Future Stoke

Tomorrow's action stars are playing at a hot spot near you. Right now

Imagine playing H-0-R-S-E at the local gym when a voice from the sideline calls, "I got next." You whip around to see a 6'6'' guy rocking a purple-and-gold jersey with No. 8 on the back. Kobe Bryant wants to shoot. With you.

Never happen, right?

Right. At least not in basketball (or baseball or football or hockey, for that matter). But in places like SoCal's Encinitas Y, Florida's Sebastian Inlet, Oklahoma City's Mat Hoffman complex and the dirt trails of Central Texas, tomorrow's X Gamers ride side by side with today's legends every day.

Skateboarding gods are made in Encinitas because that's where skateboarding gods hang. Their Mount Olympus is a local YMCA skate park featuring the vert ramp from the 2003 X Games. On any given day, at any of three daily sessions, future X Gamers drop in next to locals like Tony Hawk, Bucky Lasek and Danny Way. "That's why I came here," says 15-year-old Adam Taylor. The former Cocoa Beach, Fla., resident moved to Encinitas last November. He used to ride an hour to skate. Now he's a one-minute walk from the place to skate, and it shows. In May, he finished third at the Mobile Skatepark Series in Cincinnati.

Twenty miles down the coast from Taylor's old home lies Sebastian Inlet, a mecca for surf groms and gods, including 2001 world champ C.J. Hobgood. He grew up surfing there, and returns when he's not carving international waters. Now 26, he remembers the spring day when he was coming in from the water and crossed paths with a local legend heading out. "How was it out there?" asked the legend. "Pretty sick," answered the then-12-year-old. That encounter with Kelly Slater inspired Hobgood to become a pro surfer. Now he hopes to inspire others. And while the Inlet's three-to-five-foot waves are tiny in comparison to those of California or Hawaii, they build champions. Need proof? All four mainland Yanks ranked in the world's top 15 hail from Florida, and three (C.J., twin brother Damien and Slater) call Sebastian Inlet their home break.

The Sunshine State is even more dominant in wakeboarding circles. The Orlando area features more than 350 lakes, more than 300 days a year of sunshine, a boatful of X Games wakeboarders-plus the Orlando Watersports Complex. Built in 1999, the 50-acre park features rails, kickers and two cable wakes, which pull riders without a boat. The OWC is home to 17-year-old Adam Errington, fresh off a fourth-place finish in his first junior men's comp, plus wake world stars such as Shaun Murray and Parks Bonifay. Says Errington: "I'm living a dream."

When Mat Hoffman was a kid riding BMX bikes in Oklahoma City, cutting the ribbon on a public park in his hometown was pure fantasy. Now it's old news. In April 2005, the Oklahoma City Skatepark was renamed the Mat Hoffman Action Sports Park, and it has seen a flow of pros pass through, including Kevin Robinson, Chad Kagy and Jimmy Walker. Since Pennsylvania, California and South Carolina also produce their fair share of riders, there's no consensus capital of BMX. Not yet anyway. Hoffman Park is BMX's mecca-in-the-making.

A couple hundred miles south on I-35, the Dallas-Fort Worth area is sparking a mass motocross movement. Forget that the state of Texas hasn't had a national pro Moto champ in almost a quarter century. In a sport that requires lugging a 220-pound bike to 30-plus events a year from Florida to California, being centrally located is key. With plenty of dirt and year-round riding conditions to boot, Central Texas has lots of young riders, but no idols. For now. Says Lee Ann Cunningham, mom to 16-year-old racer Kyle, "We're trying to make one."

And when that happens, you can bet the newest action idol won't forget his roots.

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