Skater Girls Are Having All The Fun

GRLSWRL is a monthly column written by members of the GRLSWRL, a global network of skate chapters that serve as welcoming spaces for people of all backgrounds to the world of skate.

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When I was 6 years old, there was nothing I wanted more than to be a skater boy. I loved every part of the skateboarding culture, from the busted boards and sticker-covered helmets to the 00s punk music that blared from boomboxes at the skatepark and the ever-present bottles of Mountain Dew and Monster.

My dream never really came true. Sure, I learned how to get up on a board and push off, and I managed to steer myself cautiously around the flat parts of the park while my older brother yelled, “Faster! You have to go faster!” But I never skated the way I saw all the older boys skating—plunging into the bowl, grinding rails, speeding down the sidewalk, and wiping out spectacularly after a wheel ran over an unseen pebble. I could never connect with them the way my brother did, either. I was an elementary schooler with a baby blue helmet and a Taylor Swift t-shirt. In what world was I cool enough to share their skatepark?