As I mentioned in Part 1 of my skateboarding journey, I was nine when I became hooked on skateboarding. In addition to the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game and several skateboarding magazines, I bought a VHS tape - ask your parents what that is - called Brazilian Vacation for one dollar from the local record shop. It was a tour video of the éS footwear skateboarding team. This was many years before YouTube, so that was the only way I could watch the pros. I watched the tape all the time, studying every move and the names of all the people featured in it. The video would get me so pumped that I would run outside after it was finished and practice my ollies, shuv-its, and 180s in the driveway.

At the same time, the other boys in my class were working on their moves too. Lots of us would meet on Friday after school and practice together. It did not take long for me to realize that some of the boys were progressing really quickly. They were confident, and they could land tricks more consistently than I could. Even though I never told anyone at the time, I felt jealous and also a little sad that I was not skating at their level. However, they encouraged me to keep up the hard work. We all supported each other, even though we were at different skill levels.

Despite all of this, I wanted to get on their level. It was not that I wanted to be the best in the group; I just wanted to skate better than I did the day before. So, I practiced more. Every day, after homework on the weekdays, I would go outside and skate until dark. Within weeks, and months, my hard work was paying off. My board control was getting better because I was getting more comfortable on my board. My ollies were getting higher, and I could do shuv-its and 180s much more consistently. I even started teaching myself kickflips, even though those seemed impossible. Everything was going well, until I was invited by some friends to join them at the skatepark...

-Coach Elliott