At eight-years-old I didn’t want to go to school because I wanted to watch Cartoon Network. At eight-years-old, Sky Brown is a pro-skater who understandably doesn’t want to go to school because she wants to skate and surf all day. At the end of July, her talent landed her as the youngest girl to compete in the Vans Open Pro Series during its Huntington Beach leg. The commentators couldn’t believe their eyes – "Half of the pros that are skating in the park can’t do that trick... front nose blunt at 8-years-old, are you kidding!” As well as being a clear crowd favourite, Brown competed against one of her heroes, Alana Smith, and placed two spots ahead of her in the qualifying round.
Based in Miyazaki, Japan, she has been skateboarding since she was three and surfing since she was four. In an interview with Girl Is Not A 4 Letter Word, a then-six-year-old Brown explained, "I’ve been going to skate parks with my dad ever since I can remember. It(’s) always been way more fun for me than regular parks, I just prefer ramps and bowls to swings and slides they are just sooo much more fun."
Hailing from a lineage of skateboarders, the school she attends also has its own skatepark. Her younger brother, Ocean, 4, is equally as fascinating and both regularly appear in videos posted on their Instagram @awsmkids as well as on YouTube. The video platform has been key to exposing the unique talents of young people around the world, not just those in the spotlight. The youngest known skateboarder is Australia’s Kahlei Stone-Kelly, who at two-years-old went viral after his family posted a video of him in a diaper skating down his local streets, encouraged by his father.
Although the spotlight on women’s skating is yet to shine as bright as the one on their male counterparts, increasingly all-girl skate crews like Brooklyn’s Brujas and London’s Nefarious are gaining traction for future generations of female skateboarders, like Brown – who, to be honest, seems to be killing it on her own.
