Huntington Beach’s Brooke Benton, 8, wins amateur national skateboarding championship

Brooke Benton has come a long way since first picking up a skateboard less than three years ago.

A national championship certainly signifies that for the Huntington Beach shredder, who is still just 8 years old.

Brooke won the girls’ street skateboarding national championship for all ages at the Amateur League Skateboarding Nationals, held at the California Training Facility in Vista last weekend.

“I was pretty happy with what I did in my run,” she said in her typical low-key way. “It felt great to win.”

Brooke, a second-grader at a local public elementary school, said a special celebration was held for her at school on Tuesday.

At nationals, her score of 78.33 was based on the best of her two runs.

Huntington Beach’s Brooke Benton competes on her run at the CASL national championships in Vista.

(Courtesy of Ruth Benton)

Brooke placed fifth at last year’s Amateur League Skateboarding Nationals, held in Lakeland, Fla. To ensure she didn’t experience any burnout, her parents entered her in four local California Amateur Skateboarding League competitions last year to see if she could qualify again.

She did so easily, taking first place in three of the four competitions: Vans Huntington Beach, Volcom Costa Mesa and Fontana Skatepark-South. Still, she had to come back from a hairline fracture of her ankle in October.

“Competing in nationals the last two years has been an incredible experience for Brooke and us as a family,” said Brooke’s mom, Ruth Benton. “The skateboard culture is incredibly supportive and inclusive, and it has been really fun to meet skaters and families from all over the world. Seeing skaters cheer each other on, compliment each other and genuinely support each other throughout competitions has been a really positive experience.”

In November 2022, Brooke was selected to join the Girl Is Not A Four Letter Word (GN4LW) team run by skateboard legend and hall-of-famer Cindy Whitehead. Her Instagram page @skatebrookie, started so family and friends could simply keep tabs on her, now has more than 8,000 followers.

Huntington Beach’s Brooke Benton, 8, poses with her national championship trophy.

(Courtesy of Ruth Benton)

Still, she stays grounded. She only skateboards two to five hours a week, taking lessons at Fountain Valley-based Intro 2 Skateboarding with her coaches, Jon Depoian and Dominic Laborde.

Brooke also dances competitively. Her mom said she loves to stay busy, and the sports support each other and balance Brooke, so they haven’t reached a crossroads yet in deciding a sport to pick.

“I usually skate two times a week and dance four times a week,” Brooke said. “I don’t know [which one I like more]. That’s tough.”

She said her next goal on her skateboard is a kick flip, and she wants to move to the new advanced girls’ category in the California Amateur Skateboarding League.

“I’d say the average age is like 14,” Ruth Benton said with a laugh. “It’ll be a big jump for her, but it will be exciting.”