniest pictures of me jumping in my yard when I was about 4 years old.
Because of motocross, there was a natural transition into BMX. When I was younger I couldn’t ride my dirt bike when my dad wasn’t home, so my brother and I started building jumps for our bikes by our motocross track. Those started to grow and grow and I began to get my hands on BMX PLUS! Magazines. That really sparked my interest in BMX. My brother was older and had a friend (Danny) that raced BMX too.
I started racing BMX because of Danny. Danny’s dad took me to my first race when I was about 10 in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. While there I saw my first glimpse of trail riders being that the FBM guys were in Ft. Wayne at the time. I saw Joey Marks riding just the jumps on the track and I instantly knew what I wanted to do. I actually think Joey three’d the biggest set on the track at that time.
The single biggest influence though was the movie Rad. I don’t know how you can watch that movie and not want to ride BMX, especially when you are about 6 years old. I still rock the hockey helmet to be like Cru! If you come to my house on a rainy day, there is a good chance you will still watch my original copy of Rad.
How are things going with Deluxe these days? What does Mark have in the works with you? Any trips, videos or anything like that in the works?
Deluxe is the best. I really do mean that when I say it. Mark is a great guy to ride for and he has one of, if not the best brand in BMX. I just got back from Texas where I rode the Texas Toast Jam and I couldn’t believe how many Deluxes I saw down there! I was so pumped on that because it is a brand that really represents what BMX is about.
Mark has a lot on his plate lately as far as the brand goes. I know that Deluxe is working on signature frames for Potoczny and Max and he is really trying to develop the brand into something more special than it already is. I don’t have anything really planned out as far as product goes, but I know there is some talk of some trips.
I’m actually headed out to Pittsburgh next week to ride with Potoczny. We really don’t live that far away from one another so we try to get in a few sessions together in the summer. Patrick (Deluxe’s Filmer) was over in the state’s last summer and clocked a bunch of footy of Mark and I, so I hope that comes out soon! Our team trip is also supposed to be to France this summer, but I think there are a bunch of conflicting schedules going on. I hope that works out though. I want to ride in France so bad!
Do you have any other sponsor news you can tell us about?
As far as sponsors go, I’m not really loaded up. I guess I don’t really go out and look for a hook-up with anyone. I’m a pretty shy guy. I kind of think of it like a bar. If a lady comes up to me to talk then I’ll listen, but I’m not about to approach anyone and ask for anything. I hope that makes sense, at least it makes sense to me in my mind.
It seems like you have been popping up more and more lately from your recent edits and events. Where all have you had the chance to travel lately?
Life is good as far as coverage and travel goes lately. I do have to say that I work with some really great people who I know I can trust to put out proper things about me. Jay Simmons and Tyler Deschaine really go above and beyond for me with edits. They do a great job with all of my edits and I can’t thank them enough! I also work with Sean Newton, who is an amazing photographer, as well as Greg Dickson too. If you work with people who are talented, their excellent work just makes you look that much better. I attribute all of my positive coverage to those people really.
I have gotten to travel to Texas twice this year already which is great! I drove once which takes you through a ton of states and flew the second time, which is a lot more convenient, but a lot less fun. The road trip is half of the adventure!
I have also gone to Cleveland and Chicago a ton lately, plus all over Michigan. I have trips planned to go out west in August, Pennsylvania next week, and wherever life takes me in between. I’m on summer break now, so I have no set schedule. Life is good!
You hit the Texas Toast Jam, right? How was that for you? What was your favorite part of that event?
Texas Toast was amazing. I can’t believe that it worked out as well for me as it did. I walked away with a 6th place, which I can’t complain with at all. I honestly can’t believe that I finished that high.
I have so many great memories from that contest that it is hard to put them all into words. Will Blount picking me up from the airport while my bike was still in Chicago is the first. I love Will Blount, that guy will give you the shirt off of his back. From there it was on to my first glimpse of the course. Once again, priceless. What do you say when you show up to a giant pair of Oakley Sunglasses that Taj is painting? The great friends, kind people, beautiful weather and legends of the sport made that the contest of a lifetime. I mean, I got my picture taken with Lord Voelker and Mat Hoffman. How amazing is that? Not to mention I talked to Brian Blyther about being a police officer. The living legends of our sport were there, while another living legend, Mikey Aitken, reclaimed his crown in BMX with the single greatest glory run in the history of the sport. There is only one way to describe that event, priceless. I don’t think I quit smiling the whole weekend.
Do you have any plans for hitting more contests this summer or was that just something you wanted to do for fun?
I like contest because they allow me to push myself in new ways, but my tricks aren’t exactly the most contest oriented. When I look at a big jump I say I want to opposite three it, not double front flip it. I did the single hardest run of my life there and I don’t think the crowd got it. It was kind of funny. I am more of a trail guy, but I think if you go into any contest with a positive attitude and with the intention of having as much fun as possible, you won’t have a bad time.
Texas Toast was definitely for fun, but I think I’m going to give the Dew Tour a shot in August. I like big jumps and it gives me a perfect excuse to go West, so why not?
I’d imagine now that school is off for the summer you have a bit of time to travel. Do you have any trips or anywhere you would like to make it to planned?
Teaching is the best job ever at times, and at other times very stressful. Right now it is one of those times where it is the best job ever. I am fortunate enough that I can play a lot of stuff by ear. Just the August trip is planned right now, other than that I am a free spirit that will go where the good trip is.
My roommate from college just moved west as well as all as the other Grizzly locals, so I have to go visit them. They are some of the best people I have ever met in my life, so it would be a shame not to have a good trail session in with them once this summer. Teddy Van Orman of Life? is also in Colorado, and I always try to make it a point to visit him once a year.
You have had a few real good edits pop up the last few months. Have you been filming for any video parts or edits that we can expect to see soon?
Thank you for the compliment on the edits. I really think the success of those is directly related to the editing done by Tyler and Jay. They do such a good job with everything.
I really don’t have much pressure to put out a full video part any time soon to be honest. Jay and I have literally just started working on a new project that should be the best thing yet. We are planning on doing a lot of work with it, and if you saw my edit for the Case interview, you will know that Jay is absolutely unbelievable when it comes to putting stuff together.
I love shooting pictures, so always be on the lookout for those. Keep your eyes peeled though, I promise the next edit will be a good one. I also just had a full interview in Case BMX Magazine that I think turned out really well. I haven’t seen it yet because it is not out in America yet, but I have faith that what Mike Netley put out was good and I know Gregory Dickson took great photos!
You have a part in the Time Will Tell video, right? Have you had a chance to check the video out yet? How did it turn out? What can we expect from your section?
The Time Will Tell video has been a project that Elliot has been working on for a long time now. All of the clips that I have in it are actually from around 2002-2004. It is not that they are outdated clips by any means, just a bit older. I think that was Elliot’s whole point of the video. All of the tricks in that video are timeless. If you watch the video, you can tell the date of the clips by the sprocket sizes…haha! There are some real dish plates in there! But the video turned out well.
Elliot is amazing at editing. He has a film degree from Columbia if that gives you any idea of what you should be expecting. There are not specific parts in the video though. As Elliot put it about 8 years ago, he wanted it to be a montage. No one has specific sections, but I can tell you that every Jeff Degyrse clip in the video is amazing. He and Teddy are probably the two most underrated riders of all time.
If you watch the video, you will quickly realize what BMX is. I can’t even begin to tell you about the memories that were brought back from watching that video. I just hope people watch it and want to go ride their bikes. That should be the goal of every video or edit!
Where have you been spending most of your time riding these days? Have you been real psyched on any spots in particular?
Lately the weather has been just miserable in Michigan. We have had rain like crazy, so we have just been digging at my parent’s house. That is the spot I am the most psyched on. The jumps there are growing nicely. My brother and I both work full time jobs so our goal was to not have anything to crazy, but that is quickly changing. We originally wanted simplicity, but the lines are growing more and more every week. My brother and I ride together all of the time. Our scene is virtually non-existent right now. We live in a small, small town with Amish neighbors. BMX is not busting out at the seams here. I think that is why we like it so much though. We aren’t burnt out on BMX because there is so little of it.
In the winter, I am always psyched on K-Zoo Skate Zoo. They have the best mini-ramp in the world. I also love Ray’s MTB Park. Those guys treat me so well there. That place is a blast and totally worth the visit if you are ever in the Midwestern United States. But right now it is summer time in Michigan and trails are shouting!
If you could take a worldwide trails tour, but only hit 5 different sets of trails, where would you go and why?
This is a tough question. So here’s the list:
1. The Grizz- Michigan
2. East Side- Texas
3. Lynnwood- Washington
4. 248 Trails/Pipe Dream-Michigan
5. Potoczny Household- Pennsylvania
The reason that I listed them the way that I did is because of good times and memories. Nothing will ever beat my last Grizz session. Nothing. I took a day off of school to enjoy that session. I haven’t had the chance to go to Lynnwood yet, but I hear it is amazing. Plus, it will give me another chance to ride with my good friends again.
Every other set that is listed is someplace that has a memory that is near and dear to me in some way. I would have to travel back in time to ride 248, but that’s a session I would love to have over again. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and that goes with so many sets of jumps and friends.
Let’s say you could bring 5 people with you on that trip, who do you bring and why?
Bringing any random five people on a road trip is a tough one. I instantly thought do I bring legends or friends? I’m going with the friend route, so here goes:
Jared Ball-This is my brother. He and I have traveled everywhere together in the past 16 years. We can ride in a car together for 20 hours, not say a thing to one another, and just understand what each is thinking. He is one of the few people who really do get me, even though he does irritate me sometimes.
Tyler Deschaine- Tyler and I drove to Texas together once. I figure that if you can ride in a car with someone for 20 hours straight and not want to kill them, than you could go anywhere with them. Texas is a long way from Michigan. I have had way too many good memories with Tyler, and I would like to have some more.
Jay Simmons- Jay is another person that I take a trip with every year. We might was well be brothers because we have traveled so much together. He is a person who I know I can count on at any time to help me out. He is a great travel companion and always down for a session.
Jeff Degryse and Ted Van Orman- These two people have a way of looking at traveling like no one else. They do not have a care or worry in the world, as long as they are having a great time. I’m pretty different than both of these guys in both physical stature, mentality when it comes to riding, or even hobbies. But every trip I have ever gone on with them has worked in some way. Plus, I enjoy their company.
I’d imagine you would still be a teacher if you never got into BMX, but what do you think you would be filling your free time with if you didn’t get into BMX?
I’m a pretty busy guy, especially with the teaching. I coach in the spring which is pretty hectic and play a lot of fast pitch softball in the summer. If it weren’t for BMX, I probably would have tried harder to play college baseball and race motocross a whole lot more. BMX is who I am though. It is hard to think of life without it. I always wonder what people do who don’t have it, because without BMX, what would life be? For me, it would be pretty insignificant. I could never imagine looking at a handrail as just a handrail. I am programmed to think hop or grind it. I could never imagine not thinking like that.
What are you usually up to when you aren’t riding these days? I’d imagine not having to correct papers frees up quite a bit of time.
Grading papers is definitely the worst part of the job when it comes to teaching. I help out a lot around the school. I run a mentoring program at school, a recycling program too. I also take the seniors on their senior trip to New York City. I coach in the spring and announce the football games in the fall too.
After school though I ride motocross with my dad and brother still, walk my dogs, read, and just try to enjoy every day. I’m not going to lie; BMX consumes my mind a lot of the time. It is not that I am watching a million web edits a week, but I just think about how fun it is. It is hard not to have a smile on your face when you think about BMX.
Speaking of that, how is the teaching thing going for you? I feel like quite a few of your students have figured out you’re also a pro rider by now.
Teaching is by far the most rewarding thing that I have ever done. I actually just got “Teacher of the Year” at my school, which I am pretty psyched on. I love my career and am very passionate about it. It makes you very aware of everything that you say and do, how you act, and who you are as a person.
The kids have figured it out now, but they don’t really ask many questions about it. I don’t know what they think, but they sometimes ask me about tricks and stuff. They must show their parents though because at parent teacher conferences I have had more than one person come-up to me and tell me that I am crazy. I don’t really know how to respond, so I just say thanks.
Have you had any riders for students? Did they get bonus points or would you give them bonus points for riding if you did have one?
The school I teach at right now is really small, so I don’t have any riders. We only had a graduating class of 32 this year and the town’s population is under 600 people. BMX doesn’t really flourish there, but in my internship, Chris Noble went to my school. He is a dialed street rider from Battle Creek, Michigan who knew me from the park. I also had these twin brothers who skateboarded in a class that I taught. I would always see them at the Skatezoo. They were the nicest kids and on the last day of school invited me over to ride their mini-ramp. I went and had a great time. I’m sure it was a little weird for some of the kids hanging out there (being that a couple of 16 year olds rolled up with cigarettes in their mouth and put them out when they saw me), but the twins and Noble and I had a solid session. It is something that I am going to forever to remember, especially when one of the twins passed away later the next year. It is a great memory.
I can say that being a rider helps me build a better relationship with the students though. They know that I am passionate about something and can see it firsthand.
Does work ever conflict with riding, or does Mark understand you have a full-time job and you will get what you can for Deluxe done when you have time?
To be honest, I can’t really ride before 4 p.m. anyway. My body just functions better at the end of the day. So even on my days off I usually don’t ride until later in the day. I may dig earlier, but I don’t ride until later in the afternoon. Because of that, work doesn’t really interfere with riding at all. It may limit some of the trips that I get to go on, but I only work 180 days a year. That gives me 185 days to travel, which is more than enough time for travel.
Mark is great to ride for. It is not that he doesn’t have expectations for me, but I think he understands what life is about. Life is not always beer, sex, and BMX. For me it really has never been about the first two. I think Mark understand that I have a passion for BMX and even though I am not riding my bike 24/7, I am still representing what Deluxe stands for in many other ways, be it positive attitude, digging at the jumps, or being someone who has a positive impact on society and culture instead of a negative impact. Mark is the best to ride for and I really appreciate Deluxe.
True or false, you have taken a “sick” day at work to go out and ride for a day?
Ummm, I may have taken one or two in my life. I consider it a mental health day. If I don’t go and ride on that day, my mental health might not be in the best state of mind…haha! I have also had to take 4 days off in a row because of some internal bleeding that was suffered too. That one was a little more serious. I felt a little awkward calling my principal from a hospital bed explaining why I wouldn’t be at work until the next Monday. That was a tough one to explain when I came back, but I work for a person who is more than understanding. Anytime I need to take a day off to travel they are more psyched that I am traveling than bummed that I am not at school.
What is one thing about yourself that might surprise people?
The one thing about me that might surprise people is that I wasn’t a great student in school, yet I became a teacher. School never interested me when I was younger and I had a couple of bad experiences. But I also had a couple of people who made a huge impact in my life at school, and because of what those people did for me, they gave me motivation to do similar things for others. Thank you Mr. Bowers, Mr. Crabbs, and Mr. Brockway.
What’s the last song you heard, movie you watched and website you visited?
The last song that I heard was Shoop by Salt n’ Pepa, no joke. The last movie that I watched was Glory, a story of African American troops during the American Civil War. The last website I visited was betherain.com. It is Teddy Van Orman’s site which will give you a little insight into the legend that is Teddy Van Orman.
Let’s say you stumble across a very large sum of money. What is the first thing you buy?
I just had this conversation with someone the other day. I’m not going to lie, if I stumbled upon it in the street I would look for the owner and turn it in. With that being said, if I won the Lottery, the first thing that I would do is buy a new dirt bike for my dad and a plane ticket to somewhere tropical for my mom. They have always put me first, and I think I would return the favor to the both of them.
What are a few things you would like to accomplish in the next 5 years?
My goal in the next five years is to keep living the dream life that I have. I am probably the most fortunate person in the world when it comes to life. I have people around me who support and care about me, two awesome dogs, and I ride for an amazing company. If everything stays the same, life will be great. If not, sometimes change is for the better.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given, or able to give?
The best advice I was ever given was from my mom. She told me to always be aware of what you say because once you put those words out there you can never take them back. You can always apologize for them, but the words that are said cannot be taken back. I try to live by that motto.
Do you have any shout outs or thanks?
I have so many people to thank that it is crazy. I have to start with my parents, my brother Jared, Nicky, Mark Noble, Sean Newton, Tyler Deschaine, Greg Dickson, Jeff Degryse, Ted Van Orman, Elliot Van Orman, Jay Simmons, Scott Towne, the K-Zoo Skate Zoo, Matty Miller, all of my good friends, all of the people who have let me sleep on their couches, and anyone I missed. Thank you.
Anything else you want to say?
This world is a crazy place, know your passions, know your interests, and know those who care about you and appreciate them. If you do that, you will go far in life.
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