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Salt Lake City has a rich sporting history: the Jazz, Bees, Real Soccer, skiing, Olympics, we've just about seen them all. Now we're seeing something new, and to the younger generation, it's just as big a sporting event as the others mentioned.
To Tyson Bowerbank, baseball would be too slow, football too scripted, soccer too boring. Then again, when you're a 13-year-old zipping on a skateboard, flipping tricks, all the while laughing at gravity, you can understand where he's coming from.
"The first time I ever landed a 360, that was like the best day of my life, so far," he said. Tyson is part of the Dew Tour that has come to Salt Lake City this week. He's from Sandy and is the only local skater competing in the under-16 division of the vertical ramp.
Tyson said, "I love it. It's just awesome."
It's awesome for his parents, too, who weren't too sure what to think when Tyson asked for a skateboard when he was 6.
His father, Todd, says, "Bought him one for his birthday, and that's that. Here we are."
Tyson has learned a few tricks since those first few days, enough to get him on the Dew Tour competing with other skaters his age. And, of course, mom still has to give him advice before his runs. "Don't fall, don't get hurt," she told him.
And just because these skaters are smaller and younger doesn't really mean the sport is any safer. Sometimes, they do get hurt. "I broke both my wrists, sprained both my ankles twice. Knocked out my front tooth, and lacerated my spleen," Tyson said.
And he's still skating with mom and dad supporting him every step, flip, and fall of the way. "It's who he is, I guess, and what he does," his mom said.
It may also lead to a professional career, making that first skateboard and first bruise worth the cost.
If you'd like to cheer Tyson on in the finals, it takes place tomorrow afternoon at the Energy Solutions Arena.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
