Little Sky ruling the mini ramp - she just keeps getting better and better every single day!  So awesome to see this young girl loving skateboarding so much. xx

Love it when we see girls in skateboarding helping to get other girls stoked on the sport. Jordyn Barratt was at Van Girls Combi competing, yet took time out of her training schedule and comp day to be a mentor and friend to a little girl named Callia who is just getting started skateboarding.

Joryn heard that Callia wanted some autographs on contest day so she took one of her old boards, sprayed it white and brought it to Vans so Callia could take it around and get autographs on it. That in itself was a huge deal - but then Jordyn walked Callia around the pool deck and introduced her to skaters like Amelia Brodka, Mimi Knoop, Lizzie Armanto and more, to help her get autographs.

Every single girl there was super nice and signed Callia's board which made her day. I even watched little Minna Stess and Brighton Zeuner tell Callia how much fun skateboarding was and how they hoped she would keep skating.

Keeping other girls stoked on skateboarding is what will help grow the sport, &  it's really nice to see a top skater like Jordyn taking the time to be such a great role model.

Callia will remember this forever and she is even more stoked on skateboading than she ever was thanks to Jordyn's kindness & the time the other girls took to sign her board.  

#ThankYouSkateboarding

2015 El Gato Classic - Day 2 from Action Park Alliance on Vimeo.


Day 2 Of the Eddie Elguera "El Gato Classic" - such a fun weekend!

Eddie "El Gato" Elguera our host!

Cindy Whitehead, Dennis Martinez, Lisa Kudra

Scott Foss looking smooth as always

Henry "Bad H" Hester, Paul Schmitt, Cindy Whitehead, George Orton

Micke Alba doing it old school

George Orton, Lisa Kudra, Brad Bowman, Eddie Elguera on the red carpet

Steve Caballero always looking good!

Freddie De Sota signing all the boards

Mike McGill was on fire all day long

The original "Skateboard Mom" Gale Webb, Cindy Whitehead, John Hughes

We love us some Jim Gray!

Steve Caballero at the half-pipe demo

Tony Hawk getting his picture done

Old school girls  having fun - Laura Thornhill-Caswell, Louise Balma, Cindy Whitehead, Pam Miller

Kevin Staab at the vert ramp

Allan "Ollie" Gelfand's lovely wife Sharon and Cindy Whitehead

And then this happened - we ran into singer Tony Orlando at dinner and it turns he is a huge skateboard fan!

Green Room - cupcakes by Tiffany's Sweet Spot - Yummy!

Gale Webb and Christian Hosoi

So many boards the legends got to sign - everyone had a blast doing this¡

Howard Hood, Steve Hirsch, Micke Alba, & Freddie De Sota

Lisa Kudra, Henry Hester and Cindy Whitehead

Micke Alba

Tony Hawk & Mike McGill in the green room

Jami Godfrey old school Bones Brigade!

Brad Bowman came  all the way from Spain

Photos Ian Logan (the professional ones ) / iphone snaps Cindy

Eddie, Dawna Elguera and family totally outdid themselves with this event! The Eddie Elguera "El Gato Classic" was three spectacular days of fun, food, skateboarding and FAMILY. As Brad Bowman said - this is the family you choose.

It was wonderful to see so many old school skaters traveling in from all over just for this event. I think that Brad Bowman actually came the furthest, from his new home in Spain &  I hadn't seen people like Bones Brigade team rider, Jami Godfrey in over 35 years, but watching him drop in and rip the bowl, it felt like just yesterday.  Some of the skaters in attendance had not been at a California skate event in over 30 years so it was exciting to have most of us back together again.

It was such a family weekend that a lot of us brought our significant others or spouses and there was something for everyone to enjoy. From an amazing art show on Friday night, to the Saturday bowl session and a vert demo on Tony Hawks ramp, to a really well done and upscale dinner reception at the Hacienda Cantina & Beach Club on Saturday PM with Johnny Rad playing afterwards. The weekend concluded on Sunday with a church service at The Rock Church, and later a final skate contest in the afternoon.

I'd like to thank Eddie, Dawna and family, the El Gato team who made everything run so smoothly for us,  as well as all the wonderful sponsors that were a huge part of this event.

Best Family Reunion - EVER!

 Photo: Joanne Barratt

Great article on 7 year old skateboarder Sierra Kerr and her pro surfer dad, Josh, in this months San Diego Magazine. We absolutely love Sierra and follow her adventures in surfing and skateboarding on her (parent run) instagram page - she is always smiling, innovative, and blasting massive airs - what's not to love?

We are going to share a great paragraph from the article here because it says a lot about how Sierra is helping to break down barriers in skateboarding - which we LOVE!


"Just like her father, Sierra motivates people of all ages to push the boundaries of extreme sports, regardless of gender. At the age of six, she started to gain popularity, romping around skate parks and impressing all with her princess-like ensembles and mature maneuvers. This quickly encouraged other girls to embrace their innate femininity, and, more importantly, to disregard naysayers who say girls can’t skate. In a male-saturated sport, Sierra began to influence young ladies everywhere—a goal she still focuses on, even at such a young age."      Written by Ashtyn Douglas

See the rest of the article about Sierra HERE

Love this music video from Nashville's Annie Bosko. Watch it all the way through and see Hoopla team rider Alana Smith shredding at Venice Skatepark. Rad song and great footage of girls surf & skate - Nice to see!

Sometimes we get emails that make us stop everything and watch a video link. Glad we did this morning. Nice seeing little one's Ashley & Kailey having so much fun and ripping it up in Tahoe.

Ashley was the USASA 2014 Halfpipe National champ and Kailey was the USASA 2013 Halfpipe, slope, GS, BoarderX and overall national champ. They live in Hawaii and against all odds they just arrived in Tahoe for the 2nd half of the season to go out and have as much fun as humanly possible. Their 3 year old snowboarding baby sister was just diagnosed with Leukemia and won't be able to make it from Hawaii to the snow this season. So, they are riding for her.

Much love to the whole Boagrt family.  xx

Hey it's Monday! So take a break from work, sit back, relax and prepared to be inspired by this lonboard video by  Noemie Chabrier. From the footwork to the downhill sections we're loving it all!

Spencer Breaux

Hunter Long

Amelia Brodka

Jordyn Barratt

Jean Rusen

Nicole Hause

Beverly Flood

Bryce Wettstein

Brighton Zeuner

Amelia Brodka

Hunter Long

Alana Smith

Julz Lynn

All Photos by Joanne Barratt /Island Style Images

The rad shots just keep coming. The girls were on fire and the photographers were capturing insane shots the entire day.

We are very lucky to be able to share these photos that professional photographer Joanne Barratt, took at the Vans Girls Combi last Saturday - they are AWESOME!

OPEN - lgc skates Israel - short video from Longboard Girls Crew on Vimeo.

OPEN - The Longboard Girls Crew skates Israel movie , isn't out just yet BUT they just released a 15 minute video with extracts from the full movie to tide you over and they graciously allowed us to share it with you here!

In case you haven't seen some of our other posts where we drool in anticipation over this movie, here's what it's about - It's pretty bitchin' on so many levels!

OPEN is the name and concept of the new Longboard Girls Crew (LGC) film directed by Daniel Etura. The movie features a diverse group of female longboarders hailing from 11 different countries who get together in one of the most talked about places on Earth.


This skate journey screams womanhood while is also an eye-opener experience through which the riders challenge their skills, explore a new culture, meet its people and bring some joy to a place that hasn’t seen much of it lately.

LGC works together with the Association ‘Longboarding For Peace’ who gathers Muslim, Jew, Arab & Catholic kids to teach them an invaluable lesson: skateboarding doesn’t know about gender, religion or politics.

Make sure to follow Longboard Girls Crew on longboardgirlscrew.com and their official social media channels for worldwide premiere dates and updates on OPEN.

HUGE congrats to all these amazing girls who made this movie happen - it was a huge undertaking and it looks amazing!!

I'm honored to have been asked to be part of the Eddie Elguera El Gato Classic that's taking place THIS weekend. Come on out to Palm Springs and meet your favorite old school pros. It's going to be 3 days of super fun, back to back skate events. A lot of the events are FREE so I hope to see you there!

See the complete schedule of events HERE

 Image via PDN Magazine / Photo by Claudio Abella

Awesome to open up a professional photography magazine and see that A.) a skate photo won and B.) that the skater is female!

Congrats to badass longboarder Manuela Bayugar and photographer Claudio Abella for taking grand prize in the amateur sports and action photography division in PDN's THE SHOT for 2015.

Great photo!

Great video of the Vans Girls Combi by The Ride Channel - the girls were ripping! And huge thanks to The Ride Channel for the cameo of the new XS x GN4LW helmet in the beginning of video!

 Photo of Beverly Flood  by Lorrie Palmos via Skidmark Magazine

More goodness from the Vans Girls Combi Contest! 

Photographer Lorrie Palmos shot for Skidmark Skate Magazine and you should hop over to their site and check out her awesome shots and article on the event - Great Stuff!

Check it out HERE

Jordan Barratt

Brighton Zeuner

Amelia Brodka

Poppy Starr Olsen

Alana Smith

Bryce Wettstein, Brighton Zeuner and Bella Kenworthy

Lizzie Armanto

Allysha Bergado

Julz Lynn, Allysha Bergado, Alana Smith, Lizzie Armanto, Arianna Carmona, Nicole Hause

 All Photos Dan Spargana 

2015 got off to a great start with the Vans Girls Combi Contest on Saturday. So many girls competing in every age division and the pro division was chock full of great skaters as well.  Nice to see some new faces in the game like Autumn Tust from Florida, Cassie Oseguera from Northern California, and some other awesome girls who have skated for years, and are now coming out for these rad contests. We also got to witness Bella Kenworthy from The Pink Helmet Posse competing in her first big event.

We are honored to have these photographs from photographer Dan Sparagna here on the GN4LW site today - if you'd like to order a print of anything you see here, or check out Dan's shots from past skate events, please jump over to his site HERE.  The order page to view prices and sizes available is HERE. You can also see even more of Dan's shots from the event later today on the World Cup Skateboarding Site!

We will be bringing you photos from the Vans Girls Combi Contest throughout the week and including links to other sites where you can see even more coverage, so stay tuned!

Huge thanks to Kristy & Steve Van Doren from Vans, Don and Danielle Bostick from WCS, Dave Duncan for being a fun and great MC, & all the awesome judges,  for making this contest a reality for the girls.

It was great to see so many people out there supporting women's skateboarding!

RESULTS:

Pro Division

1. Alana Smith
2. Lizzie Armanto
3. Allysha Bergado
4. Julz Lynn
5. Arianna Carmona
6. Nicole Hause
7. Kisa Nakamura
8. Amelia Brodka
9. Sarah Thompson
10. Beverly Flood
11. Hunter Long
12. Pauline Branom
13. Izy Mutu
14. Jean Rusen
15. Julie Westfall

Amateur Girls 15 And Over:

1. Poppy Starr Olsen
2. Jordyn Barratt
3. Autumn Tust
4. Hannah Chumley
5. Paige LaBare
6.  Nicole Noller
7. Summer Vereecke
8. Alishia Stevens
9. Juliet James
10. Cassie Oseguera
11. Cansas Burns
12. Emma Storm
13. Brittney Conrad

Amateur 14 & Under Girls:

1. Brighton Zeuner
2. Spencer Breaux
3. Minna Stess
4. Bryce Wettstein
5. Bella Kenworthy
6. Michelle Yoon
7. Taryn Ross
8. Zoe Safanda
9. Halle Gonzales
10. Jordan Beal

 Photos via Alana Smith, Jordyn Barratt, Bellatreas Kenworthy & Poppy Olsen on instagram

One of THE best days of the year in girls skateboarding is almost here! Yep, tomorrow is the Vans Girls Combi Contest.  Girls come from all over the USA and abroad for this event and it's so nice to see them all together in one place doing what they love.

Practice has been going on all week and the girls are relentless in nailing down their hardest tricks and getting insane height - that's Alana Smith above showing how it's done.  Poppy Starr Olsen had a bad fall last night that required eight stitches, but being the trooper she is, we heard she will be back at it and ready for Saturday's competition - she didn't fly here all the way from Australian to sit in some hospital bed! Jordyn Barratt is looking smooth and more than ready to shred and Julz Lynn, Bryce Wettstein and Bella Kenworthy all look relaxed and ready to take combi by storm. So many  girls have been there practicing for the past week - it's going to be GREAT!

Huge thanks to Vans and World Cup Skateboarding for all you do to put this contest on for the girls!

We will be instagraming and tweeting LIVE - so follow us on instagram at @girlisnota4letterword for pics of the girls competing, practicing and some candids!

Its a GREAT day for women's skateboarding!!

 Photo  of Amelia Brodka by Lorrie Palmos for Skidmark Skate Mag

Great piece in Skidmark Skate Mag this week about the Ladies Day at The Berrics that Poseiden Foundation put on.

We aren't going to show you anything except this teaser photo of Amelia Brodka shot by awesome photographer Lorrie Palmos because we want you to jump over HERE and see the entire photo spread and article at Skidmark Skate Mag!

  Images via USA Today/Guy Rhodes & CBS News

We are wishing 25 year old Olympic Gold Medalist Kaitlyn Farrington all the best. The sad news about her early retirement due to medical reasons, was posted on her instagram page just hours ago. Kaitlyn won gold for the USA in snowboard half-pipe in Sochi & has been a favorite of fans everywhere.

Her instagram post explains that after taking a fall in Austria she got an MRI which showed that she had congenital cervical stenosis of the spine, which was a condition she was born with and never knew she had. She goes on to explain that it has taken her a few months to come to terms with her diagnosis and the fact that she must retire from competitive snowboarding.

We will miss seeing your smiling face at half pipe competitions Kaitlyn, you always made every run look like so much fun - even when the pressure was on.  You are an inspiration on the snow & off to so many girls, and that never ends.  Keep smiling.   xx

 Photo Ian Logan

Nice to open Concrete Wave Magazine this month and see a huge, rad, pic from Exposure Skate Contest of bad ass skater & Silly Girl Team rider Julz Lynn in it.

Girls are becoming more visible in skateboarding everywhere you look. Gotta love that.

Speaking of girls skateboarding -  The Vans Girls Combi is this coming up weekend and we will be posting LIVE on our instagram from there. So follow us at Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word to see updates throughout the day!

"I skate for no other reason than I love it and it makes me happy" Christiana Smith - skateboarder.

We think this video by skateboarder Christiana Smith is well worth watching. Equality, skateboarding, and what society thinks women are "supposed" to be. Listen to her powerful message and watch her rip. Proof once again on all levels, that girls are out there breaking barriers and riding hard.

Thanks Christiana and GRO for this well done video on the subject.  xx