A lesson in street course

Jake Ilardi’s eyes lit up the moment he first set foot inside the Compound Boardshop. 

Then 8 years old, he peered around in awe, admiring the skateboards of all shapes and sizes blanketed an entire wall of the Sarasota store. 

Ilardi was finally going to get a real skateboard. His days of sitting on his knees and using his arms to push along his toy skateboard were finally over. 

After settling on a skateboard, Ilardi and his twin brother, Nate, went straight to the skate park and got to work. 

Their mission: the Ollie. 

The Ollie — a skateboarding trick in which the rider and board leap into the air simultaneously without the use of the rider’s hands — was the first trick that Ilardi attempted; it's the move that's the basis for the majority of tricks.

Eleven years later, Ilardi, 19, has a plethora of tricks in his arsenal, including a 540-degree aerial. 

“I don’t really think about it,” Ilardi said. “I just kind of go. When I was little and trying a new trick, I would break it down and try and put the trick together.”

The Osprey tricks will be on full display when he maneuvers his way through the course during the Skateboard Street Amateur at X Games Austin 2016 June 3. 

Ilardi will be making his first X Games appearance after winning the final stop of the Boardr Am street skateboarding series May 21, in New York City, and earning an invite to the finals at X Games Austin. 

Growing up, Ilardi would watch the X Games on TV and then go outside and try to mimic the tricks that his favorite skateboarders, including Ryan Scheckler and Bucky Lasek, did. 

Tomorrow, Ilardi will be one of the ones the next generation of skateboarders will be watching on TV. He left for Austin May 29 with his brother, who films videos of all of his competitions and handles all of his sponsorships. 

“I always thought I would just skate for fun,” Ilardi said. “A hobby turned into this crazy obsession. It’s surreal how far I’ve gone.” 

Ilardi received his first skateboard when he was 4 years old. His grandmother, Paulette Moulton, got one for both brothers brother and told them to just sit down and push. 

Skateboarding afforded Ilardi an opportunity to have fun while gaining a sense of accomplishment with each new twist and turn. 

“You are free to do whatever you want,” he said. “There are no coaches or teams. It’s just you and the board and all of your homies.” 

Ilardi was more into skateboarding than his brother when the two were younger, but now the two brothers are both devoted to the sport and often will close down the skate park. 

Older than Nate by one hour and 10 minutes, Jake Ilardi spends between one and four hours a day at the Payne Skate Park, depending on his Publix work schedule. 

In addition, he volunteers every Monday morning, teaching a skateboarding class for home-school children and also is a counselor for 180 Skate, a skateboarding ministry through FirstSarasota, the downtown Baptist Church. 

“He’s really good with kids,” FirstSarasota youth director Tim Storck said. “He remembers when the older guys were here, and he remembers them giving back to the younger ones. Now he’s doing the same thing.” 

“A lot of times you’ll see the younger ones stressing about a trick,” Ilardi said. “I just tell them don’t worry about that stuff right now. You’re young. Have fun and enjoy it. The main thing is to have fun with it.” 

When it comes to competition, that’s where Jake Ilardi stands alone. 

“He has it like a baseball player has pitching,” Nate Ilardi said. “He’s one of the top kids right now. To me it’s nothing new because I see it every day, but to someone who doesn’t know it’s probably different.” 

Skateboarding has allowed Ilardi to travel across the United States, from New York City to Los Angeles, and Canada. 

Ultimately, Ilardi has aspirations of turning professional. Following the X Games, Ilardi hopes to compete in an amateurs getting paid contest in Montreal, Canada, where the winner will take home a $10,000 prize. 

“It would be so crazy if I won,” Ilardi said.