Amateur Smith skates like a pro: Up and coming Encinitas 12-year …
North County Times – Escondido,CA,USA
The Encinitas resident recently competed in the Dew Action Sports Tour’s
Free Flow national finals and was featured in an amateur demo at last
year’s X …

Something wasn’t right.

Taylor Smith stood on his skateboard, tried to push his way onto a ramp and suddenly bailed out. He went back to the Magdalena Ecke YMCA parking lot where his father, Robert, was waiting and whispered something into his ear.

The message, obviously a request, sent Robert into the back of his truck to sift through a mountain of skateboarding paraphernalia. Decks went right, knee pads went left and sponsor-affiliated clothing went skyward as the elder Smith searched the bed for a surely valuable asset.

After a few moments Smith emerged with a pair of dingy, weathered skate shoes in hand.

“He obviously didn’t like the new ones,” Robert said.

“Taylor’s an easy-going, laid-back kid. But when it comes to skating, everything has to be perfect and he has to be comfortable. If it means going back to these old things, then that’s what we have to do.”

Smith exchanged his brand-new DC Shoes for a pair tattered by months of abuse at strip-mall curbs and skate-park ramps.

He slipped on the once-black footwear, readjusted his helmet, went back into the Ecke skatepark and, at long last, was ready to skate. He dropped into the park’s legendary street section and quickly became its master. He maneuvered through obstacles, kick-flipped over sections and rode rails like an old pro while others struggled with basic technique.

Smith’s talent is evident to all who know what to look for. Others, many with far more clout, have noticed as well. Legendary skaters Danny Way and Bucky Lasek have seen the same in Smith, who has quickly become one of the finest amateur skaters on the planet at just 12 years old.

The Encinitas resident recently competed in the Dew Action Sports Tour’s Free Flow national finals and was featured in an amateur demo at last year’s X Games.

He’s also a favorite at the prestigious Tampa Am, which begins on Jan. 18.

Major sponsors like Boost Mobile, Volcom, DC Shoes and Monster Energy have attached themselves to Smith in hopes that he’ll follow in the footsteps on Ryan Sheckler and Nyjah Huston and become the next “it” skater.

There’s only one thing that prevents that from happening: Smith himself.

“More than anything else, I just want to be a normal kid,” Smith said. “I have a lifetime to be a professional skater. Right now I just want to enjoy what I’ve got.”

Smith relishes his life as a skater/student at Oak Crest Middle and appreciates the benefits given by those already turned pro.

“Living in an area with so many top skaters has really helped me out,” Smith said. “I don’t think I’d be where I am now without those guys.”

Smith was mostly talking about Way, a fellow Encinitas resident who has recently taken the youngster under his wing. Way recently allowed Smith to practice on his mega ramp, making the pre-teen the youngest rider ever to land a trick on the gargantuan apparatus.

“That was nerve-wracking,” Smith said. “I was up there for a while, and Danny said, ‘The more you think about it the harder it’s going to get. Either take off or don’t. It’s your choice.’ “

Smith predictably took the dare, conquering his fears and sticking the landing after a just a few tries.

Since then, nothing seems impossible.

Smith wins street, bowl and vert contests alike, refusing to focus on just one discipline. Looking at the resume he’s already built, it’s hard to imagine how Smith could top himself in the future. Turning pro is the next logical step, one that Smith is, surprisingly enough, not ready to take.

“As a parent, you always want to do what’s right for your kid,” said Robert Smith, who is also his son’s manager.

“He’s definitely good enough to compete at the next level, but does that automatically mean that he should? I don’t know. What I do know is that Taylor loves to skate, and I’ll do whatever it takes to support him.”

Turning pro full-time is an idea Smith has contemplated. But even when discussing first-class flight and X Games memories, Smith tends to digress.

Between stories of riding with Way and conversing with Lasek, Smith became most passionate about a street corner in San Clemente that recently provided hours of entertainment.

“My friends and I were destroying this curb,” Smith said. “We were there, messing around for a long time, not bothering anybody. Then all of a sudden somebody told us to leave and ruined our session. It totally sucked.”

Smith, as usual, was perfecting his craft with whatever was as his disposal. He has access to many sponsor-built skate warehouses, but Smith seems happy wherever he’s allowed to ride a skateboard.

“I’d want to skate all the time, even if I was terrible,” Smith said. “Being good has absolutely nothing to do with why I love it. As long as I can ride a skateboard, I’ll be happy.”

– The Action Sports column runs every Tuesday. To suggest story ideas, report local events or offer general comments, contact staff writer Scott Bair at (760) 739-6642 or sbair@nctimes.com. Comment at sports.nctimes.com.

North County sweep

North County surfers won every division of the Interscholastic Surfing Federation’s San Diego Coastal High Schools event on Sunday at San Clemente Pier. Torrey Pines’ Peter Kuriyama (men’s shortboard), Torrey Pines’ Tim Senneff (men’s longboard), San Dieguito Academy’s Alexa Dilley (women’s shortboard), La Costa Canyon’s Natalie Hagglund (women’s shortboard) and San Dieguito Academy’s Jensen Atwood (co-ed bodyboard) took first place at the event.

Smith wins ’07 opener

New Zealander Jordy Smith won the men’s Billabong World Junior Championships, the first professional surfing contest of 2007. He defeated Adriano de Souza in the final with 13.84 points. Nicola Atherton won the women’s contest over Anali Gomez with an 11.84.

Local event

Saturday-Sunday: Southwest Conference Open event No. 6, Huntington Beach Pier