One curious kid reminded the snowboarding world what joy really looks like
Snowboarding can be tricky, especially if your board is designed for something else. Just ask 11-year-old Mickey Watkins, who decided that a plastic tote bin lid was close enough to a snowboard and pointed himself down a small but precarious hill near his home.
“It does not work,” he said with a frustrated smile after another failed attempt nearly sent him falling.
Still, Mickey kept trying. The flimsy, tattered lid was all he had — and sometimes, that’s all a dream needs.
Last winter, fate slid into his life in the form of professional snowboarders practicing tricks near an apartment complex in north Minneapolis. Among them was photographer Mike Yoshida, a globe-trotting lensman who’s captured elite riders flying across mountains and rails. Mickey, wide-eyed and fearless, wandered over to watch.
“He just gravitated towards us and started hanging out and watching the guys snowboard,” Mike Yoshida said.
Inspired, Mickey grabbed a nearby tote bin lid and showed them his own version of urban snowboarding. Yoshida, sensing something special, lifted his camera and snapped a photo — a kid, a hill, and a grin full of courage.
“It’s cool to be able to see his face,” said Yoshida of Watkins’ picture. “In snowboard photos, a lot of times people are wearing goggles and are covered up.”
That uncovered smile turned out to be magic.
The image found its way to The Snowboarder’s Journal, where content director Colin Wiseman saw something different from the usual high-altitude stunts and icy peaks.
“I think pretty much any snowboarder can relate to, like, that first time they stood up and just slid down. It’s a straightforward process, but it just feels so good,” Colin Wiseman said.
When Wiseman chose Mickey’s photo for the December cover, he trusted his gut.
“It was a bit of an ongoing discussion because it does break the mold. And I don’t know, I just felt that one in my gut. In my heart, I was just like, ‘This one just feels good,’” said Wiseman. “Thankfully, people reacted to it the same way as me.”
React they did. Social media lit up with praise, calling it one of the magazine’s best covers ever. Even Yoshida was stunned by how far that quiet moment had traveled.
“I want to say this is probably one of the more important photos that I’ve ever shot because of the places it’s going and the attention it’s getting positively,” Yoshida said.
Mickey’s mom, Bathsheba Burks, found out her son was famous the same way many parents do these days — through Facebook.
“That’s amazing. He should cherish that. He’s going to cherish it,” Burks said.
And the story didn’t stop there. A local nonprofit, Melanin in Motion, reached out with a mission bigger than a magazine cover: giving kids of color access to outdoor sports. Soon, Mickey will receive lessons, real gear, and his very first true snowboard.
“I hope it sends that message that snowboarding is for everyone, and you don’t have to be doing it in some far-off exotic place. Just grab what you can and slide down a hill,” Wiseman said.
This story is a reminder that greatness doesn’t always start on a mountain — sometimes it starts with a cracked plastic lid and a fearless smile. In a world obsessed with perfection, Mickey Watkins showed us that heart, curiosity, and joy matter more than fancy equipment. And honestly, that’s the kind of cover we all need to see more of.
Source:
- https://youtu.be/bjgfTcBGOcE?si=TktSULncEVih2i7g
- https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minneapolis-boy-snowboarding-magazine-cover/
- https://aistudio.google.com/
- https://chatgpt.com/
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