HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – There is a skateboarding legend in the Bones Love Milk Shredquarters and that’s 51-year old Christian Hosoi.
“Dreams do come true and it’s about believing in yourself and believing in what you do and skateboarding is one of those things I always believed in,” said Hosoi.
He is one of the all-time greats who turned pro at the age of 14 and helped shape skate culture throughout his career. Now, along with his two sons, he is inspiring the next generation of skaters to follow their dreams, as well as keep their bones strong and healthy by drinking milk.
“We drink milk every morning, we eat it with our cereal,” said Hosoi.
He is a member of the Bones Love Milk skate team. This indoor pop-up skate park in Huntington Beach is part of a week-long program of skate events sponsored by the California Milk Processor Board. The park is dedicated to celebrating skate and California street culture while showcasing the real benefits of milk as what they’re calling “nature’s energy drink.”
Hosoi is all about leading by example. Sure being in the skateboarding hall of fame, his trophies, and pioneering his own tricks would be enough to inspire any young skater, but it is his story of resilience that is the real example.
At the peak of his career he fell into drug addiction and served time in prison, but that experience changed his life for the better when he opened a bible and realized he had a purpose through God.
“I felt this void in my heart that nothing could fill, fill up, and I was content and I was happy, but I spent five years in prison for the first time in my life a free man,” said Hosoi.
Now in addition to being a pro-skater, he is a pastor of 14 years at Sanctuary Church in Orange County. He has dedicated his life with a message of hope and restoration by guiding kids to stay on the right track.
“Peer pressure pulls you into these things and it can derail you from all your dreams and I tell kids all the time, don’t allow that to change who you are,” said Hosoi.
He loves seeing his two youngest sons, 10-year-old Endless and 12-year-old Classic follow in his footsteps.
“I go do whatever you want and they’re like no I want to be a pro-skateboarder, and I’m like you know what I mean? That’s when your heart as a father just melts,” said Hosoi.
He is a positive role model hitting new vertical heights both on and off the board.