Dec. 30, 1989. Ryan Sheckler recognizes it as his birthday. The rest of the skateboarding world might consider it the day their sport changed forever.
It took the park skating phenom from San Clemente, Calif., less than 15 years to develop into one of the top skateboarders, becoming the youngest gold medalist in X Games history at age 13. The same year, 2003, he won gold at the Gravity Games and the Slam City Jam and took first overall at the Vans Triple Crown – all in his first season as a pro.
“That was basically when people started recognizing my name,” Sheckler said. “I turned pro that year and was really motivated to win everything I entered. And I did, so it was great. That’s how I feel this year, too.”
Sheckler’s competition on the skateboarding circuit might heed the warning.
Already the wiry teen has taken control of the inaugural Dew Action Tour’s skateboard park competition, winning the first of five events in Louisville, Ky., last month and dominating the competition at stop No. 2 in Denver on Thursday to push his earnings to more than $30,000. He put himself in solid position to claim up to $200,000 as the tour’s top park performer.
Not that he’s in it for the money.
“It’s sort of off and on, when you feel like you really want to be the champion and win everything,” he said. “Sometimes I’m just like, ‘OK, I’m just going to do the contest.’ But normally, when I’m having fun and don’t think about it is when I do my best. Like today, I was having so much fun and I qualified first by a long shot, so it was great.”
Skating since age 4, Sheckler’s status among the stars of action sports became second nature since before he bought his first Range Rover, which he’s still too young to drive. He began competing at age 7, winning the California Amateur Skateboard League State Championship that year and earning his first sponsorship at age 10.
His list of sponsors includes Almost Skateboards, Volcom, Etnies, Oakley, Kicker, Sobe and Kicker, among others, and one gets the impression he just needs to pick up the phone to close the next deal.
But Sheckler is too busy to be bothered with such distractions, traveling the world to compete and perform in front of the camera six months year. He spends countless hours a week practicing tricks on the vert ramp and street course in his backyard, even developing his own trademark trick – the “Sheck-lair,” described as an “indy kickflip flyout.”
“I kind of got brought up on skating parks. Then I just stepped up to the pro league and it’s not much different. I think that’s why I’m so good at it,” he said. “My secret to success is just that I have so much fun. Mentally, I can prepare myself for these contests and just have fun. That’s what gets me through everything.”
It’s a mature attitude for such a young competitor. But it seems Sheckler always has been ahead of himself, and apparently he never has known fear. According to his mother, Gretchen, when he was 3 years old, he figured out a way to climb onto the roof of their house. By 4, he was “borrowing” his father’s skateboard and cruising the sidewalk.
“At 18 months he followed the repairman outside when he was fixing the air conditioning and opened the box, and I literally watched him fly across the yard after he electrocuted himself,” said Gretchen Sheckler, who spends up to six months on the road as Ryan’s manager.
“When he was really young, all he wanted to do was jump off huge things, and he was known for doing huge airs because he loved to fly. But he thrives on this. I really think in a lot of ways skateboarding saved his life. It was a way for him to focus his energy on something that was very challenging.”
Events like this week’s Dew Tour stop in Denver and the X Games next month in Los Angeles certainly arrived at a good time for Ryan Sheckler, giving the young skater an opportunity to share his skills with a growing legion of fans.
But even without skating in his life, Sheckler doubts he would blend in.
“I probably wouldn’t be just another 15-year-old,” he said. “But I’m used to this now. It seems normal. I’m just out there skating with my friends.”
Schedule
(At Pepsi Center)
TODAY
3-5 p.m.: BMX park prelims
5:30-7:30 p.m.: Freestyle motocross prelims
6:30-7 p.m.: BMX women’s park demo
8-9 p.m.: BMX park finals
9-11 p.m.: Concert, Unwritten Law/Smile
Empty Soul
SATURDAY
2-4 p.m.: Freestyle motocross finals
4:30-6:30 p.m.: BMX vert prelims
7:30-9 p.m.: BMX vert finals
9-11 p.m.: Concert, Story of the Year/Stutterfly
SUNDAY
1:30-4 p.m.: BMX dirt prelims
1:30-4 p.m.: Skateboard vert prelims
4:30-5:30 p.m.: Skateboard vert finals
6-7:30 p.m.: BMX dirt finals
TICKETS
$12 per day. Available at the Pepsi Center box office or through Ticketmaster.
Web: dewactionsportstour.com
Scott Willoughby can be reached at 303-820-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com.
