-Ales Zelinka proclaims in response to my comment, "kids are crazy these days." I first met Ales while kicking at the 2002 Footjam in Basel, Switzerland. With an intense training schedule of 6 hours a day, Ales and the rest of his Czech cohorts are certainly working grown-up schedules. They want to be the best and they will stop at nothing until they get there. I couldn't believe my eyes when I stepped in a circle with Ales and the other Czech contingent. They had such fire and passion; I really felt that the sky was the limit; there was nothing they couldn't hit. He buried me with unique stuff and was hitting some of the hardest moves with incredible ease. The famed 'Nemesis' is just one example. He will be a tough competitor to contend with. Only 17 and never having been to a World Championships or even outside Europe, will he have the maturity to play with the Worlds finest in San Francisco? I think so. In fact, he is young, highly motivated and full of teenage angst and will probably absorb all that he sees during the week of worlds; he will soon become an uncontrollable beast.

In retrospect, I may have unjustly called him a kid. "You play too deep, you have to play more with your ankles," Ales tutors me, which was one of the few times he used his English with me. Thinking about it harder, I realized he understands a lot about freestyle. After this years Worlds, it will be this "kid" who will be teaching us all a thing or two. See this international sensation coming all the way from the Czech Republic as he goes for the World title... this summer... at the prestigious Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco, California... home of the World Freestyle Championships 2002. Tickets are going fast, call Ticketweb to reserve your seat today!