Courtesy of Etnies

Ryan Sheckler

To say 17 year-old Ryan Sheckler is ahead of his time would be an understatement. Besides striking gold at the X-Games in 2003 (he was 13) he landed MVP at least year’s GvR and more recently has three-peated at the Dew Cup. The kid’s collected more hardware than skate pros twice his age.  Like most famous athletes, Sheckler has been dealt cards, both good and bad, that have sped up the maturation process.  The good hand has consisted of being one of the most talented skaters in the world, having a hit reality show with MTV, and accumulating a boy-band -esque groupie following. The bad, his Life of Ryan TV show has well documented his parents divorce, a complicated and emotional time for the Etnies golden boy.  Read up on how Ryan’s stepped up.

By Joe La Puma

Complex.com: Was winning the Dew Cup more special this year since you’ve become more mainstream?
Ryan Sheckler: It didn’t really matter to me. I wanted to win again and do that whole three-peat but if I didn’t, it wasn’t the end of the world.

C: What other riders do you see as your main competition?
Ryan Sheckler:  Right now, Greg Lutzka for sure, he’s on fire. P-Rod, Jeremy Rogers are always competition for me.

C: You skate with P.Rod a lot; do you think you’re better than he was at your age?
Ryan Sheckler:  No I don’t think so. I think it’s different because Paul and I skated completely different stuff growing up. He probably would have definitely kicked my ass in a game of s-k-a-t-e on flat ground and ledges, but if we took it to a mini-ramp, I can probably beat him.

C: The show focuses heavily on skate, but there’s this drama aspect to it. Whose idea was it to bring in your personal life?
Ryan Sheckler:  It wasn’t going to be a drama. The show took a crazy course. It took a while for the show to even start filming, so by the time we shot the pilot, we had a little bit of time off, and then once we got picked up, my parents were already in the heat of the divorce. We started filming right when that was happening and then we had to explain what was going on.

C: What do you think made you mature more quickly being famous or your parent’s divorce?
Ryan Sheckler:  I think I had to mature more just because of my brothers. I had to be able to take care of them and just be the big brother that I am. I think that had a lot to do with it. It didn’t really happen because of the show. It didn’t really happen because of the divorce. It was just because I wanted to watch out for my brothers.

C: One episode you get real emotional—were you reluctant to cry on camera?
Ryan Sheckler:  That was a weird spot in my life. That day was a pretty rough day in general. I didn’t really care. I said fuck it, it’s whatever. People can call me a pussy, and say that I’m not a hardcore skater; I don’t really give a fuck.

C: You’ve had girl issues as of recent on the show, wouldn’t it be easier to just mess with groupies?
Ryan Sheckler:  (laughs) It’s not hard for me to find a girl; I’ve said that before. It’s just hard to keep one. I’m not even so sure I want to keep a girl. I’m having a good time. It’s a fun life.

C: What’s your response to the haters that have said you sold out by agreeing to do the show on MTV?
Ryan Sheckler:  You can’t really do anything about it. I can’t change their minds. I don’t really care that they’re not on my back. They can do whatever they want to do.  I haven’t been a big fan of haters, ever. They just bring everything down. They can say what they want to say. I’m still doing the show, I’m still skating, I’m working on interviews right now for magazines, I have my video pod coming out, they can’t say I sold out. I’m too involved. I can multi-task; it’s fine.

C: The Sheckler 2 recently released under Etnies. How psyched are you about them?

Ryan Sheckler:  I’m pumped on the new shoes. We also have the Sheckler 3 coming out soon and were going to have a lifestyle shoe that I’m working on right now. It’s pretty dope.

C: What made you sign with Etnies over everyone else?
Ryan Sheckler:  I used to skate with Brian Patch when I was eight and he was a sick vert skater. He taught me how to skate and a lot of the stuff that I was doing back then. Etnies sponsored him, and he brought me over to there one day and I got introduced to Don Brown and Don gave me a few pairs of shoes. After that meeting they wanted me on the flow team and I ended up getting sponsored. I think that I was nine when I got sponsored by them, and I’ve been with them ever since. It’s just like a family, you know? It’s hard to leave your family.

C: What about the fame gets to you the most?
Ryan Sheckler:  It’s a little bit weird at those times when you just want to hang out with your friends and you get mobbed. It’s just like no matter what you say, they don’t care that you’re with your friends. That gets a little bit frustrating sometimes, but at the end of the day, it’s a part of my life, so it’s all good.

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