Tony Hawk ( Blog assignment 5)

I must have been 7 or 8 years old when I got my first skateboard. When I started, I used to kneel on it, one leg rested on the deck while the other pushed. As my parents were at work on most days and I had no brothers or sisters, skateboarding was what I did to keep myself amused. My skateboard was my favourite toy. That was until my dad came home from work one afternoon with tickets to see “The Best Skateboarders in the World”, who at the time were Ray Barbee and Tony Hawk. Let us just say that after seeing Tony Hawk skating on the 12ft Look Skate Park ramp, which I broke my arm on about two years later, I changed my mind about skateboarding completely. It was no longer about playing. Skateboarding had become serious.
I know I wasn’t the only kid who wanted to be Tony Hawk, he was an icon and twenty years later he’s still an icon and also an extremely successful entrepreneur.
Tony Hawk became a professional skateboarder in 1983 and has placed first or second in just about every major skateboarding contest he’s entered, to date he is still the only person to land a “900,” a two-and-a-half mid-air-flip which continues to elude skateboarders. In the world of business, he is the founder and co-owner of Birdhouse Projects which ranks as one of the top distributors of skateboard products worldwide. He founded Hawk Clothing Co which is owned by Quicksilver, Inc, he is the founder and co-owner of 900 Films, Inc, and he is responsible for bringing skateboarding to the video games market, selling over 2,000,000 copies of his video game Tony Hawks Pro Skateboarder.
My reason for admiring this man doesn’t really have anything to do with his success, it’s more to do with the way he’s become successful. He has managed to take a passion and turn it in to an extremely successful enterprise without burning bridges along the way. I admire the way he has stayed true to the skateboarding culture and helped in enabling it to grow into one of the most successful sporting industries around whilst giving back to the sport.
The Tony Hawk Foundation was founded in 2002 and creates skateparks that promote a healthy life style and act as an alternative to crime, drugs and gangs in challenged communities around the United States and in other parts of the world
“The Tony Hawk Foundation seeks to foster lasting improvements in society, with an emphasis on supporting and empowering youth. Through special events, grants, and technical assistance, the Foundation supports recreational programs with a focus on the creation of public skateboard parks in low-income communities. The Foundation favors programs that clearly demonstrate that funds received will produce tangible, ongoing, positive results.” (Tony Hawk Foundation – mission statement)
Although he is now known as the “Grand Father,” Tony Hawk continues to contribute to the sport of skateboarding having maintained his image and respect from those prolific in the sport today for over twenty years. I feel as far as role models go, not many people will deny that Tony Hawk is right up there with the best of them. I admired him as a skateboarder when I was a little boy and admire him as a businessperson now that I am adult.