BLACKFOOT — Jacob Roll has been scootering since before his mom, Linda Roll, can even remember — and now he's getting his chance to show the world what he can do.

"He has been scootering, man, since he was little," Linda said. "Last year, he decided he wanted to compete."

Once Jacob decided to compete for USA Roller Sports, the Blackfoot native quickly rose through the ranks. Roll won his first qualifier in March, then took first in the semifinals and finished fourth overall at nationals in California this August. Those results earned him a spot on the USA Roller Sports team for the World Skate Games in Asunción, Paraguay. He'll compete in scootering Oct. 5-10 during the 16-day event that begins Oct. 2.

"It's not very often that a young man from Idaho gets to compete on an international stage," Linda said.

However, since Roll is only 16 and competes as a junior, he must have a chaperone, which makes the cost of the trip expensive. Compounding matters, there's no funding available for the sport — all of it must be raised and paid for by Jacob and his family.

"There's not any funding right now for the athletes, at least in the U.S.," Linda said. "Scootering is much bigger outside of the United States, so inside USA Roller Sports, they don't have funding for the athletes."

So the Rolls have responded by setting up a GoFundMe to help Jacob compete.

"We're just asking the community to contribute to his GoFundMe," Linda said. "That'll pay for plane tickets to get there — that's the majority of it — and then we'll have to have a hotel room at one of the hotels that World Skate has set aside for athletes."

Even though he just started competing, Roll has built a strong community within the sport and looks to build upon that with a trip to Paraguay.

"He's known in the scootering world here in the U.S.," Linda said. "People know who he is, and he's just doing really well, and is spending a lot of time and effort practicing his sport and getting better and learning. It's a good community — these kids really help one another, reach out and help one another."

The Rolls have raised more than $3,000 of their $6,000 goal and are asking the community to help them reach it.

"We've had a lot of support from family and people who know Jacob personally, which has been really wonderful, and we appreciate all of their willingness to help him out," Linda said. "We're hoping that the larger community will also be willing to help him out, so that we can get this young athlete to Paraguay."

The GoFundMe can be found at gofundme.com/f/support-jacobs-journey-to-world-skate-games-in-paraguay.