Girls Skateboarding Around the World

January 30, 2016 Jordan 1 Comment

I show girls skateboarding around the world because more girls skate when they see girls skateboarding.

Magalyfbe is a special inspiration to me because she’s a girl that skates around the world. Originally from Peru living in Australia she took her skateboard to Slovenia, Italy, France, and Switzerland.

How rad – I would love to take a trip like that. Where are you skateboarding and how far have you traveled with your board?

So this day in January we are grateful a girl can take her skateboard and have fun around the world.

Longboard Dancing in Taipei City – Taiwan

January 30, 2016 Jordan

Jane.Jenson shares her style and love of long boarding in Taipei City, Taiwan. Please take the time to share your photos. Seeing is believing so when girls see girls skateboarding it’s an inspiration.

Thanks for the inspiration Jane – click to see the video.

In December the blog featured girls from different cities around the world. Ran out of days in December but not girls – so on this day in January we are grateful for girls skateboarding around the world starting in Taiwan.

REHABILISKATE getting back to skateboarding

January 29, 2016 Jordan

The January posts have focused on being thankful for the people/organizations who help us skate. This post is about one skater girls courage to fight back through a debilitating illness and skateboard again.

The doctors told me ” you can’t ” I told them One day ” I could “. Here is one day. Almost 1 year after the accident that took away my freedom of health and being – rehabiliskate_crpswarrior

I take my health for granted – finding out about Nikki’s story makes me realize how thankful I am for my health.

Nikki has CRPS Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. She was diagnosed with CRPS following a car accident in January of last year It resides in 75% of her body, affecting mostly her hips/pelvis and legs..

Nikki does daily treatments while being a mom.

Rehabiliskate isn’t just about skateboarding for me, it’s about gaining a life back through debilitating condition ~ 6 months ago I was headed for a wheelchair, today I am walking next to my champ at one of my favorite waterfalls!! Achieve the unimaginable by allowing yourself to make the choices for your life ~ they said never, I said whatever! – rehabiliskate_crpswarrior

On Instagram she’s rehabiliskate_crpswarrior. She was diagnosed 3 weeks before she was going to launch her longboard brand “bohoboard”. She was told her future was a wheelchair, but she didn’t accept that future – instead she choose to rehabilitate herself to skate again ~ Rehabiliskate.

Her goal is to turn Rehabiliskate into a school for those with adrenaline souls and disabled bodies ~ do events, fundraisers, jam nights, competitions, yoga on a board competitions, CRPS awareness nights, help the youth, teach skateboarding, the list is endless but I want to do it for the kids that don’t have a voice, the helpless ones who just want to belong somewhere too.

2015 was the year Rehabiliskate was founded ~ held its first event and started showing its face into the world

CRPS has made her understand the ins and outs of living with a disability/chronic illness, my soul is aching to be free again, almost like I’m stuck in a body I don’t want to be in, but I have no choice but to become more of what God handed me.

She believes Life isn’t always fair, but the possibilities are endless when we learn to adapt to our circumstances.

I’m grateful for being able to share Nikki’s story and I know it’s a story that is just beginning and will have many wonderful chapters.

Thank you Nikki – I love your style on and off the skateboard!

French Skater Girl living in NYC

January 28, 2016 Jordan 1 Comment

Today we’re celebrating organizations that show the world girls can skateboard. Showing the world is important to me because I believe more girls skateboard when they see stylish girls skateboarding.

One stylish French Skater Girl I’ve been able to see is co2vision real name Corinne Seguin. She’s currently living in New York City.

You can see her on her IG account and the accounts of femmeskate and spacycloud. She actually came with the spacycloud founder, Tati Kolina to EXPOSURE Skate 2015 in November – where spacycloud was a sponsor and offered a collaborative deck.

Femmeskate started as a Raquel Zerbe project to encourage and unite all female skaters by putting together a series of fashion/skate photo shoots.

Today femmeskate continues the adventure by showing females that they are not alone, impacting them to practice, to not be afraid go get out there! Supporting fellow female skaters whether they just like to cruise or learn tricks. As long as they’re trying and enjoy it they deserve support.

femmeskate is always working with others like my friends at gro (girls riders org) because they know empowered girls empower girls and that we all win by working together!

So huge thanks to spacycloud, EXPOSURE skate, femmeskate, and gro for showing girls skateboarding. And thanks Corinne for showing us girls skateboarding is global by taking your skateboard when you moved to NYC and how one girl can work with other girls to be the change they want to see.

Inspiration from Down Under

January 27, 2016 Jordan 1 Comment

Holidaysauce_skateboards aka mum Laura shares this photo which makes me believe that everything is better smaller and with a touch of pink.

This is Miranda, she’s 5 years old and from Adelaide, South Australia. She loves skating in different skate spots around southern Adelaide, drawing robots and pretending she’s an aeroplane (airplane).

Mum and dad got her some skate coaching, which has been so much fun and really helpful in teaching her proper techniques and safety.

Miranda also loves skating in her lounge room, because it means she can launch herself from the board to the couch . . . at speed. Mum and dad don’t mind, though we encourage her to skate as often as possible outside. It’s all about having as much fun on the board as possible (and wearing cool pink helmets!)

While she’s currently the only girl from her group of friends who skate, we hope her enthusiasm and playfulness will help encourage more girls to do the same. Until then, she’s stuck with mum and dad at the skatepark. – Laura

Miranda is very lucky to be “stuck” with such encouraging parents. I’m confident her enthusiasm will be contagious and soon southern Adelaide skate parks will have many skatingfashionistas!

Her friends are also lucky because I hear her house has lots of skateboards for them to try out. So today we celebrate all the people from down under who encourage girls to skateboard for fun.

Bridge to Skate Transforming Live through Skateboards

January 26, 2016 Jordan

Bridge to Skate uses skateboarding to transform the lives of youth by creating dynamic new paths to self-confidence, personal empowerment and responsibility for each other and their communities. Bridge to Skate was founded by Chantelle Heroux who wanted to pay it back for some strangers who positively changing her life when they gave her a skateboard. Through her skateboard she learned patience, perseverance and discipline which is what she wants to share now.

pictures Bridge to Skate IG

Here’s my Q&A with Chantelle

SF 1) You were 12 when you got your first skateboard, when did you start Bridge to Skate?

Chantelle: I started giving back through skateboarding prior to establishing Bridge To Skate, but Bridge To Skate became technically established in 2009. I never thought about starting an organization from my ideas- I just wanted to do something, and I felt an obligatory need to help kids the way that I was helped. After attempting to build a skateboard park in Honduras, I was approached by my friend, who proposed the idea.

SF 2) Bridge to Skate supports all skateboarders about how many boards to you give out a year? What percentage of that is girls?

Chantelle: Every year, we give out at least 365 skateboard completes through our Skateboard Recipient Program. Probably about a third of those go to females. We have a network of shops and people that donate their old gear to us. Anything that still has life, we’ll use to create skateboard completes to give away. With all the old unusable equipment, we host art clinics. It’s a really cool system because something that is useless to one person can create a dream for another. In addition to that- it keeps thousands of pounds of trash from landfills.

SF 3) Do you see more girls being interested in skateboarding here in America, abroad, all over?

Chantelle: Although skateboarding roots are in the United States, and there is a huge, growing female skateboard scene here, I feel like it’s growing even faster abroad. A lot of nations, like Honduras, don’t really know whether the sport is ‘male’ or ‘female’, so very protective mothers allow their girls to participate. Bridge To Skate built a small skateboard park in a mountain town in Honduras, and it’s very evident who’s taking it seriously- and it’s the females. It’s a really exciting time for female skateboarding worldwide. I think a lot is going to change in the next few years.

SF 4) If someone wants to help but they can’t with money – maybe they’re like me too young for a job – how can they help Bridge to Skate?

Chantelle: We have so many different ways to get involved with Bridge To Skate. Most of our volunteers are actually youth between 12- 18. If there’s a Bridge To Skate program existing in their neighborhood, we can always use extra help. Or, if there isn’t- we have a Youth Empowerment Program that allows youth to start their own movement. Youth can also always chip-in by saving their old equipment (even if they think it’s trash) and donate it to our program.

SF 5) Loved the picture of a girl getting a board from Bridge to Skate on IG. Do you support people after they get a board with lessons – not that giving boards isn’t the greatest gift of all, just wondering what other rad acts of kindness Bridge to Skate does?

Chantelle: Certainly. Most of the skateboards we give away are in areas that have existing programs. We’re constantly having contests (which always have a girls category) and learn-to-skate lessons. Most of the boards we give away go to people that have never owned a skateboard before. Occasionally, we’ll give completes away to youth that had their board stolen, or we’ll swap out a really bad board ( ‘walmart’ skateboards) for something that is usable. When the equipment wears or breaks, we’ll sustain it by providing more usable gear (often not new) to keep kids on board. We also have a Mentorship program to make sure our youth stay motivated and moving forward.

Bridge to Skate definitely an organization/movement that supports girls skateboarding – Thank You Bridge to Skate! And I hope to work more with you in the years to come.

We’re almost out of days in January – and we are moving our focus to Canadian Skater Girls in February – but in keeping with January’s theme of celebrating people who help others learn to sk8 – me paying it back for that boy who taught me to kick turn when he really could have rolled far far away – in March we’ll be back celebrating those who inspire.

Yes my mission is getting more girls skateboarding for fun and it’s only fun when everyone is encouraged to skateboard so keep sharing your stories about those who inspire girls and/or boys. See below how Bridge to Skate worked with Camp Woodward in Season 7 to inspire all skateboarders & filmers. Filmers – photographers – video shows so important because more people skateboard when they see people skateboarding! And people/organizations working together is so important to getting more people skateboarding for fun.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out woodwardcamp’s show ‘Camp Woodward’ featuring our very own, tillmanator3000 (as well as a couple of our favorites- brightonzeuner and jackspicoli)! Thank you (x one million) for making this happen nealhendrix and mikethomastv

Link to watch Camp Woodward Season 7 click here.

What Did You Do At School Today? Made a Skateboard.

January 25, 2016 Jordan 1 Comment

My mom is always asking “What did you do at school today?” I have never made a board.

Artpanthers shares a class pic of a student who made her own board and now she’s going to learn to ride it. Skateboarding is sport and art.

How you set your board up is a reflection of what you’re thinking & feeling. I love to share the pictures and stories of the rad boards out there.

In keeping with the January theme of celebrating people who help others learn to skate – thank you to the teachers and coaches. Thank you to my English/Yearbook teachers who encourage me to write and Neal Mims who’s opening his own place Academy Skatepark in Vista, CA.

If you’re in the area stop by – I’ll be blogging live!

If you’re not in area, still follow Academy because it’s more than a park – it’s a Community! Plus they have an on-line pro-shop and will have live feeds.

Vans Girls Combi Pool Classic 2016

January 24, 2016 Jordan 10 Comments

Yesterday, I went to Vans Girls Combi Pool Classic 2016 at the Vans Skatepark in Orange, Ca – these are my highlights. Warning if you’re looking for the stats – facts on who competed, where they placed, how big the bowl is, amount of the prizes – not going to be in this post.

And don’t rely on Don Brown’s IG. Daniel Vargas had the best purple hair at the event.

I admire people who compete. I gained so much self-confidence the two times I competed at Girls Combi. Believe me that is a serious pool that requires a lot of skill and practice. The girls who competed put so much time in and are so disciplined it amazes me.

What also amazed me was the support and inspiration at this year’s competition. I’ll begin with Don Bostick, as the driving force behind World Cup Skateboarding he creates a stage for skaters. That is important because more people skateboard when they see people skateboarding. Thank you Don and Vans because without you there wouldn’t be an event or this blog post.

A skateboard event like Girls Combi feels like a party because you get to interact with the athletes. There’s no going on the field or sitting on the bench in football, but at Vans anyone with a bracelet – they have to limit space there really is only so much room – regardless of what kind of bracelet is at the party.

Thank you mom – camera mom for most of these pictures. My mom doesn’t skateboard, however, she is my biggest helper on my mission to get more girls skateboarding for fun and keeping it fashionable.

Here I am with Minna & Michelle who both competed and did awesome in the 14 and under amateur category.

And here I’m still with Minna and Flying Arianna, who’s inspired me since I first saw her skate/fly at Exposure 2013.

I was beyond excited to run into Courtney – my counselor from Woodward West this past break.

I then caught up with her and Krystal from Shop 3 Thirty who’s always being the rad she wants to see and donating back from every sale.

I love this post from Brielsk8grl – who at four years old inspires so many that #girlscanskate by sharing her skate pictures.

She’s with Julz, Alana, Leticia and Matt. He works 24/7 supporting girls skateboarding through Silly Girl Skateboards. Who produces one of the best beanies out there as seen on Briel.

Here I’m with Julz founder of Julz Skateboards. At my first combi event two years ago, Julz amazed me with her skateboarding now she’s amazing me by riding her own signature board that she created as part of her own brand #girlboss.

Speaking of creative girls who started their own successful companies – I got to catch up with Cindy from Girls is NOT a 4 Letter Word.

Cindy sporting her new Team hat and super excited that four of her team riders were competing – took the time to show me and Jack (aka Spicoli Films) the new GN4LW collection of pins. Zoom in or just go to her site because these pins are fashionable and inspirational.

Vans brings the food to the party. Yes there’s a bbq and best of all there are Oreos. Thank you again Vans. And thank you to the judges. Jean Rusen, Mike Taylor and Aaron Astorga.

Jean Rusen aka Calamity Jean – is so inspirational as OG Betty says she’s a Classy Broad. Jean started skateboarding at 25, sponsored at 35, and won a Pro event at 44 proving you can start skateboarding at any age. I know Aaron from volunteering with him at EXPOSURE Skate plus he’s a master ramp builder – having hooked up my friend Gui Khury.

Speaking of Exposure Skate – a non-profit dedicated to empowering women through skateboarding, I got to strike a pose with Amelia Brodka. She’s the founder of Exposure, the maker of the documentary Underexposed, an Arbor Girl plus she just finished a fashion shoot.

I’ve always looked up to Amelia and now she’s in Teen Vogue and I couldn’t be happier because more girls skateboard when they see stylish girls skateboarding and so many will see the csiriano campaign shot by sophiabanksc.

I’ve written before about how I love and respect companies like Active Ride Shop, who employ real skater girls in their ads and look books. And I’m always excited when I find more companies to thank like RVCA Womens and MovieTickets.com who have Nora as an advocate. More girls do skateboard as they see girls skateboarding.

Girls will soon have more skater girls to see when Carrik releases his next music video. I can’t spill the details yet I’m just excited that girls skateboarding is getting more visibility.

Another brand that showcases girls – and I don’t immediately think of them as a brand but as a destination is Camp Woodward. Thank you Camp Woodward for girls’ skateboard week at your camps. I totally enjoyed skateboarding with the Hoopla Crew last summer including Alana, Hunter & Nicole who skated in the pro category at Combi. Plus on Mondays the world can watch new episodes of brand new pro Brighton on Woodward TV Season 7.

Here I am with Neal Hendrix, Brand Manager at Camp Woodward, who make it all possible.

And here I’m with Vinton, the founder of 187 Killer Pads – the knee pads I and many of the athletes at the event wear because they work. Killer Pads doesn’t make me think of pink – but Vinton’s team they do pink – they do any custom pad you can think of. The pads they partner with the Pink Helmet Posse are especially eye catching and perfect for smaller knees.

I mentioned earlier that you’re never too old to start or keep skateboarding. You’re also never to young. Two of the most inspiring girls I saw skate where from the Pink Helmet Posse – Bella & Relz.

Other inspirations to me were the girls who traveled from all over to make Girls Combi an international event. From Jordan who came from Texas shredding her Hosoi Board.

to Thais Gazarra and other girls who came from Brazil and beyond.

Girls are skateboarding around the world and as they continue to show their pictures and stories more girls will skateboard and gain the benefits – skateboarding is sport and art. To me it’s rolling yoga – regardless of your board, level, style you will gain balance and self-confidence.

I’m grateful to have found skateboarding and now have the opportunity to share it while also having the opportunity to pursue my other love fashion. So here it is the best outfit at Girls Vans Combi 2016.

I cannot visit the Vans Combi Pool without checking out the store. That’s where I found a perfect t-shirt dress, while not practical for skating the pool – it’s a must have for your closet. And don’t forget the beanie – a must have for helmet hair plus it’ll keep you warm.

Thank you skateboarding and thank you to everyone who helps inspire, support and show girls skateboarding – more girls do skateboard as they see stylish girls skateboarding.

Skateboarding With Dad

January 23, 2016 Jordan

Yes – I blog because more girls skateboard when they see girls skateboarding. Plus it’s about the encouragement. My biggest supporter has always been my dad. Looks like Luna has some awesome support too!

It’s always in style to skate with a smile. Keep skateboarding fun & for everyone!

Below skateboarding with my dad – Carmel Valley Skatepark!

Play Time at the Skate Park

January 22, 2016 Jordan

Today we celebrate all the parents like davidsonmetalmagic who encourage their kids to have fun on their skateboards. This picture from Osborne Skate Park shows the gang having “Play Time” on their madre_skateboards.

Yes, even if skateboarding to you is a straight line across a flat park if you’re having fun skateboarding – keep skateboarding. Own your fun – own your time on the skateboard – it’s your time.

I heard it from @wex1200 your passion is not a distraction at Agenda Emerge Long Beach January 2016.

I believe that & I know that my passion for skateboarding has benefited me and can benefit others. So have fun/play time on your skateboard!

Skating Fashionista