You may have the "back to work / back to school blues" after the long holiday weekend, but this should cheer you up.
It's here!! The full length film"That One Day", starring 17 year old female skateboarder Rachelle Vinberg and The Skate Kitchen skater girls. Directed by Crystal Moselle this film is part of fashion house, Miu Miu's "Women's Tales" that shines a spotlight on female directors and films about women.
Beautiful to watch, and very real with the things Rachelle goes through to skateboard at her local park, and how meeting another group of skater girls gives her a place to belong. This is one to watch.
We'd like to welcome 14 year old AM street skater, Emma Houle, to the GN4LW team! You may remember Emma from last years Exposure Skate contest where she seemingly appeared out of nowhere to take 2nd in the 14 and under street comp. Or maybe you know her from her instagram page where she documents the tricks she is learning - hits and misses - for her 22,900 instagram followers. Or perhaps you've run into her at one of the LA Skate Girls meet up sessions. She likes to skate anywhere and everywhere, and is always smiling and ripping.
You can check out Emma's bio and more pics on the drop down TEAM menu at the top of our site.
The new issue of GIRLS WHO RIDE Magazine is out and it's so chock full of amazing women in action sports! This issue features Joana Schenker, a world champion bodyboarder, Valeria Kechichian from Longboard Girls Crew, a recap of the Venice Ladies Springtime Jam, "flashback" with freestyle skater Michelle Kolar-Scott, Jayme Perry and Katherine Beattie on what it's like to be pioneers of women's WCMX, Chicks in Bowls, an article about the rad girls who rollerskate in skateparks, and an East Coast / West Coast piece on Soul Skating with skateboarders Elise Crigar and Sierra Prescott. That is a lot of goodness in one issue!
This is the ONLY magazine out there focusing solely on women in action sports and it's FREE to read online. We are so proud to be involved with this awesome publication!
Another write up, this time on Vogue.com - they seem to have a huge obsession with skateboarding lately - on the film that director Crystal Moselle did that has skater Rachelle Vinberg and The Skate Kitchen crew of girls in it. It debuted at the Venice Film festival this weekend.
You can read the rest of the article - which is really good - HERE
This new show from Viceland is well worth a watch. Skateboarder Rick McCrank, finds, explores, and skateboards in abandoned places across the USA - like this Cleveland, Ohio shopping mall. No skater girls in this series (that we know about yet) but we love that it takes us back to the roots of skateboarding in many ways. Before skateparks were built, we skated whatever we could find, it wasn't prefect, it wasn't pretty, but it was a lot of fun... and it had soul.
Download the Vice App to watch all the episodes as they are released. It's a great series!
These awesome pics by photographer Chelsea Adams are so perfect for this weekend. A great reminder to just get out and skate and enjoy the three day holiday to the fullest. Be a soul skater, see where your board takes you. xx
P.S. That's our rad ambassador Elise Crigar skating above!
We're pretty blown away by this trailer for the new film directed by Crystal Moselle presented by fashion house Miu Miu, featuring girls from the New York Skate Crew "The Skate Kitchen" . Check out skater Rachelle Vinberg in the lead role.
Directed by Crystal Moselle, this trailer is breathtaking on all levels. Watch it and see. We can't wait to see the entire film when it comes out in September.
This is the official info from Miu Miu about the film:
"Everything can change in one day. Rachelle, a 17-year-old girl living outside of New York City,
discovers this, riding her skateboard through a journey of
self-discovery. Intimidated by casual, macho sexism, Rachelle stumbles
across a gang of charismatic, fearless skater girls. They show her
another world is out there. A world of female friendship, strength and
belonging. “Today,” confesses Rachelle “is the first day that I haven’t
been feeling that sense of loneliness.”
That One Day, by American director Crystal Moselle, is the 12th
commission from Miu Miu Women’s Tales, the acclaimed short-film series
by women who critically celebrate femininity in the 21st century. Crystal Moselle’s debut, The Wolfpack, about a family who home
schooled and raised their seven children in the confinement of their
apartment in the Lower East Side, won the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury
Prize at 2015’s Sundance Film Festival. Moselle also made the viral
video sensation Shapeshifting, on a pack of 14-year-old ballerinas.
“I am in love with the transformation stage in a girl’s life,” says
Moselle, “when they are not quite a girl but not quite a woman.” That
One Day renders this moment as a tender daydream -ardently feminine
skaters in serene slow-mo- which isn’t afraid of the tough truths facing
young women. “When I was in my transformation stage,” Moselle reveals,
“as a young girl, Miu Miu was a big part of that story.”
Two of our favorite badass babes & WCMX rippers, Katherine Beattie and Jamey Perry, got together to make this rad and inspiring video at Venice Skatepark, have a look and be prepared to be INSPIRED!
Featuring:
World Champion WCMX Rider Jamey
Perry
Pioneer of Women's WCMX and the first woman to do a backflip in a chair, Katherine Beattie
Filmed and Edited by Rich Millard
Location: Venice Skatepark
Katherine & Jamey are riding Box
Wheelchairs.
Please feel free to share on your social media but make sure to credit
@heidi_lemmon and @girlisnota4letterword
This weekends session at The Skate House, brought to you by Poseiden Foundation x LA Girls Skate Sesh, was going off! Girls were pushing one another to do harder and harder tricks and were genuinely stoked for one another when someone landed something they had been trying. Even during the contest portion, every single girl was encouraging another to make their trick - super nice to see. We saw a lot of rail slides, jumping the 4-stair, kick-flips, and even some 1/2 pipe riding.
Huge thanks to Poseiden Foundation for putting this on, LA Girls Skate Sesh for gathering the girls, and The Skate House for the venue. And BIG thanks to photographer Heidi Lemmon for donating her time to shoot on Saturday!
Everyone working together to support girls skateboarding is helping to create more and more opportunities and events for girls everywhere.
On left Haley, Kelly in middle & Esther on the right
Esther
Kelly
Holly
Emma
Teagan
Angela
London
Michelle
Vianez
Please feel free to share any of these images on your social media sites -
we just ask that you please credit @girlisnota4letter word - thank you!
This is what girls skateboarding looks like all over the country. Girls are skating everywhere, not just at the bigger contests you see on the web cast events or on TV, but at local skateparks with grass roots events that draw girls from as far away as 3 hours or more, for the opportunity to finally skate with other girls all day long.
Poseiden Foundation x LA Girls Skate Sesh event today at The Skate House in Chatsworth was one of those events. Girls came from Bakersfield, Palmdale, Ventura, and other outlying areas, to have a six hour skate sesh with girls they may have only known from their instagram feeds. There were prizes throughout the day and contests for street and half-pipe. Tips were shared and each girl encouraged another.
We love seeing these grass roots events happen - so please let us know about any events coming up so we can share the info. Lets keep girls skateboarding growing!
Thanks to Poseiden Foundation, LA Girls Skate Sesh, and The Skate House for a great event!
* We also need help posting girls names with pics above - let us know on instagram who they are!
Tin Soldiers is an incredible documentary showing the world of adaptive sports and features some of the most amazing athletes in the world. Featuring Alana Nichols, Quinn Waitley, Matt Hawkins, Zack Ruhl, Abel Rose, and Justin Beauchesne. You can see this inspiring movie on itunes now.
Lizzie Armanto in The Ride Channel's FREE LUNCH video. Hear how she met her BFF Allysha Le, the key to dying hair, arts and crafts, and representing women's skateboarding. And some great advice on what it's really like being a pro skater - it's not just skating.
Make sure you "Save the Date" because Poseiden Foundation's annual LADIES DAY AT THE BERRICS is coming! Once again they are having a Best Trick Contest with Open and Pro divisions, prize money for Pro, awesome prizes for the Open division.
Poseiden puts on an amazing event and we promise that you don't want to miss it!
12 year old Brighton Zeuner pulled out all the stops and landed every single trick in this truly awesome run to earn her 1st place and the Women's 2016 World Champion status.
Jordyn Barratt was sitting in 10th place with 1 run left, and we were all biting our nails to see what would happen. Luckily Jordyn thrives on pressure and put down an epic run that moved her all the way up to 2nd place!
Kisa Nakamura technically wasn't even making the trip to Malmo, Sweden for the Championships, but when 1st place qualifier from the Huntington Beach contest, Hanna Zanzi, had to drop out, Kisa came on-board as the alternate, flying in from her home in Japan. She kicked butt and ended up going from alternate to 3rd place!
Huge thanks to Vans and The Boardr for an amazing event!
Photos by Joanne Barratt - please feel free to share on your social media but make sure you credit @joannebarratt_photo - thank you!
We're starting to get in some pics from photographer Joanne Barratt who shot for us at the Vans Park Series Championships in Malmo, Sweden today, and here's a taste of what's to come...
We can't wait to see more!
Congrats to all the girls for skating hard and tearing it up. If you want to catch the video of Julz doing that insane drop in, see our previous posts. CRAZY!
Huge thanks to Vans and The Boardr for an amazing event!
Malmö, SWEDEN (August 20, 2016) Setting the tone for the ISF-recognized World Championships of park terrain skateboarding, 12-year old phenom Brighton Zeuner swept the packed stands away with a fantastic 360 melon over the ski jump to land her winning score. Brighton is joined by Jordyn Barratt, who rose from last place in the final minutes to claim a glorious second place win. And finally for a true Cinderella story, Japan’s Kisa Nakamura, a contender who has traveled far and wide to enter today as first alternate, triumphs with excellent form and speed to secure third.
“I’m so happy. All the girls killed it. It has been so much fun. This is my third time [in Malmö] and every time it’s the best vibes ever—and I’m picky with my vibes!”
–Brighton Zeuner, Vans Park Series Women’s World Champion
The contest was INSANE the girls were ripping! This was the FIRST time the women have ever competed for the World Championship, and they were stoked!
The park was designed with some usual features that made for some rad runs:
Big Love Seat
The Extension - tile & pool coping
The Kicker - aka the launch ramp
The Tombstone - 15 feet top from bottom and 6 inches is set back from the back - very tricky
Contest Format:
4 runs each
45 second runs, skate until you fall
First wall rebate - clock resets
Best run counts
Top 3 finishers become 2017 PS select pros
Girls were scored on:
Difficulty of tricks
Style, speed, consistency, use of park
0-100 Judging scale
Best run counts
Some of the highlights were:
* Julz Lynn still ripping, even with a recent knee injury & dropping in off the tombstone
* Jordyn Barratt packed 7 tricks into the first 15 seconds of her 1st run
* Nora Vasconcellos - with a backside air while stylishly tweaking the tail out
* Lizzie Armanto pulled off an ollie off the tombstone
* Brighton Zeuner with a rad boneless on the tombstone & a 360 over the kicker
*A frontside 360 transfer onto the bank by Kisa Nakamura
* Nice foot plant off the tombstone and a 50/50 off the love seat by Yndiara Asp
* Tail grab Nose bump in the deep end by Allysha Le
* Nicole Hause with her HUGE stylish airs
* Bryce Wettstein making full use of deep end and every other part of the park
Julz did an INSANE drop in off the tombstone... and made it!
The top 3 girls here are guaranteed into the semi finals at any of the 2017 Vans contests and guaranteed a spot into the world championships next year. RESULTS:
Allysha Le
Lizzie Armanto
Yndiara Asp
Nora Vasconcellos
Nicole Hause
Julz Lynn
Bryce Wettstein
Congrats Brighton - you are the new World Champion!!
Brighton's last run was the stuff champions are made of, in fact both Brighton and Jordyn showed that under pressure they are ones to watch, and don't count them out until the final runs are taken. Women's skateboarding has gotten very exciting to watch!
Huge thanks to Vans and The Boardr for an amazing event!
All Photos By Joanne Barratt - if you choose to share on social media please be nice and credit @joanneBarratt_photo - thanks!
Make sure you set your phone alerts to wake up in time to watch the Vans Pro Park Series Championships LIVE from Malmo, Sweden tomorrow AM. For those of you on the West Coast it's going to be EARLY, but well worth it.
With an insanely rad park, that was built just for this
event, the women's skateboarding comp is going to be off the charts.
The 10 Women Competing:
Lizzie Armanto
Jordyn Barratt
Brighton Zeuner
Nora Vasconcellos
Allysha Le
Julz Lynn
Bryce Wettstein
Yndiara Asp
Nicole Hause
Kisa Nakamura
Here's the info on when to watch the women's event LIVE on August 20 - depending on your time zone:
Malmö (local Time) 2:30 PM
Melbourne, AU 10:30 PM
Los Angeles, CA 5:30 AM (Yikes!)
New York 8:30 AM
London 1:30 PM
Photos by Heidi Lemmon
