Tony Hawk - Early Life

Early Life

Hawk was born in Carlsbad, California to Nancy and Frank Peter Rupert Hawk and was raised in San Diego, California. When Hawk was young, he was described as being "hyperactive," and his mother says that he was "so hard on himself and expected himself to do so many things." One time, Tony struck out in baseball and was so distraught that he hid in a ravine and had to be "physically coaxed out" by his father. His frustration with himself was so harsh that his parents had him psychologically evaluated at school. The results were that Tony was "gifted," he tested with an I.Q. of 144, and school advisors recommended placing him in advanced classes.

His parents supported his skateboarding because it served as an outlet for his excessive energy, and as Hawk's skills developed, he became a professional skateboarder at age fourteen. and was the National Skateboard Association world champion for twelve consecutive years.

Hawk attended Jean Farb Middle School from 1980 to 1981, and eventually returned for the show, "Homecoming", where he set up a ramp and did a demonstration.

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