DATE: Friday, October 17, 1997              TAG: 9710150141
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: COVER STORY 

SOURCE: BY LEWIS KRAUSKOPF, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   66 lines

FIVE-YEAR-OLD SKATING DAREDEVIL QUICKLY LEARNS HOW TO BLADE WITH THE BIG BOYS

It's easy to spot the latest phenom skater amid the sea of Airwalk T-shirts and baggy jeans on the ramps at the Chesapeake Skate Park.

He sips orange drink from juice boxes, his pads seem to cover his whole body, and you probably won't catch him hitting on girls.

Oh, and he also comes up about waist-high on the other skaters.

He's Daniel Marinelli, and he's 5.

Since July, Daniel has been a regular roller blader at the park, swooping up and down the ramps among boys literally three times his size and his age.

With mom and dad looking on, Daniel does spins, grinds his blades on the metal rods and drops in on even the 8-foot ramps. Just like the big boys, who find themselves checking out the 3 1/2-foot, 50-pound kid.

``They're like, `Man, that boy's crazy,' '' Daniel's dad, Ed, says with certain pride in describing older boys reacting to his son on the ramps.

Where Daniel blends in is his blading bravado. He holds his own with many of the other skaters, most of whom are in their teens.

Daniel isn't just a skater: He plays tee-ball, football and, of course, roller hockey.

But nothing compares to the skate park.

``I like this better . . . because you can do tricks,'' he says.

Daniel graduated from Fisher-Price roller skates only two months ago. But the Great Bridge boy - who skates around in his Cedarwood neighborhood - fell in love with the ramps almost immediately.

Sometimes, however, the ramps aren't so kind.

Daniel isn't big enough to master every trick, like catching air by catapulting off the ramps, Ed says.

``You have to realize that you're little,'' Ed tells his son, ``so you can't do all the things the big kids can do.

``In his mind, he can do it.''

And like all bladers, Daniel sometimes takes a spill.

On one such time, Daniel trips on the metal rods and ends up eating some concrete.

But no sweat. Daniel gets up, and laughs. So does Ed.

``He's got bruises,'' Ed says with a smile. ``He's got battle wounds.''

Ed stands nearby while Daniel skates, advising his son on technique and reminding him to concentrate.

But Ed also encourages Daniel when he falls. Get up and try it again.

``It's like the old saying goes, you've got to have a positive attitude,'' Ed says.

Mother Tracy doesn't take the falls quite so easily.

``But that's what he loves to do, and he's good at it,'' she says.

Just ask the other teens at the ramp.

``Are you his mom? He rules, he rules,'' one teen told Tracy.

``Good for his age? I think he's good, period,'' said 15-year-old Josh Vanderslice.

For now, the golden-haired boy's size prevents him from doing the tricks his mind already has him doing. The Xtreme Games on ESPN provided Daniel with a lot of excitement, and a lot of dreaming.

``I saw this one guy flipping backward on a ramp, and I was like, `Awesome!' '' he says.

Maybe by the time he's 6. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by L. TODD SPENCER

Daniel Marinelli has mastered the 8-foot ramps at Chesapeake Skate

Park. He also plays tee ball, football and roller hockey, but ``I

like this better . . . because you can do tricks,'' he says.

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