"It doesn't matter how long you've been skating for, it's how much you skate," said 19-year-old Brandon Pretty.
"I skate from the time I get up until the time I go to work. I skate until I can't skate anymore."
It wasn't necessarily a dream come true when Pretty received an invitation to skate in The World Round-Up Freestyle Competition but it was certainly an opportunity for the experience of a lifetime. Pretty, who has only been skateboarding for the past five years, contemplated turning down his invite at first.
"I was afraid the contest was going to take away what I love about skateboarding," he said.
Freestyle boarding isn't something Pretty does to show to others. He usually spends hours skating alone in the parking lot of The Westman Communications Group Place on a flat surface near shady trees. He only strives to better himself.
A fan of video games, Pretty decided to start skating in the eighth grade because of them. Tony Hawk games were a really strong influence. When Pretty first attempted skateboarding he wanted to try street skating -- a riding method in which the skater overcomes obstacles on paved surfaces while also using stairs, curbs, ledges and handrails to perform tricks.
"I put a piece of plywood on a rail, but that failed and I hurt my head," said Pretty. "I started thinking maybe it was a sign."

That's when Pretty decided to take a different road, and opted to pursue freestyle, the oldest style of skateboarding, which is a collective of music and choreography that takes place on smooth pavement. It was popular between the 1960s and '90s but the last freestyle competition in the professional realm took place in 2000. But happily, for fans like Pretty, international freestyle competitions were revived in 2009.
The World Round-Up Freestyle Skateboard Competition took place this past weekend, May 18th to 21st, at the Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair, which is 40 kilometres east of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Contest promoters Kevin Harris, Kai Dunkel and Monty Little rounded up the top professional and amateur freestyle boarders from around the globe to compete for $10,000 in prize money. Pretty's competition came from Canada, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Australia, and Mexico, along with the United States of America. The competitors got to show off their skills on an 80 foot by 140 foot flawless concrete floor. Several skaters have said it's the best surface they have ever skated.
Over the four days of the competition the viewers and the 43 hopefuls saw freestyle demos and experienced a tough grind contest with three different categories: best routine, best trick and a 360 spin-off, all using a battle format. Several skaters presented as a group, going one by one performing their routine.
"I'm going to see people there that I've been looking up to," said Pretty before heading off to the contest. "It's going to be wild to see other people free styling."
Pretty's skateboarding was noticed by pro and amateur skaters on his YouTube account where he's posted artistic videos of himself and others skating. He just finished his first year of the two year Interactive Media Arts program at Assiniboine Community College where he specializes in Media Production. Pretty utilizes his abilities to create original video art and hopes to pursue a greater knowledge of media and move his skills up to the next level.
"Using my skating to make videos helps me work on my camera skills," he said.
Pretty has produced nearly 100 videos for Senate, the skate and snowboarding shop located on 18th Street in Brandon.
Being an amateur, Pretty has no sponsors, unlike most of the other boarders in the Round-Up. And without sponsors, he was concerned about cash before he headed off to the competition. Pretty took a 30-hour bus ride out to Vancouver, where the costs of his accommodation and meals all came out of his own bank account. But in the end, after accepting this incredible opportunity and great life experience, it doesn't matter to Pretty if he comes home with any of the prize money. He just wants to have fun doing what he loves with people and friends that he looks up to.
"I'm just going to have a positive attitude though the competition," Pretty said. "I don't care if I even place."