As a second-generation competitive gymnast, Geoff Eaton grew up experiencing firsthand the strict and practically unforgiving discipline required to excel in a demanding sport.
A drive to perfection, unyielding competition, and extreme mental and physical pressures permeate Olympic sports. But when he expanded his father’s gymnastics facility into Kids That Rip (KTR), an indoor skatepark that offers a tour de force of a venue for skateboarders of all levels, Eaton abandoned restrictive rules in favor of a more relaxed environment focused on bringing out the best in students using confidence rather than criticism.
That strategy worked.
Today, KTR is responsible for fostering hundreds of national skateboard champions, more than 10 world champions and three Olympians. And what began as a safe venue for Eaton’s sons Jagger, who won Olympic bronze and silver medals in 2021 and 2024, and Jett to explore and push their own limits in a fun supportive environment, has grown into a serious success machine for countless young athletes. So much so that major countries that treat skateboarding as an Olympic sport aim to emulate his model, born from the grit and resilience that is Greater Phoenix.
A unique curriculum that offers skateboarding along with coaching in supporting skills like tumbling and flexibility, KTR’s emphasis on celebrating the journey, real-life lessons and triumphs — no matter how big or small — aims to help kids be the best human they can be, regardless of their prowess on the quarterpipe.
“Every day, these kids walk in and they get noticed, they matter,” Eaton says. “Some of them become world champions and some of them become better people, and all of them feel like they belong.”
Following the Footsteps of an Olympian
Eaton followed in his father’s floor routine footsteps. Mark “Stormy” Eaton, a six-time world champion gymnast and National Coach of the Year for women’s gymnastics in 1989, opened Desert Devils and turned it into one of the country’s premier gymnastics facilities prior to his passing in 1995. Geoff assumed management and later added Kids That Rip for skateboarding, as he wanted to introduce his kids to a sport outside gymnastics.
As a young dad, Geoff Eaton sought an athletic experience different for his children than the one he had growing up. He envisioned a place where they could compete and learn how to be the athletes they wanted to be, on their own terms, without the breaking pressures associated with must-win leagues or the unstable environment of an outdoor skatepark.
This is where the seed for KTR was planted and grew under his care, with Jagger and Jett as living proof of its efficacy. In 2004, Eaton began training young skateboarders to become Olympic athletes — 17 years before it became part of the Olympics. In 2009, at age 11, Jagger became the youngest person to enter the world-renowned X Games, where he competed against pro skaters from around the world.
This evolved into Eaton’s one-of-a-kind curriculum combined with a state-of-the-art facility that brought something unique to the skateboarding community, offering boys and girls a safe place to come together and thrive at their own pace regardless of abilities.
“Everything here is effort driven, not result driven. You make a good effort, and this is what you got, you're good,” Eaton says. “Destination is all great, but the years of the grind, it’s just the best.” Parents concerned about the lack of safety measures or supervision at an outdoor park found a home for their kids when they walked through the doors and met with Eaton and his team.
“They get to meet someone nice at the front desk, and they get to meet a coach, and the coach gets to show them how to get on the board for the first time. And it's a controlled environment, and there's a curriculum and there's progressions,” Eaton says. “And so even if you're not a tough kid, you learn to be tough.” Eaton’s concept was initially met with skepticism. It defied the rules of a sport and society that prided itself on breaking every rule by proudly claiming to have none. KTR was perceived as a “rage against the machine” move.
And Eaton embraced it.
“There’s something so beautiful about that … We're creating our own world here, basically,” Eaton says, offering his interpretation of the old-school reputation of a rebellious skateboarder kid. "To be a renegade doesn't mean you do bad stuff. It means that you do stuff that no one else can do, and you do it in a way that no one else can do it.”
Building in Greater Phoenix
Breaking the norms is not new for Eaton, who is part of a four-generation Phoenician family — a rarity in a city known for transplants. He chose the region that his family has called home for decades as the home where the limitlessness of skateboarding is matched by the limitlessness of opportunities that would uniquely allow the transformation of his vision into reality. In doing so, he has created a level playing field with affordable access to the facility, reflecting both the personality of KTR and the diverse city where it's based.
“(The kids) get introduced to all walks of life here and there. There are no boundaries, no barriers."
An intangible reward that's more important than medals and titles is the lifelong impact that KTR has had on thousands of youth through the athleticism and art that is distinctively skateboarding and the supportive environment Eaton has cultivated over the last two decades.
“Our goal is to make a kid come in and leave in a stronger position. Whether that be they become a champion in something great or whether they just think highly of themselves when they leave,” Eaton says. “It doesn't matter. It's just the goal is to have them leave stronger than they came.”
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