At WO we have many athletes that participate in sports in the fall, winter, and spring. When people think of athletes, they may think of a soccer player or baseball player and tend to forget about the extreme sports. Sr. David Driscoll is one of those rare extreme sports kids at WO. Driscoll has been longboarding for the past 5 years and has traveled around, received sponsorships, and has been a big impact for these sponsors.
“I was always into wakeboarding and snowboarding since we have a boat and live pretty close to both Bittersweet and Cannonsburg. Around 8th grade everyone started getting longboards because that was just the thing to have so I thought I’d get one too. My first board was a Landyachtz Cutout.”
From personal experience back in 8th grade, I used to watch Driscoll longboard and his talent has increased drastically since then.
“The summer going into freshman year was when I started finding myself at Trillium Shores almost everyday, whether it was with a couple other kids or by myself. Growing up practically right down the street from Ryan Homik was nice when I wanted to either go out and ride or have someone film me for my sponsor videos.”
Driscoll has several sponsors for longboarding. He has gotten these over the past few years.
“I am sponsored by Action Board Shop, Sugar Urethane, Hi5ber and Aeon Skate co. I had posted some videos on social media when I first started getting good at the basic stuff and I kind of just got asked by them if I wanted to be sponsored. It’s pretty cool because I work for them and they work for me.”
His career in longboarding has brought him to multiple places around the country.
“I’ve been all around Michigan and have ridden and competed in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, New York, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Alabama. My absolute favorite place out of those 10 states is definitely North Carolina. Some of my friends and I drove down there and found some of the sickest spots we’ve ever seen. We honestly rode from sun up to sun down.”
Driscoll had talked about his favorite memory so far in his career. This took place on a hill in North Carolina, named “Jitterbug”.
“Jitterbug had to be the longest hill I have ever rode on. It was mapped out to be around 2 miles long and was literally straight down with some curves here and there. It was earlier this year when I rode on it. It was fall so there were a bunch of leaves on the ground which made it even more scary. In the end, it was the most fun I’ve had with longboarding and I definitely plan on going back soon.”
Longboarding is a sport that is overlooked when it comes to athletics. It has been growing in popularity lately, and Driscoll has helped with that, as a rider and West Ottawa student. Driscoll looks forward to the 2016 International Downhill Federation and plans to compete in it this upcoming summer.
