New York * -- Skateboarding is becoming a topic to editorialize on, and not just for skateboarders.

New York Times * reporter Matt Higgens has recently done a story on 11-year-old skateboarder Nyjah Huston * focusing on the kid's maturity and how he's breaking the mold of how young a pro skateboarder can be. It also mentions the importance of family support in becoming a teenage pro skateboarder, with parallels and contrasts from Tony Hawk *'s pro career, which began in 1982 when he was 14.

Huston is apparently currently third in the Dew Tour with three events left.

From the article:

"The kid is special," said Don Bostick, president of World Cup Skateboarding *, the sport’s main sanctioning body. "When I watch Nyjah, I’m amazed at how good he is. It’s mind-blowing.... If he can make it through his teen years, I think he’s the future of street and park skateboarding."

Said Wade Martin, general manager for the Dew Action Sports Tour. "In other disciplines, like BMX vert, the average age of the athletes is probably 30 years old... When Ryan [Sheckler] was 13, people didn’t think [pro skateboarding] could get any younger, but it has."

The Times' article is entitled "Navigating a Pro Career and the Preteen Scene", and was found at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/17/ sports/othersports/17board.html

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