Sky Brown just turned 12 years old last month, but she’s already one of the best-known personalities in skateboarding. Yes, her rise is thanks in part to viral videos on her Sky & Ocean YouTube channel, as well as a 2018 win on Dancing With The Stars: Junior. But it’s important to note that her 2019 contest season finishes put her at #3 for the Olympic qualifier standings in Women’s Skateboard Park after landing on the podium at the 2019 Park Skateboarding World Championships in São Paulo and the Oi Stu Open in Rio De Janeiro.
With every major contest canceled in 2020, she’s been taking the opportunity to learn new tricks under the mentorship of Tony Hawk that could make her a gold medal favorite by the time competitions start to come back on the calendar. The Olympics, now pushed to 2021, have also been pushed to the back of her mind so she can focus on more immediate goals. After nailing the McTwist in recent months and mastering 720 flyout airs over the last few years, she’s aiming to become the first female skater to land a 720 on a vert ramp.
We caught up with her to ask about learning new tricks, taking big falls, and building a global media empire at age 12.
You had a broken elbow at Dew Tour last year and showed up with your arm in a cast. Yet you were still able to win the open qualifier and make it all the way to the semifinals. Knowing where the whole contest season ended up for you, take me back to what was on your mind starting off the Olympic qualification process with an injury.
It was crazy because I wasn’t going to do it. It was very last second when I decided to do it, and when my parents decided to let me do it just a couple of days before the contest. I wanted to show that even if you fall, you’ve got to get back up and try.
Last year was amazing. It’s just been really fun going traveling, skating all the different places. Going to Rio was really fun, and skating with all the girls has been really fun.
What’s it like to be 12 years old and be recognized as one of the top 3 skaters in the world right now?
It’s crazy to even think about it. I never thought I would be in this position. Now I want to get better and come win #1.
You grew up in Miyazaki, Japan but I know your dad is from England and you’re going to be representing England at the Olympics next year. I saw you won the 2019 Skateboard England National Championships! What was that contest like?
It was cool! I also decided to do the street contest while I was there. It was cool to go to England and skate the Graystone park. The park was really fun and I have the best support from everyone in England. Everyone’s so nice there! I love it there.
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Last year the frontside 540 was your big breakout contest trick. In the last few months, your Instagram and YouTube fans have gotten to see you learn McTwists and alley-oop airs over the gap at Tony Hawk’s ramp. Since there are no contests this year, how has that changed your approach to learning and opened up new opportunities for you to try new stuff?
It’s been really good for that, just giving me time to get better and skate bigger places. I just want to keep going and learn 7s on the vert ramp next.
What’s it been like to have access to that ramp and to Tony and the other people who skate there, especially for learning something like the McTwist?
It’s been amazing. You always have lots of legends there, so I have the best people ever teaching me, and they always give me the best advice possible.
What was the best advice Tony Hawk gave you when you learned the McTwist?
He gave me lots of good advice, not just for the McTwist but on most of the tricks. Like, “If you feel it, do it, just don’t push yourself too much to do it. Just take it easy, take your time, there’s no rush.” It took kind of a bit for me to understand! For some reason, I’m always in a rush to try to get a trick quickly. So that’s been really good. I don’t know why I’m always in such a rush!
In June you shared really shocking footage of your crash over the gap on that ramp, along with photos from the hospital. We’re obviously really glad to see you’ve recovered so quickly from those injuries and you’re already back skating! Why was it important for you to share the video of that fall?
On social media, everything looks perfect. It makes it look like you made everything on the first try, and makes it look like you don’t ever fall. But actually, in real life, we fall a lot! So I wanted to show that. Sometimes you’re going to fall, but you can get back up and keep on going. I thought that would be good to show.
When I was still in the hospital I’d already been getting lots of DMs like, “Are you okay?” and “Oh, no!” I don’t even know how people knew about the fall. There were a lot of important things going on in the world then, and also now, like Black Lives Matter and everything else. I just didn’t want anyone to worry about what was happening to me at that time. I just wanted to show everyone I was going to be okay.
And you’re all healed up now?
Yeah! It’s getting better. My wrist is not completely healed yet but I feel like every day it’s getting better. I’m actually starting to play guitar again. It’s really good for my hand, just to get stronger again, and I’ve also been able to do grabs again on my skateboard with this hand. It’s definitely feeling better. I’m feeling good.
You realize it’s pretty wild to have the kind of platform you have at your age, with things like your YouTube channel, Instagram, and your new book that just came out. What does it mean to you to have a position where you can let other kids know about what’s on your mind and how you approach skateboarding and everything else in life?
Ever since I was little I’ve wanted to inspire other girls to have fun. I grew up in a very small town in Japan where most of the other girls always wanted to be clean. I wanted to play in the mud! I always felt like, “Why can’t girls have fun? Why do boys get to have all the fun?” I just want to show other girls… I don’t know, I feel like they’re too scared, sometimes. I just want to show them that we can have fun, too.
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That reminds me of the really cool partnership you have with Almost Skateboards, where the sales of your Sky Brown x Skateistan deck help benefit Skateistan’s projects for kids in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and South Africa. What was it like to visit the Skateistan school in Cambodia a few years ago?
My board has really been helping them, so I’m really thankful for that. It was cool to see, but parts of that trip were also scary and sad. Some people there had never seen a skateboard before, so it was cool to teach them how to skate and see smiles on their faces. It’s nice to see people there happy! I got to try all kinds of different food there like ants, frogs, tarantulas. It was different, but also cool to see a different part of the world.
There haven’t been that many really young girls in skateboarding get to the level where you are now, and as a result you’ve had some recent opportunities to work with sponsors that are quite a bit different for a skateboarder, like the music video with Polly Pocket and your new accessories collection with Claire’s.
It’s been nice! I’m a girly girl and I want to spread this message: I feel like some girls think if they play sports they can’t be a girly girl. But I thought it was nice to share that I surf and skateboard but I also wear jewelry, I like clothes and makeup, I play with dolls. Just to show that you can be whatever you want to be and still be a girly girl, too.
What’s been your favorite sponsorship opportunity so far?
All the Nike shoots have been the best. Like, I got to go to Paris once to do a shoot with Leticia and a lot of the Nike athletes. Any shoot they do is really cool. It’s so fun.
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What’s something big you’re working on now that we should look forward to?
I’m working on a new song! I’ve been practicing my singing, playing my guitar, trying to work on my song. I’m really excited about that!
What’s something else you’re really passionate about besides skateboarding?
Surfing! I love surfing. I love dancing, I love singing, I love playing guitar, I love playing with makeup, I love playing with clothes, I love my family, I love cooking with my mom. I love lots of things!
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What’s it like getting to go through all these adventures together with your little brother Ocean?
It’s been the best to have my little brother with me. He definitely helps me get better, grow, and get better at skateboarding. He pushes me! And I will never be bored if he’s right there: he’s the best.
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What are you most looking forward to when you look at the year ahead, the Olympics next year, and everything else starting to come back after this weird year we’re all having?
I’m most excited to see all the girls. I feel like when we finally get to the next contest I’m going to be shocked to watch all the girls do all their new tricks. So I’m excited to see that, see us all grow, see how I’ve grown. It’s going to be cool! Really I just want to enjoy this whole journey and have fun.
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