Petaluma 14-year-old within skateboarding distance of Olympics

Petaluma’s Minna Stess is on the verge of reaching the pinnacle of her world at an age when many teenagers are worried about their algebra finals.

Stess, just 14, is a legitimate candidate to be on the an Olympian, not a Junior Olympian, but an honest-to-goodness red, white and blue-clad member of the U.S. Olympic team.

For the Valley Oaks High School student, it is a far cry from what her parents, Andrew Stess and Moniz Franco ever envisioned when 2-year-old toddler Minna began emulating her older brother, Finnley, on a skateboard.

“I wanted to do everything Finnley was doing,” Stess said, “and I found out how much fun it is to skate.”

Minna and her family quickly found out that not only was it fun for her, but she was also very good at it. Her list of accomplishments are long an impressive, beginning well before her teen years. She started actively competing at age 5 and has a library-long lists of championships, titles, “youngest” and “firsts.”

Among her many accomplishments, in 2016 she was the first to win the ATV award at the King of the Groms National Championships for best all-around in the 15-and-under division as well as the youngest to win the Tim Braugh 15-and-under Bowl contest and the first girl ever to podium in both the Tim Brauch street and bowl contests. The King of the Groms is the world’s largest competition for 16-under skateboarders.

Her skateboarding has taken her to Brazil, China and Europe, and made her part of Disney’s “Dream Big, Princess – Be a Champion campaign. She has competed in the X-Games and is a member of the U.S. National Team.

The next step is the Olympics. To qualify she needs to be among the top three in World Championship State Boarding Championship events. She is currently ranked No. 4.

The problem is that all events, including the Olympics themselves, are on hold. Skateboarding was planned to be a part of the summer Olympics for the first time in Tokyo this summer. The Covid-19 pandemic forced postponement. The 2020 Olympics will now be held July 23-Aug. 8 2021 in Tokyo.

Stess is philosophical about the Olympics. “I’m pretty young,” she said. “I still have multiple Olympics ahead of me.”

If the Petaluman does make the team she will be not only the youngest member of the skateboarding team, but possibly the youngest USA Olympian.

Stess has been able to continue working out during the pandemic because her parents invested in a skatepark in the backyard of the family home. It works, but is not the premier parks she normally uses for practice. She has also suspended the 500-mile trips she and her mother were making to train with a professional coach in Southern California.

The long drives are only a part of the strong support she receives from her family. “My whole family is a part of it. Everyone has helped,” she said.

One thing the pandemic has done is give Stess a recess from the routine of school, practice, completion and training. “I’m taking a little break for the summer,” she acknowledged. “Sometimes it can get pretty stressful.”

But she is also looking toward getting back into competition. “I know everyone is working as hard as I am,” she said. “It has been almost a year since we’ve had any competition. Our last qualifier was in November.”

Stess is taking care of the academic side of her busy life through the Valley Oaks Independent Study program, but even that is different these days. “I can’t even meet with my teachers to find out what other people are doing,” she noted.

The teen sees skateboarding in her future, not only the competition, but also sponsorships, branding and maybe even a line of clothing.

But the travel, the notoriety and even the Olympics aren’t the reason Minna Stess skateboards. The real motivation: “It’s fun.”