** if you choose to repost any images on social media please credit @joannebarratt_photo
While you may have watched the VPS finals via the live web feed, what you didn't get to see that was happening in practice sessions and the qualifiers was this! Thanks to Joanne Barratt Photography we get to show you some of the other skaters that you didn't see in the finals (some due to injury in qualifiers) and behind the scenes pics of a lot of the girls in more candid moments as well.
We are so thankful for the Vans Park Series for adding stops to the tour for the women this year, as well as equalprize money - men and women's events now get same prize purse. New talent is coming out to these contests and it's great to see.
It's that time of year - the OG Jam Series is kicking into gear, and this year there is a big emphasis on getting women 25+ to get out and skate the series! You don't have to be super experienced and you don't have to skate all of them - pick the ones you want to do most. Yes, it's a contest, but with a twist - everyone just wants you to do your personal best, hang with like-minded skaters and have FUN. There are prizes at each stop, and there is NO entry fee! This is a free contest to compete in. It's a super fun time, so please grab your GF's friends and come on out!
So please tell all your female friends who skate - we want to see you out there! Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word will be reporting on each event with photos of the women skating and a recap. Here is a bit of last years fun with the ladies division.
The first OG Jam Series stop is Skatelab on June 23 from 1 PM - 6 PM - hope to see you there!!
Wow! The first VPS comp of the season was a great one!
In the Women’s division, Japanese pro Sakura Yosozumi conquered the park course with expert skill, landing a jaw-dropping backside noseblunt revert, and using every inch of the park to land multiple tricks one after the other. Yosozumi surpassed the field in Semi’s as an Open Qualifier and emerged as the victor of the Women’s Brazil event. Runner up and the undisputable crowd favorite, Brazilian Yndiara Asp demonstrated lightning speed and variety to outrun her peers, while the energy from the crowd kept her spirits high. In third, VPS Select Pro and the first-ever park terrain women’s world champ (2016), Brighton Zeuner returns to the podium, wowing the crowd with her unique style and creative trick selection.
The Vans São Paulo Skatepark is the first and only VPS-certified park terrain skatepark in the Southern hemisphere, built-to-spec by CA Skateparks, with over 2,800 square feet of never before skated park terrain, featuring a 9 1/2 foot deep end, multiple transfers, extensions, a center volcano, ledges, rails, and a mix of concrete and metal coping all around.
Lizzie Armanto FS Smith Grind / Photo Acosta for VPS
Sakura Yosozumi Salad Grind / Photo Acosta for VPS
The qualifiers and semi-finals were a 2-hour long battle today at the Vans Parks Series Brazil, the first stop on the VPS tour for both men and women. At the end, only 8 women advanced to the finals.
Qualifiers and semi-finals for the women were not broadcast live today but tomorrows final will be, so make sure you tune in to watch it all go down, because we're pretty sure it will be epic.
We absolutely love women who are creating their own media to shine a light on their skateboard communities. Downhill skater, Andréa Katzeff, based in Cape Town, South Africa is doing just that with her upcoming film about female downhill skaters, KINGPIN
Andréa has always wanted to make a film about women in skating, especially those who break down heteronormative ideals and who have powerful stories to share. After she brought this up to some filmmaker friends of hers, they decided to set out to make this amazing concept a reality.
In just under three months they plan to travel to Europe and Scandinavia to meet up with some incredibly talented skaters, to tell their stories and capture them doing what they do best in beautiful landscapes. These guest skaters include Carmen Schaeffer, Alicia Fillback, Anna Pixner and Giulia Alfeo. Their stories are that of courage, obstacles, failure and success in the midst of partaking in a typically male-dominated sport. These skaters are incredibly inspiring, both within skating and everyday life and Andrea wants to tell their stories in hopes that they will inspire others too.
This will be a film of inclusivity and equality, of encouragement and empowerment, not just for skaters but for women from all walks of life who constantly endure oppression on so many scales. The filmamkers also wish to encourage men; in raising awareness of how they can play a role in our progressing society. This will also be an epic film about skating, from bombing the majestic Austrian alps to free riding the scenic roads of Faroe Islands and more, it doesn't get much better than that but they need your help in making this film a reality!
You can jump on over to the KINGPINcrowdfunding page they have set up - and even if you can't donate (they have some rad beneifts though if you do!) you can help spread the word!
We here at GN4LW always feel that working together to create female based skate related media is super important for women in skateboarding - it is a vital way for female skaters to be seen and heard. So please spread the message & support however you can!
Our rad friend, Sierra Prescott, is throwing another fun event on Go Skateboarding Day (if you were at her event last year then you know what we are talking about!) It's FREE and everyone is welcome, there will be giveaways, raffles, pro skaters, a demo by some of the girls who are part of the GN4LW movement and more! If you are one of the first 150 people to show up, you can also nab a free tee or sheet of griptape!
When? June 21st 1:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Where? Cresenta Valley Skatepark, 3400 Honolulu Avenue, Glendale, CA
Why? Because it's GO SKATEBOARDING DAY!
Jordyn Barratt at last years Dew Tour /. Photo Joanne Barratt
This is the first year that the Mountain Dew Tour has had women's competition events - and it's pretty exciting! You may remember that last year, pro park rider Jordyn Barratt, competed against the guys at this contest. This year there will be Pro women's park and Pro women's street comps as well as a women's AM street comp.
Eight women will be selected to compete in Pro Women's Park and eight for Pro Women's Street. Right now it has been confirmed that Brighton Zeuner and Lizzie Armanto will skate in park and Leticia Bufoni and Lacey Baker, as well as Japan's Aori Nishimurawill compete in street - the rest of names have not been formally announced as of yet.
A brand new G.W.R. Amateur Street competition will be held and presented by Nikita Clothing with Exposure Skate. Ten rising female skateboarders will compete on the Park course at Dew Tour. Nikita Clothing is the original by girls, for girls streetwear brand and is consistently pushing females forward in the sport through events, features and partnerships. Exposure Skate is a nonprofit organization that creates opportunities for female skaters by raising awareness, funding and resources for local nonprofits. The list of athletes scheduled to compete is forthcoming.
Competition Schedule for Women's Events:
Saturday, June 30 10 AM - 11 AM G.W.R. Girls AM street contest x Nikita + Exposure
Saturday, June 30 12:15 PM - 1 PM Women's Pro Street Finals
Sunday, July 1 12 Noon - 12:45 PM Women's Park Finals
Tickets to event are FREE check out all the info HERE
Location: Long Beach Convention Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90802
More info on additional female skaters will be added soon so stay tuned!
Dew Tour Long Beach live stream will be available on:
Vans Park Series Kicks Off 2018 Pro Tour Season in São Paulo, Brazil on June 2nd with an All-New VPS-Certified Built-to-Spec Course which looks pretty awesome!
Preview the course build!
The VPS tour kicks off this weekend with the women competing in Brazil and we have the rundown how how to watch, who to watch and more!
WATCH LIVE BROADCAST OF THE WOMEN'S FINALS ONETN
(download the app now or visit the link above for more info)
Times below are for women's finals only - prelims taking place on June 1st will not be shown live.
São Paulo – Saturday, June 2, 12 NOON - 1:00 PM GMT-3
Los Angeles – Saturday, June 2, 8AM - 9:00 AM PDT
London – Saturday, June 2, 4 PM - 5 PM GMT+1
Hong Kong – Saturday, June 2, 11 PM - 12 AM GMT+8
Sydney – Sunday, June 3, 1AM - 2 AM GMT+10
(*English and Portuguese)
With less than a week to go, Vans Park Series preps the field for the world’s best professional park terrain skateboarders to meet in São Paulo, Brazil to kick off the 2018 Vans Park Series Pro Tour. VPS Select Men and Women Pros will go head to head with Challengers, Wildcards and regional hopefuls to determine who will claim glory at the first stop of the season.
Featuring a brand new, VPS-certified, built-to-spec park terrain course, the Vans Park Series Brazil stop will be the perfect setting to ignite electric performances from tour veterans.
The Brazil stop is also the newest addition to the expanded 2018 VPS Women’s Tour, open for registration to all women’s competitors to compete against Select Pros such as defending 2017 World Champion Nora Vasconcellos, former champ Brighton Zeuner, Lizzie Armanto, Jordyn Barratt and Brazil native Yndiara Asp.
Prospective competitors are encouraged to enter HERE
Located in the heart of São Paulo – the biggest city in Brazil and in the region—Vans will debut its brand-new park, a public, free access built-to-spec skatepark with over 2,800 square feet of never before skated park terrain, featuring a 9 1/2 foot deep end, multiple transfers, extensions, a center volcano, ledges, rails, and smooth concrete coping all around.
The 2018 Vans Park Series Pro Tour will be broadcast live in English and Portuguese for free on ETNlive.com, the ETN app, and vansparkseries.com. The final roster of Select Pros, Challengers and Wildcards for the 2018 VPS Pro Tour is now available online at www.vansparkseries.com.
ETN is a digital network created by skateboarders that provides members with a one-of-a-kind experience into the world of skateboarding through unique original shows and live events. As the official live broadcast partner of skateboarding’s premiere contest series, SLS & Vans Park Series, the network continues to pioneer a growing platform for the world’s best skateboarders, while shining a light on the unpredictable, raw, culture of skateboarding. Download the ETN app now or visit ETNlive.com for more information.
The 2018 Vans Park Series Pro Tour is the premier series for professional park terrain skateboarders consisting of four men’s global qualifiers and three women’s global qualifiers spanning five countries over six months and culminating with the official Vans Park Series World Championships. Showcasing an international roster of skateboarding’s elite pros and a total series purse in excess of $700,000(USD), the Vans Park Series uniquely defines the park terrain format with its exclusive points system, judging guidelines and qualifying park terrain course criteria. Additional information and live webcast details will be available on the official Vans Park Series iOS app and online.
We have to say, the SLS London Women's comp did not disappoint! So great that the women have been added to stops on the tour and are receiving the same prize money as the men. Huge strides for women in skateboarding!
We were excited to watch Leticia Bufoni and Lacey Baker battle it out after their head to head competition at X-Games Norway last weekend, but unfortunately, Leticia got injured in practice and was unable to compete. She watched from the sidelines, her leg in a brace, crutches by her side.
It was exciting to see newcomer, Margielyn Didal, skate in the second heat - this rad young girl is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Her nerves got the best of her during a few of her runs, but during best trick, she pulled out all the stops and had the crowd on their feet cheering and it gave her enough points to make it into the finals. (You can see check out the footage on the @sls Instagram page)
Finals changed up who was on top yet again, and at the end it was:
1st Jenn Soto
2nd Lacey Baker
3rd Mariah Duran
4th Pamela Rosa
5th Candy Jacobs
6th Alexis Sablone
7th Samarria Brevard
8th Margielyn Didal
**You can catch the women's finals recap on ESPN2 on June 5th at 9 PM ET / 6 PM PT
And thanks for supporting girls skateboarding - all proceeds from our products go back into girls skateboarding via micro-grants, partnerships, events and select 501c3 non profits we support, so we can together encourage and support more girls to get on a board.
Video recap from last season to get you hyped for Saturdays qualifiers!
This is an awesome line up for the women's qualifiers for SLS in London on Saturday! We can't wait to see Kate Shengeliya and Margielyn Didal tear it up - both are new to the SLS tour and we think they are definite contenders for the finals.
No doubt all the girls are going to bring it, so this is one contest you don't want to miss! Leticia won gold at X-Games Norway last weekend, and Lacey was right on her tail with a silver medal so there will definitely be some killer runs thrown down between these two. Samarria Brevard, who usually does well in these comps, had to settle for last place in Norway so she is out to better that result and hopefully make podium at this event.
So much to see and great that female pro street skaters are on a full-blown tour right now just like the guys!
Want to watch it all go down LIVE?
Via ETN
SATURDAY 5/26/18
9:15 AM PT - Womens Qualifiers
11:30 PM PT - Women's Finals
You can watch it all on the ETN App for free this weekend. Make sure you allow enough time before comp starts to download app, make sure it's working, etc.
Check out Samarria Brevard's newest pro model board from Enjoi - we think this design, called UPRISE, is the best yet! We also love that Enjoi didn't just come out with a pro model for Samarria and stop there, they are doing what they do for the male pro riders and coming out with a deck that has fresh artwork often, just like the guys get. That is major progress!
Samarria Brevard UPRISE Pro Model Details: Resin-7 Canadian Maple Construction Width: 8.25" / Length: 31.9" / Wheelbase: 14.25" Mellow Concave / Steep Kick
You can get your new Samarria deck today, right HERE
We believe in supporting women's skateboarding, so the next time you go into your local skate shop, ask for a women's pro model deck to skate on - this is how we grow the women's side of skateboarding together. #SupportFemaleSkaters
We are stoked to say that we have published yet another book that showcases women in skateboarding! This time it's CONCRETE GIRLS by UK based photographer Charlotte Thomas who has been chronicling the girls skate scene in the UK for the past five years.
We will have an interview with Charlotte soon, but in the meantime, check out her recent interview on SIDEWALK MAGAZINE to learn more about this amazing book, the launch party info, and how you can get your hands on a copy!
It was really cool to have ESPN showing the women's street finals LIVE from Norway on YouTube this morning. The feed was great - no glitching and the coverage was awesome! It was an exciting comp, Leticia Bufoni took a solid lead early on and never let go, Pamela Rosa fought hard but had to settle for bronze this time around, and Lacey Baker looked like she might just take that gold away from Leticia on her last run, but was unable to break Leticia's score, and walked away with a nice silver medal.
Leticia hasn't won gold at the X-Games in the past 5 years so this victory was especially sweet for her! And as two-time gold medalist, Leticia Bufoni becomes the most-medaled Women’s Street Skateboarder with her gold medal win at X Games Norway 2018.
RESULTS - Skateboard Street Women's Finals - X-Games Norway
Art work by Priscilla Witte / Kala Baltasar with the new Girl Power board
Check out the new video to see more about our movement & our collabs with Dusters!
We've teamed up with Dusters California for our SEVENTH “Girl is Not a 4 Letter Word” collab skateboard. In this interview, GN4LW founder and OG pro skateboarder, Cindy Whitehead, breaks it down to explain the GN4LW movement, as well as the new GIRL POWER collab cruiser board with Dusters that supports the 501c3 non-profit Bridge to Skate. Huge thanks to our rad friends Elise Crigar and Kala Baltasar for being part of this launch!
Dusters Girl Power GN4LW 31" Cruiser Skateboard Blue / Red - Girl Is NOT a 4 Letter Word
Width: 8.25" / Length: 31" / Wheelbase: 16.5"
Features:
· Collaboration with Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word (girlisnota4letterword.com)
· Art by Priscilla Witte
· Supports "Bridge to Skate Foundation"
· Clear broadcast grip
· Tensor 5" trucks
· Dusters Abec 7 bearings
· 1/8” riser pads
· 62mm x 51mm 83A wheels
Girls will be taking over The Cove Skatepark in Santa Monica on May 26! Tons of girls will be there and you don't want to miss it! If we want these all girl skate events to become a regular thing, it's important to be there and show parks that girls skate sessions are needed and are important. All ages and all levels are welcome so come out and meet other girls who love to skate!
See you at The Cove!
SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2018
THE COVE SKATEPARK 10 AM - 2 PM 1401 OLYMPIC BLVD., SANTA MONICA, CA 90404
The Utah based skate crew, The Salty Bitches are gearing up for a women's skate day you don't want to miss. Mark your calendars because June 3, they are taking over West Valley Skatepark and there will be games, comps, prizes and lots of skateboarding with old friends and new! Everyone is welcome so make sure upi head out to support, and meet some new girls to skate with!
SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 2018 / STARTS AT 11 AM
WEST VALLEY SKATEPARK 3189 5600 W, WEST VALLEY CITY UT 84128
You can follow @_saltybitches on Instagram for more updates and info!
We were so stoked to hear that pro skateboarder Amelia Brodka now has her own pro model wheel with Speedlab. Amelia is the force behind the all girls event, Exposure Skate, she's also the woman who gave us the documentary UNDEREXPOSED and is now getting ready to try and compete in the 2020 Olympics for her native country, Poland. She is one busy lady and a force to be reckoned with.
You'll definetly want to grab a set of these beautiful wheels asap!
These fast and colorful blue/white swirled wheels have rounded conical cuts on each side to provide a highly functional profile & shape made from the best formulas in the world for ultimate speed & control. Get a set and start shreddin' everything! Artwork by Michal Brodka.
Contact patch - 24mm
Color: Blue/White swirl
(Set of 4)
Made in the U.S.A.
“You taught me to feel
Feel excitement and fear
Wonder
Joy
Feel time stop
You’ve shown me beauty
Beauty in challenge
Simplicity
And
Wild In the world ...
I feel right at home
I think its love”
-Laura Enever
Surfer: Laura Enever
Artist: @veeshermang
Videographer: @willadlerphotographs
Via Billabong Women's
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