Hawk Turns Love of Sport Into a Winning Occupation

North County is home to several world-class skateboarders. Fallbrook’s Tony Hawk is one of the hottest, a consistent winner of ramp events. You may have seen him on television, skateboarding as Tony the Tiger in a commercial for Frosted Flakes cereal. Hawk did the skating, and animators replaced him with Tony. Hawk also did camera work for the ad, skateboarding with a camera in hand to capture top pro Chris Miller of Cardiff.

At 23, Hawk is a veteran of professional skateboarding, already anticipating a time, not too far away, when he won’t be able to slash and crash with 16- and 17-year-olds. This year, Hawk started his own company, Birdhouse Projects, to make skateboards, T-shirts and the stickers that young boarders like to paste on their helmets and boards. Hawk’s company also sponsors Team Birdhouse, a five-member skateboarding team that competes and gives demonstrations in U.S. cities during the summer.

He has constructed three private ramps on his 4.5-acre spread in Fallbrook, where he lives with his wife, Cindy. They are expecting their first child in November.

Three or four afternoons each week, when Hawk is not on the road competing, you can find him out on his ramps with a dozen or more fellow skateboarders he has invited over. They polish their aerials by soaring off the sides of Hawk’s largest, 12-foot-high ramp, and carefully observe Hawk’s moves.

Skateboarding has been good to Hawk. By the time he was 18 and graduated from Torrey Pines High School, he was earning six figures from competition prize money, sponsorships and commercial work--enough to buy his first house.

More recently he has been working with videos, including editing them on his own computer video editing system. Hawk bypassed college to pursue his skateboarding career but now says he may eventually enroll to hone his video skills.

Where does he see himself at, say, 40?

“Hopefully, sticking to skateboarding,” he said. “I see myself participating but being more involved with other aspects of the sport than skating. I’ve always liked skateboarding because I felt it was never stagnant. There’s always something new to be learned, some new trick or some new design to do.”