Skater to share success story

Tony Woodard has performed all over the world as audiences numbering in the thousands looked on. He can do jumps, back flips and twists all on wheels, but public speaking still scares him.

The Las Vegas resident will face fears worse than falling when he speaks to crowds of local kids about his in-line skating career. Woodard plans to discuss the art of ramps, jumps and grinds at four Clark County Libraries beginning Thursday.

Thursday, the skater will be at West Charleston Library, 6301 W. Charleston Blvd., at 2 p.m.; July 17, a second program is planned for Sunrise Library, 5400 Harris Ave., at 3:30 p.m.; July 21, a third is planned for Las Vegas Library, 833 N. Las Vegas Blvd. at 2 p.m.; and the Whitney Library, 5175 E. Tropicana Ave., will be the site of the last program July 24 at 4 p.m.

Woodard is just 19, but he's already reaching what is usually retirement age in the world of high-impact, in-line skating. He's never broken a bone, but the sky-high ramps and jumps he flies across have given him creaky knees and ankles that make him feel "at least 30 or 40."

His young wife, Sufa Anderson, a children's library assistant, used to skate too, but she quit long ago to save her knees for soccer.

Woodard knows he should quit, but he can't stop. His skating has taken him on the road with a Capital One 2001 Road Show that traveled to venues in London, Virginia, Texas, Florida and Washington. He was doing a big show in Seattle during the earthquake this year.

As a young teen he worked two seasons performing several shows a day at MGM's Grand Adventures theme park.

"That was probably the coolest job I ever had," he said.

Woodard's skating adventures began on his 10th birthday when he unwrapped a pair of Veriflex City Heat Juniors. They were the coolest skates he'd ever seen, with both laces and the, then new, clamp closures.

He and his friends all got skates and hit the streets. Soon, the streets were not enough. They discovered a commercial skate park called Rock Solid on Rancho and Bonanza. When that was torn down, the teens moved on to Planet Plywood at 4837 Lincoln Road in North Las Vegas.

"Back then, they didn't have the big city skate parks. Most of the time you just skated on the street, jumping off curbs and stairs," he said.

Skating in public wasn't easy. Business owners would chase kids away who were marking up the pavement with in-line skating tricks.

National competitions came easier. Woodard was the 1998 Men's Avert Champion at a competition held in Phoenix. He's taken first-place trophies at Aggressive Skaters Association competitions in Salt Lake City and Snow Valley, Calif. He's also taken first-place trophies from Planet Plywood competitions.

Woodard and Anderson, three-month newlyweds, actually met at Planet Plywood. They used to share ideas for tricks, now Anderson just supports her new spouse's skating career.

Anderson was originally asked to speak to kids at the libraries, but she knew the job would be perfect for her husband. Convincing him was another matter. Woodard admits there was a little arm twisting and a lot of begging involved. Speaking is not his forte.

"I never talked in school. I was the one reading books in the back," he said.

During the in-line skating tour, the skater was supposed to have a quick speaking part in one of the programs. The master of ceremonies planned to ask the performer if he just woke up one day and could do a mid-air back flip.

Woodard was going to respond with something like, "No it takes years of hard work to achieve your dreams." They rehearsed a couple of times before the show, but when the MC changed the wording of his question, Woodard found himself stammering in front of a crowd of more than 6,000.

"I can skate in front of that many people, but I can't talk to them," he said.

Woodard is quick to point out that he isn't the best of local skaters. He looks up to all the professionals he skates with, a pack of guys who call their competing team the Suminers. Brothers Josh and Justyn Obert, Ben and Jake Taylor are joined by Davvy Blair, Tony Albright and Chris Dagel. Woodard said many of these guys are among the best skaters in Nevada.

Skating for glory requires risk. If Woodard isn't falling at least some of the time, he loses interest.

"Sometimes I get bored of nailing every jump and I just feel like I want to fall. I know that sounds crazy, but it feels like I'm missing something if I'm not falling. It means I'm not pushing the limits far enough," Woodard said.

Sometimes the daredevil feels he should quit the skating life while he still has cartilage in his knees, but the call of the ramp is just too strong.

"I just can't stop doing it," he said. "It's an addiction, I guess, just like some people are addicted to coffee or chocolate or smoking. It's just fun."