"I thought it looked pretty cool," said Abel. "Just to see them control the board with no effort with their feet, and that's it."
But unlike most teenagers, Abel doesn't just skate well, he wants others to skate well around him and has become somewhat of a celebrity online for his teaching videos.
"People started commenting on my videos," said Abel, "liking it, watching it, getting thousands of views in days, and it just blew up from there."
Blew up is an understatement. Abel currently has more than 77,000 Twitter followers, not just from the Central Valley or California, but from across the country and around the world.
"I've actually had people send me messages and stuff from like Sweden and the Netherlands, other countries around the world," said Abel. "The Philippines, Malaysia, those are the ones I can remember right now."
And it's his impact on these thousands of people he's never even met that has him thankful to be doing what he loves.
"They tell me that I helped them out a lot with my videos," said Abel. "And sometimes they tell me that I inspire them. Which is pretty cool."
What is pretty cool is Abel's outlook on skating, and its possible effect on the way people live their lives.
"Well I just really like skating," explained Abel. "And I just want to show people that they can do whatever they want to do in their life. It doesn't matter who you are. As long as you love something it can turn into anything."
With words like that, expect those 77,000 Twitter followers to keep increasing one skating trick at a time.
