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When most kids are barely beginning the second grade, Andy Macdonald was beginning the sport that would soon become his career. "I had, like, a little banana board, before they had big wide boards," he recalls of first skateboard at age seven. "I later got a skateboard for Christmas when I was 12 from Mom. She wouldn't let me play football 'cause that was too dangerous. But she let me [url=http://skateszone.com/the-top-8-best-skateboards-for-beginners-reviews-2017]The Top 8 Best Skateboards For Beginners Reviews 2017[/url]. I think she thought it was just going to be a phase, you know?"

Luckily for Macdonald it was a phase he would never outgrow. At 27, Macdonald has paid his dues and cemented himself as one of the top professional skateboarders by ranking in the world's top 10 in both street and vert styles. The Boston native has an impressive resume that includes: six X-Games gold medals, first place at the 2000 Gravity Games, the Guinness World Record for the longest jump on a skateboard (56', 10"😉, and five consecutive World Cup Skateboarding overall points championships. He even has his own U.S. postage stamp and acts as a spokesperson for The Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

A self-described "full jock" as a teen, Macdonald (a.k.a. Andy Mac and Mac Daddy) participated in soccer, swimming, basketball, wrestling and gymnastics until he decided to devote all of his time to skateboarding. "All I wanted to do was skate," he states. "By the time I was in junior in high school I had already been entering competitions and did pretty well. I thought I may be able to make a living at skateboarding."

And Macdonald wasn't just latching on to some popular fad. In fact, he was one of just four skaters at his high school. But he did embrace the lifestyle wholeheartedly. A fan of such hardcore bands as Gangrene and Slapshot, Macdonald dressed mostly in items found at the thrift store and "the most loud, random pair of old-man plaid pants" he could find, which he would convert into shorts. "That was the skate style then," he says. "I'd also take flannel pajamas and then cut them into shorts. Those were my favorite."

Macdonald skated as an amateur in and around New England throughout the early '90s and would eventually make his big skate break when he relocated out West. "If you want to be an actor, you go to Hollywood. If you're a skateboarder, you go to southern California. That's where all of the industry is," he says.

Not to mention the good weather. Growing up in Boston, Macdonald found himself skating outside for about six months out of the year. But in San Diego he could skate outdoors year-round, which actually proved to be a big adjustment. "Being in Boston, I had only skated with maybe two or three pros in my life basically," he says. "I had mostly seen them in videos and magazines and stuff, and now here I was at the [url=http://skateszone.com]skateboarding tips and tricks[/url] skating with pros every day. Just the accessibility to all different kinds of skating. I got really into pool skating, skating in empty swimming pools -- something you don't do in New England at all."

But moving out to California didn't automatically guarantee him a seat as a pro. "When I moved to California I had no sponsors. I had $500 in my pocket and knew no one there and had a Nissan Sentra wagon and a whole lot of stuff. I just drove out there."

By the time he landed in San Diego he had only $50 in his pocket with no place to stay. He applied for a job at every grocery store, gas station and video store he could find, but nobody would hire him. It was a visit to Sea World that landed him a job. "I was the guy who dressed up in the Shamu suit, making minimum wage, $4.25 at the time," he says with half a laugh.

The Shamu gig lasted for a season and other random jobs followed. In early 1994, Macdonald landed a sponsorship from a small San Diego-based apparel company called Human and turned pro. "I remember getting my first contract. It was basically like, this is my dream, getting paid to ride my skateboard. It's something my mom told me I would never be able to do. So I got the contract, signed it, made a copy of it, and wrote in big letters across the front of it in red ink, `I told you so."'

He's been skating for a living ever since.

"When I first started, I basically went to contests so that I could make enough money to go to the next contest," he says of his early pro years. "If I got fifth place in the contest, I could pretty much guarantee that I'd make enough money to pay for my flight to the next contest."

That was his skating plan for his first two seasons until '96. "I went to Newport, R.I, the second year of the Xtreme Games, and I beat Tony Hawk in the vert competition there. That's when people started to notice me."

That was Macdonald's first pro vert victory. And while he had won some street contests before then, this was his first televised win. "It mostly gave me the confidence that I didn't have to just stay in like the fifth or sixth range to get enough money to keep going. I could actually try my hardest and skate to win."

With fame came several solid sponsorship opportunities -- crucial for [url=http://bit.ly/2pfuW4J]skateboard reviews[/url] survival. Macdonald has been sponsored by Split (apparel) and Brigade (skateboards) for the past four years; eight years by Swatch watches; he's had a 10-year relationship with Airwalk (footwear); has been signed to SoBe beverages for three years; Pro-Tec helmets for two years; is with Harbinger pads; Powerbar (snack); just signed with Tech Deck to make a signature Brigade finger board as well as recently signed a deal with Lego for its new toy line called Bionical -- action figures for 12- to 14-year-olds.

As for his personal style, it changes with his apparel sponsors. "I haven't gone shopping since I was 14 years old. And before that I didn't go shopping because I had an older brother that gave me all his hand-me-downs," he says. "My wife [his high school sweetheart whom he married last March] calls me Preppie Boy. It's like the L.L. Bean, Bostonian, New England route."

It's a style that young kids have taken notice of but not one Macdonald necessarily wants to capitalize on. "Kids have been asking me lately about having my own apparel line," he notes. "But I don't know if I want to start my own business. I basically want to be a professional skateboarder and that's what I want to focus on."

It's paid off in more ways than one. Most recently, the San Diego Hall of Champions Museum in California and the Australian Gallery of Sport & Olympic Museum in Melbourne included artifacts donated by Macdonald that included his personal skateboards, equipment, photos and videos as part of exhibits highlighting action-sport athletes. "I see this as another step in the advancement of skateboarding as it becomes a global sport," he concludes. "It's due time for skateboarders to be recognized for the talent and innovation they bring."