Having his own MTV reality show “Life of Ryan”, winning many skateboarding competitions and appearing in a couple of movies, Ryan Sheckler is now one of America’s most prominent professional skateboarders. Fans commonly believe that Ryan found an old skateboard that belonged to his dad at about 1 ½ years old. The skateboard has then and still is his best companion. Self-teaching himself, Sheckler pushed the board with a knee, and eventually got to standing on the skateboard. He is attributed to have allotted more than 20 hours in just one week, practicing tricks and techniques on his skateboard, honing his innate skills though not completely sure that this would land him something great in the future.

Ryan joined skateboarding competitions and not surprisingly won many of them. In 2003 he turned professional, and since then has been sporting gear and apparel from different sponsors. His very first sponsor was a provider of eyewear, and he has been seen using shades from that sponsor ever since. Though like most athletes, none of their sponsor’s products can be actually used by the athlete while performing their sports. I doubt that Ryan Sheckler could actually perform on his skateboards while donning sunglasses. Though having Ryan Sheckler shirtless while skateboarding might work, wearing dark eye shades probably wont.

Most kids want to excel in sports or street sports not so much because of the sport but because of the sponsors that attach to it. Although it is encouraging that sports of this category have now been recently considered at par with other traditional sports like basketball and baseball, attention sometimes affect the athlete’s performance and love for the game.

It is good that Ryan Sheckler is still very young, and thus, his passion for whatever he does cannot be easily taken away by considerations all too familiar with calculating adults. Typical people wonder more about mortgage and credit loans rather than their goals and hobbies. To Ryan, skateboarding is still his life, and whatever good thing comes, he won’t forget that it is all thanks to his love for the sport, nurtured when he was still 6 years old.

Critics attest the change of an athlete’s perception about his game when things like fame and money come into play. Fortunately, no such thing poses a problem with young Sheckler. In fact, people still see Ryan Sheckler shirtless on the beach, hanging with buddies, acting like a normal teenage boy. Yes, a typical young male who just happened to be a professional skateboarder and a television personality.