Finding a skater girl in North Dakota was challenging. But not impossible thanks to
they introduced me to joyorama – Joy is skateboarding in Fargo North Dakota – she’s been skating for 11 years and is still obsessed!
Finding the girls for #girlscanskate USA was more fun than I ever imagined. And I got way more help than I expected. After a rough start with the West Virginia guy who told me the only girls at skateparks are girlfriends, I’ve been met with only positive vibes & help.
The posts will keep coming and once all the states have been posted – the collage will be released. Thank you to everyone who believes and encourages #girlscanskate.
Below Joy’s Skateboard Story
SKATEBOARDING = freedom
I started skating at 19 years old. At times, I wish I would have started younger but then again, maybe I wasn’t ready for the wave of skateboarding to overtake me as it did at 19. Once I started, I was hooked. In college if I wasn’t in class, working, or studying, I was skating at our local Fargo skate park. The love of it never seemed to escape me, some nights I would awake in the morning to the reminisce of skateboarding dreams.
To me, skateboarding brings freedom. I never feel as free as I do when I’m on my skateboard. At the skate park, there are no obligations, no stress. There I can ride fast and hard and get that overwhelming adrenaline rush that is pure bliss. I get in the zone and don’t have to think about anything else.
My routine is to grab my motorcycle and throw my skateboard on the back. I take a moto joyride to the skate park and it’s the best of both world’s colliding: skating and motorcycle.
I purely ride park. My favorite trick is a fakie tail stall. I just conquered a fakie 5-0. I do a lot of cobing tricks; stalls, rock-n-roll, fakie rock-n-roll, etc… and like to ride fast and have long session lines.
I met the other love of my life through skating, my hubby. He saw me riding and thought I looked intimidating because I had my focused, skate default face going on. He later saw me at church and struck up a conversation that started out as, “hey, you’re that girl that skates…” And soon after that we were dating and have been married 9 years now. I can’t even begin to explain how energizing it is to have someone that shares the same love of riding. By day he’s a graphic designer and off duty he’s a phenomenal BMXer who has been sponsored twice and was invited a few years ago to Greenville, NC to ride with some pros that came to Fargo. He wasn’t going to go and I told him if he didn’t I’d kill him. He did end up going. (I brag about him because he is the most humble person I know).
Recently I’ve been teaching a 16 year old girl who rides longboards to skate. She just learned to drop in; I was so proud! It’s so fun to share this unique love of a wood board on wheels with a fellow girl and I know the girl skate culture will only continue to grow.
The Fargo skate park has a great dynamic and culture. I’m typically the only girl and all the guys are really tight. These skate park people, we’re like a family. We don’t see each other during the winter and then when spring comes we are so excited to get back to what we love doing. After our crazy long winters, there is this insane excitement that buzzes at our park.
I’m 30 now and its been 11 years since skateboarding overtook me, and the only thing that troubles me about getting older is the thought that I won’t be able to skate as I age. I saw some 40-50 something ladies carving at the Denver skate park and I hope that’s me some day.
Shout out to all my fellow skater girls. If any of you lovely people are in Fargo, hit me up and we’ll go skate the day away.
Cheers from Fargo. 