KMAX: News of the West

Growing up X: 16-year-old excels in skating and snowboarding

By TIM MOLLOY
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) Although 16-year-old Shaun White is one of the stars of skating and snowboarding, he might not have plunged into them so completely if not for soccer moms.

White was a soccer player until other players' parents soured him on the sport. He once saw one father punch another.

``I remember I showed up at one game late and some other kid's mom said to me, 'You better get out there and you better score!' I was like, 'You gave us terrible directions, you know?' `` White said. ``It gets intense. There's like a snack day when a certain parent brings snacks for the kids. It was like a battle of who's got the best snacks.''

This year's X Games mark White's return to skateboarding. The youngest X Games competitor in two sports, he won two gold medals in snowboarding at this year's Winter X Games, beating three medalists from the Salt Lake City Olympics.

He finished sixth Friday night in the vert event, in which skaters roll up and down a half pipe, catching air at the edges for grinds, reversals, and mid-air flips and spins. The average age of the 10 competitors was 27. The next youngest after White was 23.

Although he didn't win fellow Carlsbad skater Bucky Lasek was first, followed by Andy Macdonald of San Diego White was a crowd favorite, particularly among the many teenagers in the audience at downtown's Staples Center. Third place went to Rune Glifberg of Denmark.

White says experience gives the others some advantages but he's had fewer years of getting banged around.

``I've found that it helps a little bit. I can bounce back a lot faster,'' he said. ``But they're not really that old.''

Lots of people buy the hype that skateboarders are rebellious and anti-social. The studded belts, tattoos and spiky haircuts on display at the Staples Center, the venue of this weekend's games, add to such perceptions. But to the easygoing White, confrontation has never been a part of the sport.

A friendly smile, floppy red hair and sagging pants that make his legs seem half sized give him the look of a cheerful Muppet. He charms everyone from fellow athletes to reporters to X Games interns.

White, who began skating at age 6 to be like his older brother, Jesse, grew up in Carlsbad, the San Diego suburb that has long been a hotbed for talented young extreme sports practitioners. He got into snowboarding within a year, and ended up being sponsored by Butler snowboards when his parents contacted the company trying to find a board that wasn't too big for him.

``We're always looking for new talent. The team manager in place back then saw something in Shaun his style and his passion for riding,'' said David Driscoll, Burton's North American team manager. ``He was very good for a 7-year-old.''

The most famous name in skating, Tony Hawk, has been impressed enough to take White on several tours. He said White used to focus on snowboarding and skate mostly as a hobby, but has improved tenfold in the last year.

``He is pretty removed from the skate industry he doesn't know some of the names of the tricks he does or the ones he creates,'' Hawk said.

While White competes in all categories as a snowboarder, he's considered a niche skater because he focuses on the vert category, Hawk said. Whether that will hinder him remains to be seen.

``It's really hard to make a big name in skating just being a vert skater,'' Hawk said. ``But at the same time he could be one of the biggest vert skaters ever.''

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