Listen up Chicas! We have put together all the info you need to jump on board and kick start that skateboarding career or just get moving on four wheels. If you have always wanted to take up skateboarding here are the vitals to get you going!
Girls are getting more involved in skateboarding than ever! For too long it was a male-dominated activity, with surveys showing that only 26% of skaters were female.
Now, with a host of skate comps for girls springing up around the world a new generation of chick-skaters have started dominating the skate-parks and the streets!
If you like the idea of tipping yourself over the edge of a sheer, smooth drop and gliding down a vert ramp, ripping it up in a skate-park or just like the idea of leaving the car at home, grabbing a skateboard and coasting down to your local store with the wind in your hair and the sun on your back, don’t wait, get out there!
Skateboarding can be as easy or as difficult as you choose to make it, and with so many girls getting involved in skating these days there has never been a better time to start!
Chicks who Rip!
Skaters such as Cara-Beth ‘CB’ Burnside and Elissa Steamer have elevated the status of girls’ skateboarding. Burnside, holding sixteen skateboarding titles, is also a member of the first United States Olympic Snowboarding team.
Steamer, the first female skater in Tony Hawk's video game series, is widely regarded as the best girl-skater of all time because she is not only a great female skater, she is an awesome skater, period!
Other chicks who rip include Holly Lyons who started up her very own clothing company, SK8GRL, in 2007 after seeing a need for girls to have their own identity and place in skateboarding. Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins, a 19 year-old who grabs more air on the vert ramp than most boys has taken home a few medals at the X-Games and impressed crowds world-wide with her skills.
This is only to name a few!
Skateboarding with Benefits!
These incredible women have been able to power ahead in recent times because of the creation and expansion of ‘all girl’ skate comps including The All Girl Skate Jam which begins touring 50 cities in June 2008 as part of the Vans Warped Tour.
The event, which was created by Patty Segovia after seeing a void in girls’ pro skating, offers a cash prize for vert and street disciplines. Today, the AGSJ, which is for ‘all ages, all abilities, all girls’, offers up to $7,500 in prizes and tours internationally.
Find other competitions and dates for girls' skateboarding events at World Cup Skateboarding.
Choose Your Deck!
Becoming a skater starts with picking up a board and learning to ride! Borrow your best mate’s or your brother’s board and get skating!
You can even buy a very pink and very punk girl-designed skateboard online at CoolGirlDecks.com.
For a cruising longboard perfect for beachside boardwalks check out a 48” Island Grrl Longboard at CurlyGrrlz Skateboards.
Know the Lingo!
Before you start jamming with the pros, you should pick up some skating terms and learn a few tricks!
Carving: Carving is about turning your board toeside or heelside. Push down on your heels and the board will turn in that direction, push on your toes and same deal.
Fakie: Riding ‘Fakie’ means that the foot that would usually be on the front of the board is at the back.
Kickturns: Put both feet at the back of the board to flip it up for a moment and swing the board around to face another direction.
180: A 180 is when the skater turns the board 180degrees while in the air.
360: Same as a 180, but turned 360degrees (full circle).
Trucks: The axle of the board (between the two wheels)
Grind: Grinding is the name for sliding along the edge of something, like a diagonal pole.
If you’re looking to nail some manoeuvres and advance to the next level check out ‘A Girls Guide to Skateboarding’, by Patty Segovia and Rebecca Heller. It offers step by step photos to learn tricks and give you the low down on all the need to know stuff.
Gimme More!! Find Skateparks, Join Organisations and Get the Gear
The best place to find friends to skate with is at your local skate-park. For a detailed list of skate-parks around the globe check out Concrete Disciples. Next time you travel overseas stop by a skate-park and get to know the locals. It breaks any language barrier and a great way to make new friends!
Travelling and skateboarding are good companions! You can bring your board easily on a plane or pack into your luggage…it offers mobile transportation everywhere and saves money!
Organisations such as SkateLikeAGirl.com offer skate sessions and events to bring women skateboarders together.
To support women skateboarding and increase professional opportunities you can help develop the sports future by joining The Alliance, founded by Cara-Beth Burnside. For a small donation you get hooked up with stickers, an autographed postcard and T-Shirt.
Get the look! Find fashion and merchandise, including proper skate shoes, that scream "I'm just a Skatergirl" at Delias.com and ActiveRideShop.com for girls.
Last, but not least, Safety!
While learning to ride like the pros you should protect your head, wrists, elbows and knees. They are usually the first place for injury when skateboarding. Here are some online stores to compare. It might seem like a hefty investment, but a trip to the hospital will cost you much more, not to mention months laid up recovering on the couch.
Decade Mail Order
Watch Some of the Best tear it up!
www.ExplorerGirls.com / Gemma Considine and Courtney Crow
Photos: Lyn-Z Adams at XGames / Tony Donaldson (STL), Longboards / CurlyGrrlz, Jodi McDonald at Vans Warped Tour and Monica Shaw in Australia / Courtney Crow (STL)
Posted on 11 March 2008 - 1:51pm
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