TARPON SPRINGS, FL -- Do not let the sweet face fool you.

When Faith Walters straps on the skates and her helmet, she means business.

“When she gets out to these competitions, you really see the light switch go on,” said Astro Skate Speed Team Coach Eric Licata.

She even has a game face.

“I feel like I have to be very vile,” Faith said. “I think of Maleficent.”

More like magnificent. Faith currently ranks second in the nation in the 14 and under age group. She’s heading to the national championships in Spokane, Washington where she’s confidant she can better last year’s second-place finish.

“I think I did pretty good last year,” she said. “You know, I’m holding my ground, I’m not letting people say, oh, I’m going to beat Faith. Oh, she sucks. Like, no I don’t suck.”

No, she doesn’t. Since she first laced up a pair of skates when she was 13 months old, Faith’s proved she’s a natural

“Most of it’s the heart,” Licata said. “She loves the sport. She’s got that intensity and that it factor.”

And she makes a difficult sport look easy.

“I look like I’m floating is what I’ve heard before, but it’s more than that,” Faith said. “It’s a lot of technique when you come into skating. But it’s a really fun sport.”

A sport that you can start at a very young age and one that teaches you more than just how to skate fast.

“I tell them it’s the life lesson here,” Licata said. “It’s not just about skating. It’s the discipline, the things we learn here to take out when we’re young people and young adults.”

Faith puts in a lot of work to perfect her craft. Its hours of practice on and off the floor. But when she crosses that finish line first, all the sacrifices pay off.

“It’s all those months of work just relieved off her chest,” she said. “I have to cancel plans with friends. I have to cancel appointments sometimes. It’s crazy the stuff I do for this sport.”