Heritage Round – Former Hawk Josh Garlepp and Kick it Forward
As part of Heritage round we had a chat to former Championship Player Josh Garlepp. Josh played 195 games for the Hawks and was a member of the 2018 Championship winning team.
Josh is now a part of the incredibly popular Kick it Forward group who have gone viral on social media with their film skits, podcasts and live shows attracting a huge following. Many of our Hawks players have been involved in skits for Kick it Forward, especially in the early days as has his dad Mike. The Hawks and Garlepp family have a strong relationship, Josh’s father Mike is a Life member of the Hawks and brother Tom was also a Championship winning Hawk playing over 70 games before heading into the NBL
When asked about his time as a Hawk josh reflected, “I played all senior basketball in WA with Perry Lakes and made lifelong friends and memories at the club after playing the majority of my junior basketball at Perry lakes too. My favourite memories were winning the chip with great friends and their families and falling over after celebrating a three too hard. Hawks was my foundation for life, I grew up and made friends there and got a lot of confidence from the club and community, even if I was riding the bench. I see former players all the time, it’s also great to see guys I mentored like AJ Nobensi, Cooper Hamilton and Mitch Clarke all continue to enjoy their basketball based on my example, particularly AJ.”.
Josh explains how he came up with the idea for Kick it forward. “Kick it forward started in around 2020 when I was made redundant from a job with Fox footy and started making comedy sketches. Many of the Hawks guys have jumped in to help at some point. Harry Fitzgerald and Giorgio Savini work with me at the company full time but friends and family often help out. We have a live tour on right now but now have a podcast and comedy page with around 800k followers collectively”.
Josh has made the move to Melbourne in order to grow their platform. “We moved to Melbourne this year just to have a crack, some of the hawks guys have visited and made an impact on the city. Lots of sports and comedy is based here and it has helped being closer to everything. Our goal is to eventually move home with a big enough platform to film productions in WA”.
When asked about his future plans Josh said, ” I will keep playing social basketball and not rebounding just jacking contested threes” . Kick it forward have also applied for some grants for series and if they are successful they are hoping to film them in Perth.
Kick it forward are also a player sponsor for Cooper Hamilton- we appreciate their support! If you have not checked them out see all the info re their social media and Perth shows below.
We look forward to more laughs and their special brand of comedy.
Kick It Forward Perth Shows
Rechabite in Northbridge
Ticket links below:
Kick It Forward Socials:
Kick it Forward Podcast:
