Growing up in Huntington Beach you were either a traditional sports athlete a skateboarder or a surfer. I got my first skateboard when I was five and skated off and on over the years did a little BMX racing as a kid and then in my freshman or sophomore year I started getting a little bit more into skateboarding.
So while you're an athlete and you have that platform what you want to be able to do is make it work for you as much as possible because there's going to be life after sports.
To be candid with you free agency hurts all sports. It's great for athletes making an enormous amount of money. But to say it helps the sports I don't believe that.
One reason outfielders don't have stronger arms might be they don't practice as much as we did. Most teams today don't take outfield practice. Another reason is baseball has to compete with other sports now - basketball football soccer - for the better athletes that might have more skills and stronger arms.
There's nothing masculine about being competitive. There's nothing masculine about trying to be the best at everything you do nor is there anything wrong with it. I don't know why a female athlete has to defend her femininity just because she chooses to play sports.
I was an All-American in wrestling in high school was National Champion in Chinese kickboxing in 1999 and have spent a lot of time around professional athletes which includes my eight-plus years as CEO of a sports nutrition company.
I am so grateful to everybody that supports the Sheckler Foundation and gives us the ability to continue to help kids and injured action sports athletes.
I'm in the perfect position. It's a sports position and a political position where I can help better the lives of athletes around the world.
I have spoken with many former athletes and they tell me the best time they had was in sports. I listen to them and use their experience in my career.
Several professional athletes have wrongly taught many young Americans by example that the only way to succeed in sports is to take steroids.