were professional skateboarders, Natas Kaupas, Kris Markovich and Danny Way. In regards to Way, Rowley has explained: Danny was the first guy that I saw in videos that was really small, really short, and he was doing alley-oop twists, on vert, over channels—and he was thirteen years-old. You know? And I was around the same age, and I saw that and I went, "Wow, you can do that! I wanna do that." I don't know. So Danny's been an influence that far back for me, and, still now, he's incredible. Despite maintaining pride in his British roots, Rowley has identified the US as the home of skateboarding, explaining in 2012, "... it's the area where it was born, you know? Everywhere needs a heart and this is the heart of skateboarding." In terms of inspiration, Rowley has identified his friends and skateboard videos, both old and new. In a 2013 interview, Rowley spoke further about the influence of Kaupas, specifically in relation to the "pushing of creative boundaries". Rowley then made a connection with progression in skateboarding, elaborating further on creativity: He [Kaupas] was doing what he thought was weird. He was pushing his creative boundaries. I think people get so stuck in the way to be ... Street skating to me is different every single day you go out. I'll intentionally go out and skate the same obstacle the opposite way I did the day before ... I think there was a trend in skateboarding for a little while to master the tricks forwards, backwards and every which way: catch them all high, catch them all the same. When you do that, you homogenise form. That gets a little too controlling and creatively confining long term for me, and I think a lot of people feel the same way. Influence In December 2011, Transworld Skateboarding named Rowley as the twenty-sixth most influential skateboarder of all time. Following the release of the list, Rowley stated: I think my generation—myself, Jamie [Thomas], [Andrew] Reynolds—we're the first street guys to ride these real big obstacles on a daily basis. It wasn't like we do it once for a video. I think we all group up skating like that. I think that's what sets us apart I suppose. The willingness to f—kin' try anything every day. Awards In the year 2000, Rowley was awarded the Thrasher Magazine coveted "Skater of the Year" award.