Mike Carroll (skateboarder)

Michael "Mike" Shawn Carroll^[1] (born August 24, 1975) is a professional skateboarder from Daly City, California, United States. He is the co-founder and vice-president of Girl Skateboards and the co-founder of Lakai Limited Footwear.^[2] He was also instrumental in the creation of the Chocolate Skateboards subdivision of Girl. Furthermore, Carroll is known for being in the vanguard of innovative, technical, and stylish street skateboarding in the early 1990s and beyond. The success of skateboarding videos like Hokus Pokus, Ban This! and Video Days firmly ensconced street as the premier variation of skating (a position formally held by freestyle and especially vert skateboarding).^[3]

Professional skateboarding

Mike Carroll's first sponsors were H-Street skateboards, Concrete Jungle and FTC skate shop in San Francisco. When Concrete Jungle closed in 1988, Carroll became a founding member of the legendary FTC skate shop team along with brother Gregg Carroll, Jovontae Turner, and Rick Ibaseta.^[4] H-Street was a skateboard company founded by Tony Magnusson and Mike Ternasky.^[5] Carroll was featured in video parts on H-Street's Shackle Me Not (1988),^[4] Hokus Pokus (1989) ^[6] and This Is Not The New H-Street Video (1990) ^[7] In 1991, Carroll joined the prestigious Plan B team that Ternasky left H-Street to form. After the foreclosure of H-Street and the death of Plan B owner Mike Ternasky, Carroll started Girl Skateboards in 1993 with fellow Plan B rider Rick Howard. Carroll explained in 2013 that, at the time, Plan B was continually "retiring" team members and he experienced a decrease in stress in regard to his future following the decision to launch Girl.^[1]

Following his recruitment to the Vans skate shoe team in 1994, Carroll was often seen in his early team ads skating in Half Cabs.^[8] In 1996, Carroll released a signature model, a technically more advanced shoe based on the Half Cab with a modern internal looped lacing system,^[9][10][11] but left the company in 1997 and moved to DC Shoes.^[12] In 1998, DC Shoes released a Mike Carroll signature model shoe called the "Cosmo".^[13] Not long afterwards Carroll left DC Shoes in 1999 along with Girl Skateboards team member and founder Rick Howard and they started the shoe company, Lakai.

Carroll is globally known for his skating at the Embarcadero plaza (also known as Justin Herman Plaza), in San Francisco, U.S.^[3] As of 2012, the area continues to be a popular location for skateboarders all thanks to a local skate crew which contributed to the locations notoriety today. They called themselves "EMB" (Embarcadero's Most Blunted).^[14] Carroll is said to have discovered the famous San Francisco skateboard landmark 3rd and Army.^[15]

Video Parts

H Street - Hokus Pokus 1989

H Street - This is Not the New H Street Video 1990

Plan B - Questionable 1992

FTC - Finally 1993

Plan B - Virtual Reality 1993

Girl - Goldfish 1993

FTC - Penal Code 101 1996

Girl - Mouse 1996

Girl/Chocolate - Chocolate Tour 1999

Transworld - Modus Operandi 2000

Girl - Yeah Right 2003

Lakai - Fully Flared 2007

Lakai - Final Flare 2008

Girl/Chocolate - Pretty Sweet 2012

Sponsors

As of July 2014, Carroll is sponsored by FTC, Fourstar Clothing, Girl, Lakai Limited Footwear, Diamond Supply Co., Royal Truck Company, Glassy Sunhaters, Grizzly Griptape and Bones Bearings.^{[2][16][17][18][19]}

Awards

Carroll won Thrasher magazine's Skater of the Year award in 1994.^[20]

In December 2011, Carroll was selected as one of "The 30 Most Influential Skaters Of All Time" by Transworld Skateboarding. Carroll was number 16 in the list, following Jamie Thomas and preceding Guy Mariano.^[3] In the corresponding interview with Skin Phillips, uploaded in September 2012, Carroll listed Jason Lee and Julian Stranger as the two skateboarders who have been the most influential in his life.^[21]

Video game appearances

Carroll is a playable character in the Electronic Arts video games; Skate,^[22] Skate 2^[23] and Skate 3.^[24]

References

External links

• crailtap.com