{"id":1782,"date":"2020-04-15T14:07:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T18:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vpms1.humber.smartmanagedservers.com\/scribemag\/?p=1782"},"modified":"2022-08-18T11:58:08","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T15:58:08","slug":"shred-like-a-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/scribemag\/sports\/shred-like-a-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"Shred Like a Girl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Emily Wilson<\/em><\/strong> |<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fay Ebert spends every minute she can at her local skatepark in Mississauga, sometimes skating for 11 hours straight. The commitment has earned her the nickname \u2018Fay All Day\u201d by fellow skaters. The small
but mighty girl soars through the air attempting to land that perfect trick with determination etched onto her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CJ\u2019s skatepark is filled with male skaters in their early 20s zipping wildly around while Ebert stands out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason? She\u2019s only ten years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But being the only girl in a room full of guys also raises the question of where the other females are in the skateparks since it is very uncommon to see. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why is that?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You may have heard of the Zephyr Boys, or maybe Z-Boys in the 1970s from films like Lords of Dogtown<\/em> and Dogtown and Z-Boys<\/em>. The group of young skaters were the original inventors of what we now know as aerial skateboarding born in the empty pools of West LA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But one of the original group members was Peggy Oki, the only girl on the team and one of the few females who revolutionized skateboarding for women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Japanese\/American skater, surfer, and environmental activist helped transform how women are viewed in sports by worrying less about how people perceived her and more of how she skated and presented herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, 50 years later, women are taking skateboarding by storm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Female skate groups are a staple in many skate communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Groups like Skate Kitchen from New York City, the inspiration for the film of
the same name, and Nefarious Skate Crew out of London, U.K. are breaking the boundaries put into place a long time ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All are here to prove how skateboarding isn\u2019t the bro lifestyle we always thought it was while diminishing the pot-smoking, high school dropout stigma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephanie Battieste created Babes Brigade, a Toronto-based female skate crew, in 2015. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had the idea to give girls a space where they can connect and find each other through social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It created a safe space for female \u2018boarders\u2019 so they could have fun without intimidation, which allowed girls to learn to skate in the carefree environment she had. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The loud and animated 33-year-old wanted to teach lessons to young girls and \u201cinspire [them] to be confident in your skin,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another female skate group out of Calgary was created for the same reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erica Jacobs, a 39-year-old skater, wanted an inclusive space of encouragement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She learned to skate with the intention of improving her snowboarding skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was just skating with my boyfriend and his dude friends,\u201d she says,
and eventually found a few girls to enjoy her skate session with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But over time, she wanted to find more girls to skate with, so she created the 100(%) Skate Club<\/a><\/em> Facebook page which gained a lot of traction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the days when Jacobs was learning how to skate, there was only one skatepark available, Millennium Park in downtown Calgary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was once the largest skatepark in North America and had hosted pro
skaters like Tony Hawk. This made it difficult for her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust to gain the courage to go there took me two years,\u201d Jacobs says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty years have gone by and she is no longer intimidated as she shows up to the park with a crew of girls and is known by the community as a frequent skater in the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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