William Sean Sheffey is a

regular-footed Footedness is the natural preference of one's left or right foot for various purposes. It is the foot equivalent of handedness. While purposes vary, such as applying the greatest force in a certain foot to complete the action of kick as opposed t ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional skateboarder.

Early life

Sheffey grew up in Maryland. Growing up, Sheffey was inspired by the skating of

Mark Gonzales Mark Gonzales (born June 1, 1968), also known as "Gonz" and "The Gonz", is an American professional skateboarder and artist. He is known as the godfather of modern street skateboarding and was named the "Most Influential Skateboarder of All Time ...

, Jesse Martinez, and

Natas Kaupas Natas Kaupas (born March 23, 1969) is an American former professional skateboarder. He grew up in South Santa Monica, California, in the area known as Dogtown, and is of Lithuanian descent. He is often referred to as one of the first true profe ...

Skateboarding career

Sheffey became sponsored by a local

skate shop 320px, Ridin' High Skate Shop in Burlington, Vermont A skate shop or skateshop is a store that sells skateboards and skateboarding apparel. When financially possible, skate shops sponsor local riders and promote skateboarding locally through sk ...

after only 8 months of skating. In the late 1980s, Sheffey attended a skateboarding contest in

Ocean City, Maryland Ocean City, officially the Town of Ocean City, is an Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic resort town in Worcester County, Maryland, Worcester County, Maryland along the East Coast of the United States. The population was 6,844 at the 2020 United States cens ...

. At this contest, he met the skaters that made up SHUT skateboards. With-in months of meeting the team, Sheffey was sponsored by Shut Skates. After riding for SHUT, Sheffey skated briefly for Santa Monica Airlines. After SMA, Sheffey rode for Ron Allen's new company Life Skateboards. In his part in the 1991 Life Skateboards

skate video A skate video is a movie of or about skateboarding typically showing new tricks and a series of skateboarders in a montage set to music. History Released in 1965, the short film ''Skaterdater'' is credited as the first film to depict skateboa ...

''A Soldier's Story,'' Sheffey notably fakie ollies over a school lunch table. After Life Skateboards, Sheffey joined the new company, ''Plan B,'' skating alongside a talented team of

Danny Way Danny Way (born April 15, 1974) is an American professional skateboarder, company owner and rallycross driver who has been awarded ''Thrasher'' magazine's "Skater of the Year" award twice. He is known for extreme stunts, such as jumping into a ...

, Rick Howard,

Sal Barbier Salvador Lucas Barbier or SLB (born July 12, 1969) is an American designer and creative director, widely known for his innovative and trailblazing professional skateboarding career. Early life Barbier was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisian ...

, Matt Hensley, and

Rodney Mullen John Rodney Mullen (born August 17, 1966) is an American professional skateboarder who practices freestyle skateboarding and street skateboarding. He is considered one of the most influential skaters in the history of the sport, being credited fo ...

. Sheffey appeared in the critically acclaimed 1992 ''Questionable'' - produced by

Plan B Skateboards Plan B Skateboards is a skateboarding company based in San Diego California, United States, founded by Mike Ternasky, Danny Way and Colin McKay. PlanB has been manufacturing and selling premium skateboard hard goods and apparel since 1991 . Hist ...

. After Plan B, Sheffey skated for

Girl Distribution Company Crailtap is a skateboarding distribution company based in Torrance, California, United States. The distribution company is home to Girl Skateboards, Chocolate Skateboards, Royal Skateboard Trucks, and Fourstar Clothing. Girl Skateboards History ...

. After Girl, Sheffey skated for

Blind Skateboards Blind (stylized as bLind) is a skateboard company founded by Mark Gonzales in 1988 under Steve Rocco's World Industries distribution company. Gonzales has since left the company and today the company continues under the ownership of Dwindle Dis ...

. In July 1994, Sheffey graced the cover of

Transworld Skateboarding ''Transworld Skateboarding'' (''TWS'') was an Skate magazine, international magazine on skateboarding that was based in Carlsbad, California, United States. The publication also ran an accompanying website and video production company. In Februar ...

performing a kickflip at

Fort Miley Military Reservation The Fort Miley Military Reservation, in San Francisco, California, sits on Point Lobos (not to be confused with Point Lobos near Carmel-by-the-Sea), one of the outer headlands on the southern side of the Golden Gate. Much of the site is part of th ...

. In the

cover photograph Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art ...

, Sheffey's hand drawn griptape art is visible. When the Plan B company was revived in the 2010s, Sheffey rejoined the team.

References

American skateboarders African-American skateboarders Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people {{US-skateboarding-bio-stub