Luis Martinez

I hereby declare 2001 the year of the grom! They are all over skateparks, contests, the web, they are everywhere! And look how many of them have infiltrated into Real Skate! Yikes, they're taking over!

And rightfully they should. This new millennium breed of young skaters are amazing to say the least. I feel confident of my future leaders! (Future I said.) And I feel because of them the future of skateboarding looks promising. These little groms are without a doubt keepin it real.

And who better representz this new breed of skater than Luis. He's a sharp one. Gets good grades, makes friends easily with young and (ahemm) old, is polite as can be, skates like a bat outta hell, and he's totally cute! Kareem is his favorite pro.

Luis just turned 11. He lives in Antioch with his mom, dad, and two brothers (who don't skate). His dad drives a big rig and since Luis gets good grades, he gets out of school a lot to travel around with his dad. Those are exciting adventures for them both.

Luis tried a lot of different sports before realizing skateboarding was what did it for him. He still plays soccer on occasion, but skateboarding is in his heart he says. And you can tell. I spent an afternoon with him at the Antioch park and some other spots, and Luis left no doubt in my mind ... he's a real skater!

For pics of Luis skating check out the article on Antioch.

Luis, thank you so much for being my first hunk of the year. Keep up the good work mi amigo!