Let’s face it, the sports world is dominated by men. While there are havens for female athletes, such as volleyball or softball, the plain fact is that spectator competitions generally focus on contests among males.
Skateboarding is no different. Vert skating in particular is a parade of masculine, tough-talking daredevils exemplifying what is perhaps the defining male trait: willingness to risk neck-breaking injury for the sake of a good trick.
Why should this be? There is certainly no shortage of athletic prowess in the gender which dominates sports like gymnastics and roller derby, sports that demand the same type of skills.
And you certainly you see enough girls skateboarding. In some towns, the skateboard has replaced the purse among independent, DIY-minded girls who don’t need to be taken for a ride. Girls tend to be lighter and stronger in the legs, which would seem to give them an edge over boys.
So why is the skate park usually a sausage festival where boys practice their age-old pastime of one-ups-man-ship? Why is practically every skateboard video displaying the acrobatics of all-male teams? And, most importantly, who will be the female Tony Hawk?
I mean, the guy has moves, but he’s not all that easy on the eyes. Fortunately, the last few years have seen the emergence of a number of mommas with some serious talent. And a whole new wave of girl power is taking skating by storm.
Megan Baltimore of Girl Skateboards, known as the “Matriarch” can handle herself on a board, but is known more for her work behind the camera than in front of it. Strangely, she is the only female among the management of the image-conscious brand.
Holly Lyons, however, is a bona-fide pro. Out of Walnut Creek, California, Holly Lyons is currently ranked first in the world in Women’s Bowl Skating and second in Women’s Vert, behind Cara-Beth Burnside. She created Sk8Grl Clothing company and headlines their professional team. She has also been sponsored by Cool Girl Decks, Sweeny, Manitoba Harvest, Anarchy Eyewear, etnies girl, and Nixon Skates.
Cara-Beth Burnside was the first president of the Action Sports Alliance as well as consistently making the top rankings in both skateboarding and snowboarding. She was on the first American Olympic snowboarding team in 1998, where she placed fourth snowboarding half-pipe in the competition.
Burnside also ranked first in the summer X-Games skateboarding vert event that same year. She has been sponsored by some of the leading skateboard manufacturers including Vans and Hurley, and holds the distinction of being the first woman to have had a signature skate shoe made for her.
Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins has been competing professionally since she was only 11 years old. When she was 10 and still learning to skate at the All-Girl Skate Jam summer camp, world renowned skater and skate-camp pro counselor, Cara-Beth Burnside is said to have offered her a hundred dollars to give the vert ramps a go, but Lyn-Z wouldn’t do it. Last year, when she was 17, she placed first in the Women’s Vert competition in the X-Games.
These stars are paving the way for a new generation of girls skateboarding-slick, streetwise, and ready to take the boys to the concrete.
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