Photos by: Pat Eichstaedt, Spencer Suitt, & David David

As each new generation comes of age, their lives and the surrounding components within, progress faster and faster. Take your parents—they didn’t grow up with cell phones and computers. In today’s world, it seems once you hit a certain age, you will get and have to use those things, kind of like being legal to drive when you turn 16. The ages are getting younger and younger... and the same thing applies to sports, especially if you take up the same sport as your parents. As each generation matures at a younger age, kids feed off of their parents and peers and use their youthfulness and agility to grow into their sports, pushing it to new levels.

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One of these kids is10 year old Kalani David—Rolling Stone’s newest addition to the “Who’s Hot List of 2007.” His father, an avid surfer, naturally introduced Kalani to the sport at the tender age of 13 months. Born and bread in the tropics of Costa Rica, Kalani was instantly hooked to the ocean and his surfboard. His board was to him as what a teddy bear is to most at that age, he never wanted it out of his sight, as he slept with his board every night. He really had no choice as his father owned a hotel-restaurant on the beach in Jaco. Dad would go out for a quick surf and leave Kalani leashed up under a tree, making him more eager to join Dad in the waves. Three more years of fun in the sun, the family wanted a change of pace and relocated to California. As you can imagine the change was quite drastic, coming from a third world country to the hustle and bustle of Southern California and surfing its cold water.

 

The change didn’t last long as they only spent 4 months in California. During that time, Kalani found himself surfing the sidewalks on his new found toy, the skateboard. This was an outlet for him to ride new curves and “throw tail” when the waves were flat or uninviting. Skateboarding grew to be his second passion. He started going to the local parks and ramps. Finding the transition to skateboarding was coming somewhat naturally with 3 years of balance experience from surfing.

 

On a planned, one-week vacation trip to Oahu, Hawaii, the David family left California but never returned. During their first surf session in Hawaii, Kalani said, “Dad, this is it, this is home!” It had some of the same things he was used to…warm water, great waves, empty beaches and to top it off, Hawaii offered great skateboarding outlets. A transition like this would most likely be a permanent one, so they made the choice and decided to call Hawaii home.

 

Living on the North Shore of Oahu, Kalani is now being bred in the ultimate play-ground for surfing and skateboarding. With the famous waves and a recently built world-class skate-park directly across the street from those waves, it’s right up his alley for progression. 

 

His talents caught the eye of former world runner-up Shane Beschen who helped guide him on the North Shore and gave him his first main sponsorship at 7 years old. Shane took him under his wing back when Kalani first excelled on the North Shore displaying his talents of surfing and skating. Others that live on the North Shore have mad respect for this youngster that can push the limits for generations to come. Kalani’s talents speak for themselves and his humbled, laidback approach will carry him far into the future for who knows what is to come. For him, surfing on a daily basis with the likes of the talented, young Florence & Moniz Brothers will only help enhance his performance. He has taken his passions to new levels, turning heads winning local and national contest for surfing and for skating and has competed in the King of the Groms. He performed X Games demos last year, where he became the youngest, at age 9, to land a FS 540 in front of the crowds for ESPN. He’s even shared ramps with the likes of Tony Hawk, Hosoi, Burnquist and Way.

He has also caught the industry’s eye, appearing in national ad campaigns and achieving solid sponsorship backing from RVCA Clothing, Electric Sunglasses, Nike 6.0, Bell Helmets and Santa Cruz Surfboards. But as much fun as it is, Kalani has developed a sense of awareness to what he has been through and the roads his family took to get there.

 

This past Christmas, he raised $389 through his lemonade stand for the Lokahi Foundation and wanted to personally take it to the church on Christmas morning, so he could make sure it went to a family in need. Kalani has aspirations to one day start a fund to help children with cancer! It’s going to be fun watching from the outside world, where Kalani goes with his talents. We will be hearing more about this 4’8” mini destroyer on a mission.

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