Scott Decenzo is chillin’. To talk with the young street skateboarding wizard is to have a discussion at just the right speed. You go from 3rd gear up to 4th, or maybe down to 2nd, but leave those other gears alone. After all, when you’re nickname is Scooter, no one needs to see you with the pedal pinned. People appreciate a guy that rolls easy and steady, and is happy to hold an even, purposeful discussion without an abundance of unnecessary emotion. On his skateboard, that casual approach is virtually the same. Scott isn’t ferocious about his approach to skateboarding - he just wows his audience and peers with straight ability and an obvious enjoyment for what he’s doing.

Perhaps its this laissez-faire steez that has earned so many fans already as he remains just an “am” (amateur) without a pro model skateboard just yet. After all, skateboarders come in all shapes and variations, but don’t we all just love the guys who appear as if they’re barely trying? We may not be sure of the reason, but somehow it’s who we all want to be.

Picture Scooter taking up skateboarding circa 2000 alongside his brother Ryan, in a church summer camp of all places. Long before becoming a teammate of P-Rod and Pat Duffy's, and prior to the days of hurricanes and half cab flip k-grinds, he was actually a beginner too. His older brother Ryan, and Scott would skate every night well into darkness, eventually convincing their father to build them their first ramp. Ryan would lead the charge, cranking his stoke up to 10 and manage every desperate minute of fun as if it were their last, while Scott sat back with a grin and just dominated everything they discovered or built. “Scott has always been amazing at skating. I say it all the time - he is better than me,” says big brother Ryan. “I go in and set the table. Then he destroys.” Pretty impressive praise from a guy who boasts world-class video parts and podium contest results at both X Games and Dew Tour.

International skateboard media have recently been taking more notice of Scott. Color Magazine split their first Decenzo cover between the two brothers, with Thrasher magazine following suit a couple months’ later. Both brothers are remarkably talented, driven, and have the potential to take skateboarding to new heights. A common question in skateboard circles in places like Vancouver and Huntington Beach, California, where they split their time is: “Who is your favorite Decenzo?”

But neither brother is much for competing with the other these days. They have set their sightssites higher, and support one another like the adults they have morphed into. When they skated their first Dew Tour together, Scoot’s first pro comp, they examined the course together and encouraged each other until the end.  For Scott, skateboarding is the perfect career, and outlet. “I like to have fun, be original, stay relaxed and do tricks anywhere I can. I’m also open minded, which helps fuel the creativity that I think my skating exhibits.”

Scott’s skateboarding influences include skaters from all over the map. But among the very best, he cites the “Red Dragon” riders of Vancouver (Colin McKay, Rob “Sluggo” Boyce, Moises Itkonen). “Every time I watch those guys, I’m reminded of what makes skating so awesome. They’re always skating rough spots and paving the way with their style, skills and attitudes. It doesn’t get any better.”

Scott seems to have quite a grasp of what matters and doesn’t. Asked what’s going to take him to the top he says, “Motivation, persistence, and determination. I’m all the way in this.” As he states that final sentence, it begs the question, ‘wait - that wasn’t 5th gear, was it?’