Follow Matt on Instagram It’s not always easy to put a finger on what makes someone a great skateboarder. Sometimes originality, style and character count at least as much as tricks and trophies. Matt Hensley was born in 1970 in Newport Beach, California, and grew up in Vista. Starting in 1977, his mom dropped him …
Find Ed on Social Media CHECK OUT ED’s SHOF Intro for the 2020 / 2021 Inductees here…. Ed Templeton was born July 28, 1972 and raised in Orange County, California. He has easily been one of the most influential pros of the past three decades based not only on his trick innovations, artistic output, and …
Find Tommy on Social Media Tommy Guerrero is one of the godfathers of San Francisco street skating. In addition to having locked down the first street video part ever in Powell Peralta’s Future Primitive, Guerrero also became the first skateboarder to showcase San Francisco and its now world renowned hills. Along with GSD, Mark Gonzales …
Find Lance on Social Media Since starring in the first true skateboarding video, The Bones Brigade Video Show in 1984, then rising with the tide of the Powell-Peralta brand as it grew into the biggest company of the massive ’80s boom, launching and running The Firm, before finally landing at Flip and Nike SB, Lance …
Find Christian on Social Media After honing his skills with constant access to Marina del Rey Skatepark, which his father, Ivan, managed from the late 1970s to the early ’80s, Christian Hosoi got his first photo in Skateboarder magazine at age 11, and by age 14 turned pro for Sims. He then rose with the …
Today’s street skateboarding is a far cry from the pool-influenced riding of the 1970s from which it was spawned, and the Gonz had a lot to do with that. Mark Gonzales, the pioneering and consequently obliterating ripper of all oncoming terrain, subject to the variables in which he chose to place before his path, naturally, didn’t set out to …
Jay Adams has been called “the original seed” of skateboarding. As an original Z-Boy, he is considered one of the most influential skateboarders of all time. The 1975 Del Mar Nationals were a big turning point in skateboarding history, when the world got its first taste of the Zephyr crew. Jay was the first of …
Find Tony on Social Media Tony Hawk was nine years old when his brother changed all of our lives by giving him a blue fiberglass Bahne banana board. Before skateboarding, Hawk was a self-described nightmare. “Instead of the terrible twos, I was the terrible youth,” he said. “I was a hyper, rail thin geek on …
Find Tony on Social Media Born in Santa Monica, California in 1957, Tony Alva developed a passion at a young age for surfing, skateboarding and rock ’n’ roll. In 1972, along with Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta, he joined the legendary Z-Boys skateboard team. Alva later went on to win the Men’s World Overall Championships …
