The daily routine of an unfamiliar athlete.

Tony Hawk, Bam Margera, Rob Dyrdek and Neil Morales; what do all of these people have in common? They are all skateboarders. Although lesser known, junior Neil Morales works just as hard as the pros.

“Every weekend my friends and I pile into cars and go from one skate spot to the next to shoot film. We usually get up and go around 8 in the morning and skate all day,” Morales said. “When it gets dark we turn on the genny (generator) and lights to light up the spots we skate so we can keep filming.”

Being from small town Wylie, Morales has had a hard time finding places to skate. Shine Skateboarding in Sachse and Eisenbergs Skate Park in Plano, two indoor parks Morales skated at regularly, both closed down within the last six months.

“I was bummed because there were few indoor skate parks to skate at,” Morales said. “Plus, I usually got into those for free because I was sponsored by both of those parks.”

Now he occasionally heads over to Lewisville Skate Park or Alliance Skate Park to learn new tricks, but he does most of his skating in the streets. Sometimes reaching up to eight cars full of skaters, Morales and his friends drive all throughout the Dallas Metroplex, stopping at every skate spot they can.

“You see people on bikes, scooters and rollerblades all over Dallas,” Morales said, “but every time I go out, I take the risk of getting arrested or even ticketed just for skating, even on sidewalks! I guess skateboarding is an illegal sport.”

Improvising with what skate spots he can, Morales works hard every day to become better at doing what he loves. Skateboarding is a sport to him; he works just as hard and is just as dedicated as any other athlete. No matter how prejudice people are towards him, or how disapproved or unrecognized the sport of skateboarding is, he doesn’t let it discourage him. Morales’ passion and love for the sport is what keeps him going every day.

“I love skating; It’s the only thing I want to do,” Morales said, “I couldn’t live without it. To me, it’s the best thing ever.”