SEATTLE -- If you're looking for one of the most successful athletes in the Northwest, names like Ichiro, Hasselbeck, Keller or Bird come to mind.
But none of them can land a 720 off a 15-foot vertical ramp. None of them were being interviewed by Matt Lauer when they were just 5. And none of them are now touring the globe with Tony Hawk.
The person who has done all that is a 14-year old from Kirkland -- Mitchie Brusco. He started boarding when he was just 3.
"I saw a skateboard for $10," said Jen Brusco, Mitchie's mom. "He was always on it, doing jumps, he started from that."
Mitchie was hooked.
"I wouldn't get off of it," he said. "I was doing tricks before I new they were tricks....I even put a hole in the kitchen wall."
At the age of 6, Mitchie became the youngest ever to drop into a 13-foot vertical ramp. Eight years later, it's his second home.
But even though Mitchie appears to fly with no fear, the ramp can be an intimidating place, even for one of the top amateurs in the world.
"I get scared everyday trying stuff," he admitted.
He practices nearly six hours a day. You name a trick and Mitchie can probably do it. And if he can't, he'll try, try, and try again until he does.
"I strive to be the best at what I do, I want to be the best," Mitchie said. "I will do whatever it takes to be the best."
From family, to football, to marketing his own brand of helmets, to learning Portuguese, Mitchie does it all. But in the end, it all comes back to boarding.
"I just want to grow old skateboarding," he laughed.
To add a comment, please register or login.