ZION EFFS: I skate all day, every day, wherever I go.
ZION EFFS: My full name is Zion Gabriel Effs and I love skateboarding because it’s the
best thing in the world.
RICHIE EFFS: Zion started skating when he was three and he is eight years old now. I
think a lot of people are freaked out by Zion. The level he is skating right now, he is eight
and he is skating like he is 16-17.
ZION EFFS: This year I won like four competitions in a row.
ZION EFFS: Sometimes I’m just like, I’ll
just take competitions for fun but I usually want to win.
RICHIE EFFS: When he started, there was something about Zion. He never tried to do the regular tricks
that other kids learn. He always wanted to do technical tricks, which is kind of crazy.
Most technical tricks are done by grown men or seasoned skateboarders.
ZION EFFS: My favourite thing about skateboarding
is I get to learn new tricks all the time and I get to do them, perfect them and be
happy when I land them.
RICHIE EFFS: And I used to say, “What the hell is, what’s up with this little boy?”
You couldn’t get him off the board.
ZION EFFS: Well, my sisters had long boards and my cousins had long boards. So, on Christmas
they let me use one of their long boards. So I asked my dad to get me a board and he
got me a tiny board and I’ll always practise like in the parking lot.
RICHIE EFFS: We have a friend or a partner
of mine, Danny Fuenzalida. He is a pro skater and he is really responsible for where Zion
is right now.
DANNY FUENZALIDA: They showed up at Grand Central. It was a public skate park and Richie
came up and he was looking for someone to help teach his son to skate. I said that I
was like, “I don’t really teach,” you know. But Zion’s face, when I said that,
got so depressed that I was like, ‘But I’ll roll around with him and try to show him what
I know real quick.’ Then after 40 minutes, I was like, ‘Man, this kid is awesome.’
Like I told him, I was like ‘If you want, I’ll do a class with you, no problem.’
I’ve taught him for, I don’t know, two and a half years. Now we’re just skate buddies.
ZION EFFS: These are all the grips, I get.
JAX DECKER EFFS: Zion, I want this one. ZION EFFS: And then this is my favourite grip
in the whole entire world. This is the Jimi Hendrix grip I was talking about.
INTERVIEWER: Why is that your favourite?
ZION EFFS: Because it kind of looks like me.
RICHIE EFFS: He has got five siblings, right? The only man that does the same thing as him is Jax.
RICHIE EFFS: Tell us, what’s your name? JAX DECKER EFFS: Jax.
RICHIE EFFS: How old are you? Say hi to the camera. Say hi.
JAX DECKER EFFS: Hi! RICHIE EFFS: You said hi? Say hi. Say your
name, say, “My name is Jax.”
RICHIE EFFS: Jax and Zion, they got a really special bond and I think it’s because of
skateboarding. Jax is two years old and he has been doing some crazy things on skateboard
like, we was like ‘Wow’.
ZION EFFS: Jax is really crazy. He likes to do anything that I do or Jagger does.
JAGGER EFFS: He will mess with me. I’m like, he is like, I love him like, sometimes,
he just always wants to mess with me. ZION EFFS: Yeah he messes with Jagger.
JAGGER EFFS: And gets on my nerve.
RICHIE EFFS: The older he gets now, he is getting into harder tricks and I know, soon
he might get hurt but, you know what it is? Its sports, you know.
DANNY FUENZALIDA: He is the best eight-year-old.
I’m going to say that for sure. He has the most tricks and I love watching him skate. He has
got style. I have no doubt in my mind that Zion will be a professional if he continues skating.
INTERVIEWER: Do you ever get tired of skateboarding? ZION EFFS: No, well, yeah, no, no; not at all.
RICHIE EFFS: Nowadays most kids are not doing anything outdoor. Most kids are sitting inside
on a computer, on their phone. Zion is doing an outdoor activity which is really rare nowadays.
And so for me, I have to spend a lot of time to... wow, no man, shhh, I’m on the camera.
You can see my house is crazy.
RICHIE EFFS: I think the best thing I could do for my son is, facilitate him. Take him
everywhere he wants to go, because if that’s what it takes to make him achieve what he
wants, I’m going to do it. As long as I’m here, I’m going to do it.
RICHIE EFFS: Here we go again. What? Can daddy
finish this interview please? I’m doing an interview papa. Okay, come on, let’s
put you down here. Zion! Where is Zion? Okay, hold on. Daddy has to finish this interview,
okay? I have to finish this interview, okay?
ZION EFFS: I want to continue skateboarding for the rest of my life.