In the Making… Chaz Ortiz

On May 4th, pint-sized destroyer and the pride of Carpentersville, IL, Chaz Ortiz turned the ripe old age of fifteen. For most High School freshman, everyday life tends to be pretty ordinary. But that’s certainly not the case for Chaz, who blew up the skate scene last year and hasn’t looked back since.

(all photos: Sean Cronan )

 Story by Greg Waters

A long-time member of the Zoo Crew, Chaz was initially discovered four years ago by Zered Bassett, Jeff Pang and the late, great Harold Hunter. While Chaz is "technically" an am, you wouldn’t know it by watching him skate—he looks like a seasoned pro with nerves of steel, ridiculous board control, smooth style, and a deep bag of man-sized tricks on lock. That, and he won last year's Dew Tour and snaked third at this years Tampa Pro.

“Chaz is a unique kid with lots of natural talent and a confidence level on and off his board that is something else,” says Zoo York Senior Team Manager, Seamus Deegan. “He understands what it takes, and realizes that nothing in skateboarding or life is a given.  He’s totally dedicated and 100% genuine. Chaz is the real deal.”

His self-assurance and video game-like shredding abilities have helped him quickly make a name for himself in the skate game and beyond. Chaz’s second place finish behind Greg Lutzka at X Games Mexico 2008 and his third place finish at Tampa Pro 2009 – by far the most well respected, core skate contest there is – certainly caught people’s attention. But it was winning the overall title on the 2008 AST Dew Tour that really thrust him into the spotlight and forever changed his life.

“Chaz is on an entirely new level after winning the Dew Cup last summer,” continues Seamus.  “He’s getting noticed in public no matter if he’s in a mall in Atlanta or skating a spot deep in Bushwick, Brooklyn.”

At the end of last year, Chaz’s newly elevated status had some heavyweight sponsors knocking on his door including DC Shoes and Gatorade; the latter of which landed him in an ad campaign alongside a handful of legendary athletes.

While the requisite haters have of course surfaced to bag on his beverage deal, it hasn’t fazed Chaz one bit. As he puts it, “I’m honored to be sponsored by Gatorade. It was crazy to be featured in a commercial with people like Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali and all the other athletes. I met Jordan, and man is he big. When we shook hands, my entire hand pretty much got lost.  His hands are huge!”

There’s no denying the fact that Chaz grew up on a steady diet of Masonite quarter pipes, pyramids and flat bars at WARP Skatepark outside Chicago. But don’t fool yourself into believing he’s a skatepark jock who can’t hold it down in the streets as well.

“Chaz is not just a contest or TV skater by any means,” says ZY teammate and friend, Brandon Westgate. “He gets broke off on a daily basis filming, shooting photos, and traveling with the crew.”

In recent months, Chaz’s hard work in front of the camera has started to pay off with solid editorial coverage popping up in all the top mags.  But what will truly show people he’s a versatile street slayer are his parts in P-Rod’s newly-released video, “Proof,” and Zoo York’s highly-anticipated flick, “State Of Mind,” set to premiere on June 4th in NYC.

“As one of his first major video parts, ‘State of Mind’ will really show the industry that he can skate stuff outside of skateparks and contests,” Seamus says. “He skates everything in his part and is grouped amongst Zoo heavies like Zered, Westgate and Eli Reed. He’s definitely on the come up, and I think his part will be a real eye-opener.”

(photos: Sean Cronan )

So what was it like for Chaz to film his first-ever video parts, you ask? “It was hard to film both parts at once,” he says. “I think my ‘Proof’ part was filmed in like two weeks, going out to California on weekend trips so I didn’t miss school. My Zoo part took longer; I went on a lot of trips with the team to get it done. I think these two videos are important because a lot of people have only seen me skate park stuff, so these will give them a look at my street stuff as well.”

With summer fast approaching, Chaz has a full plate of photo shoots, tours and sponsor obligations, as well as a packed contest schedule including an invite to July’s prestigious Maloof Money Cup where he’ll compete against the best in the business for a shot at a chunk of the $450,000 prize purse. Additionally, on July 24th he’ll set out to defend his 2008 Dew Cup title when the 2009 AST Dew Tour kicks off in Boston.

But as Zoo’s TM, Seamus Deegan, so rightly points out, “Chaz might be a superstar in the contests, but he’s still just a kid who is looking forward to driving and doing his best not to get stuck in summer school over some bad algebra grades.”

It seems the future of skateboarding has arrived, but just like everyone else, Chaz Ortiz needs to conquer High School before he can conquer the world.

-Greg Waters