Nollie Nose Slide.

Backside Smith Grind

Switch Backside 180 heel.

Words: Migdol
Photos: Matt Daughters

For Kenny Hoyle’s feature I figured I would talk to his mom and dad to get some juicy content. I expected to hear some crazy stories that only a parent could tell about their offspring. Unfortunately I had come to find out that Kenny’s family life was close to ideal which is really boring from an editorial standpoint. Kenny was no trouble at all growing up; he was, in fact, a perfect son. After talking to Gordon Hoyle, Kenny’s father, I think that I have unearthed the perfect dad.
When I was growing up, most skateboarders were from broken homes with horrible family lives. At best, fathers were uninvolved. Instead of hanging out with us and teaching us right from wrong, most dads of my peer group, were either off chasing their careers, or worse, they were abusive alcoholics hell bent on destroying their kid’s self esteem. In contrast, Kenny’s dad was always there for Kenny and his other siblings. He’d drive them and their friends up to LA on filming trips to sketchy neighborhoods to watch over them and make sure they were alright. He’d hangout with Kenny and his friends, teaching them the proper way to get along in the world. Anyone reading this and considering becoming a father, pay close attention, and follow Gordon’s lead, you just might make a kid as good as Kenny Hoyle.

Lets talk about Kenny Hoyle as an eight year old. Was he full of piss and vinegar?
He was super easy. He never gave us a hard time at all. That’s pretty true with all my kids. As an eight year old he was playing a lot of ice hockey. He was just as obsessed with ice hockey as he was with skateboarding. He got involved playing roller hockey when he was six or seven and one of his buddies on this team played ice hockey and we went down to see him play ice hockey and then that was it he got right into that until about 8th grade.

So to play roller hockey that would mean that Kenny had to wear roller blades right?
Yeah.

Okay, interesting. What is the worst thing Kenny has ever lied to you about?
I think it was when he got my video camera stolen when he was skating. I think he left the car open and somebody grabbed the camera bag. He didn’t tell me for like a month or so and I went to use the video camera and I was looking around for it and he kind of felt horrible about it. His brother told me he didn’t tell me because he didn’t want to bum me out.

Tell us about when Kenny lost his finger. Where you upset?
Yeah that was pretty traumatic. I heard him scream. He was rolling down the street at night with a flat bar and he was probably only about 75lbs at the time and the rail was like 40lbs or so. I guess he hit a rock or something and it just stopped the board and the rail just came down on his finger. He didn’t even feel it because it must of cut it real quickly. His buddy looked down and said, “Oh my God!” I think that it was just hanging on by a piece of skin. I followed a trail of blood to find him and we just wrapped it up in ice and I put him in the car and took him over to the ER. I asked him what it felt like and he said it felt normal. They worked on it from like midnight till 4 or 5 in the morning trying to re-attach it. About four or five days later we went back in to have it checked and it was all black. It died. Then we had to schedule an amputation, which was a shocker for the parent. Kenny was like, “Let’s just get it off, I want to get back to my life.” because he really couldn’t do anything. The healing process was a lot quicker once it was amputated. In a month he was back skating.

Have you ever considered suing Jeff King for the shoddy workmanship on that flat bar?
Oh, was that one of Jeff’s flat bars? We still have the flat bar.

Was the young Kenny Hoyle interested in girls at all? At what age did he start taking an interest in girls?
He had a hot girlfriend in 8th grade. Then he took a couple of years off and his hot girlfriend was skateboarding. His first love has always been his skateboard.

How did you approach discussing the birds and the bees with him?
I think I was talking to him and his brother and one of their neighbors one day and I just told them that if it got down to that point then they needed to protect themselves against all the diseases in the world.

What is the sketchiest thing you’ve ever found underneath Kenny’s bed?
I don’t really look under his bed, but nothing that your typical skateboarding son wouldn’t have under his bed. No guns or anything like that. He’s pretty peaceful.

What is the most trouble that he has ever gotten into?
I don’t think that I’ve ever had to really punish him for anything. When he was really, really young he stole some candy out of like a 7-11 or something like that. When he got into the car I could see him holding something. I know I didn’t give him any money, and he had a candy bar in his hand. So I said, “What have you got there?” I got really down on him for that. I found a policeman parked on the street and pulled over and I talked to him and told him what had happened and I wanted him to come over and scare the hell out of him. So the policeman came over and read him the riot act. He was totally freaked out and he never stole anything ever again. His brother told me one time that he didn’t want to disappoint us. All and all if they ever did get into trouble and we did say something, they felt worse than we did.

Was Kenny breastfed?
Yes he was.

What kind of disgusting habits did Kenny have as a kid?
I don’t know. I can’t think of anything that was too disgusting. Kenny is pretty meticulous. He takes care of all of his possessions really well. He’s super neat and organized.

Kenny grew up within pushing distance from the Carlsbad Gap?
Yeah it’s like three blocks away. When he was a senior he’d be looking out the window of his classes at it thinking about what he could do down it.

Have you ever caught Kenny smoking pot or anything like that?
Yeah, I know he probably smokes pot. There have been a couple of episodes with pot. I think he likes to partake in pot. One time, one of the neighbors caught Kenny and his son smoking. He was pretty angry. They were in his house smoking and he didn’t want it in his house, understandably so. He kind of gave me a hard time. I think I took the car away from Kenny for a week or two because I wanted to see where his head was at, I didn’t want him smoking pot and driving. I know he doesn’t like to drink that much.

From what I’m hearing you guys have the ideal family life.
It’s been pretty good. We’re not with out any problems. But for the most part nothing really major. I wanted to see Kenny finish college but skateboarding came a little faster for him than I thought. He was trying to go to school, work, and skate at the same time. Expedition picked him up and each semester you could tell his heart was more into skateboarding he was having a rougher time getting his homework done. He’s pretty focused. He’s only got a few things on his mind. Skating and his girlfriend Carissa.

Are you disappointed that Kenny’s not a Medical student?
No, not all. We’re totally supportive of his skateboarding. You have to know the guy because that is all he does. He’s been pretty fortunate because he’s gotten a few breaks where some of the other kids haven’t. Over all Kenny is a pretty humble guy. I know I’m probably not a good interview because I don’t have too much dirt on him. There really isn’t too much there. From what I hear about him he probably just smokes some pot once and a while. And if that stuff doesn’t control his life then it’s probably not a bad thing. When that is what you are living for than that’s when it becomes a problem.