SF Madness

I'll cut to the chase:

Friday, Jan 23rd:

Staycee picked me up from SFO and showed me the new Potrero skatepark (aka the mission park). Drenched with a constant onslaught of rain, i ended up slipping out while walking down one of the roll ins-- this would be the first of many non-skateboarding related bruises. GREAT! We later met up with Erica, grubbed down, and wandered around. The day was spent heckling bicyclists, pedestrians and hipsters. Erica and I walked around for a bit, and i was more than happy to play the giddy tourist.

Saturday, Jan 22nd:

The day started around noon with an 1 1/2 hour drive to The Ranch. A little early, we set off to the Ripon skatepark to meet up with Kristin, Ashley, Holly and Brice. As it turned out, the park ended up being the meeting place for everyone else.

Skating Skating Skating

Then... EPICNESS
Ladonna's party was nuts. I'm going to leave it at that. Ladonna, happy freaking birthday girl!

The next morning was spent at Ripon, some lowcard bbq ... i'm not even sure



Monday, Jan 26th

Best.Day.Ever.
Finally had the chance to skate the new Potrero skatepark, and it was everything i anticipated it to be, and more. Let me start by saying thank you to Erica who mapped out all of the skate spots in SF. Seriously, it's legit. Max and Erica both had things to do, so i was left to check things out. I love public transportation. The N.Judah took me to the civic center, where i later boarded the BART to 24th and mission. Skate east to potrero then south about 8 blocks, and WALLAH! You're there.



The bathrooms are locked, but the FRIENDLY locals suggested i head up to Casa Sanchez, a mexican resturant a few blocks from the park (Head up to 24th, go west, it's a block after the liquor store and will be on the right side of the street). Bonus perk; if you show up with your skateboard, they hook you up with free drinks.



Blah blah flight home blah blah

The point is, if you're in SF and you don't skate Potrero, you're freaking blowing it.



Kristina

Bellevue Skatepark Blog

Check Kristin's footage in the Bellevue Skatepark Blog and be sure to stay updated on your friendly neighborhood indoor park.

Hello 2009

Happy New Year!

2008 was a pretty epic year for us.

Skate Like a Girl Major 2008 Highlights:

* Partnerships with:
o Seattle Girls School
o Snowboard Outreach Society
o Rugged Riders
o Girl Scouts -Girls Beyond Bars
o Manitoba Skateboard Coalition
* Secret Skate Dates
* Going international: Skate Tour to Winnipeg
* Skate Like a Girl Film Teaser
* Summer Camps!
* Skate Like a Girl grew:
o Dedicated volunteers like Kristin Ebeling, Christine Hayes,
Chrissie Lathrop, and Kristina Naryan among others.
o SLAG Portland led by Jessie Haungs is blowing up!
o SLAG San Francisco started by Erica Harris is starting to grow.
* L'oreal Paris Women of Worth Recognition
* Wheels of Fortune contest with over 30 (or whatever the number is) women competitors from LA to Vancouver BC and our first ever cash prize!


2009 will start a little quiet, with no programs, BUT you should go skate at Skate Barn until the weather clears up. We will be working on creating solid organizational structure, preparing to move into our new office at the Seattle Center, and will be looking for volunteers and recruiting board members for Skate Like a Girl. If you are interested in being part of 2009, please submit a letter of interest and a resume to us at skatelikeagirl@gmail.com.

Keep in contact, check out the website: skatelikeagirl.com! Email /Myspace / Facebook us!

Thanks for the support and being able to be part of 2008.
We hope to see more of you in 2009!

Best,

--
Fleur Larsen and Nancy Chang
Skate Like a Girl Co-Directors
skatelikeagirl.com

Thanks Alex White!

1st Annual Wheels of Fortune girls skateboard contest from alex white on Vimeo.

WOF 2008 Out of Control!

Thank you all for flying, driving, skating out to the Skate Barn on Dec 13 for our first jam paying out some cash money to the ladies that skated fast, furious and fabulously!

A big congrats to:
Amy Caron taking first and a modest $175
Kristin Ebeling 2nd making Skate Like a Girl proud! $125
Tamara Drybrough 3rd (one of our favorite Canadians!) $100
Kristina Naryan 4th (We love the way you move)
Abby "Zace" Zsarnay 5th (Girls got style!)
Alex White
Ashely Jones
Esther Yeargin

Also congrats to skaters in intermediate:
Tuna Poanessa 1st
Erica Harris 2nd
Ladonna Williams 3rd
Chelsea Mullins 4th
Justyce Tabor 5th
Izzie White
Emily Lindseth
Jessie Haungs

Congrats beginners!
Autumn Lynn Maddux 1st
Staycee Lee 2nd
Rena Bean Rugh 3rd
Jordan Tabor 4th
Alison Post 5th
Erica Tragesser
Heidi Veuturine
Angie Faniani
AJ Cohen
Alicia Clinton

Thank you everyone who volunteered, judged, skated, watched, donated product and supports the ladies who skate! This was such a fun thing for us.

We will be getting photos from folks soon, so check back!

Dec 13 Contest! Register NOW!

Ok, so here is the deal. Pre-register so we know you are coming. Make sure to download all the forms needed, and you pay day of. Please make sure to register online so you can save money!

Share your skate stories and get published!

The founder of Skateboarder's Journal, Jack Smith is self-publishing a book, the working title is "Lives on Board - Memories of a Skateboarding Generation".

Submit a story or two on great memories from your skateboarding life, or how skateboarding has impacted or changed your life.

Send high resolution images (300 dpi) to include them in the book.
The submission deadline is December 15th, 2008.

Email your story/images to jack@theskateboardersjournal.com.

SEATTLE EVENTS!

CRAFTY LADIES!

Please vote before Nov 24th!

Please remind everyone to vote for Nancy and Skate Like a Girl! Do it NOW! Thanks.

Wow November! Hold on to the Wheels of Fortune!

Hey all- Nancy here!

November has been amazing with my historic birthday aka the new Obama Administration, McCain's perfect concession speech, and things moving forward for Skate Like a Girl!

Just want to say thanks alot!, tack så mycket, merci, vielen dank, gracias!
For everyone! Thanks! Seriously, what a long list of people to thank, for being able to rally behind Skate Like a Girl, especially getting the vote online at womenofworth.com. Things are moving fast! I was even on the local all female morning show Brooke and Monti! Those ladies are rad! We put it out there for them to come skate with us anytime.

Everything is super exciting! Just like the contest we will be rocking Dec 13.

Here is the latest scoop: we have a $300 cash purse and we are hoping to sweeten the pot! I am hearing rumors of all sorts of gals stoked on this and they will be skating/driving/flying up!
Big big thanks to Insight Washington and Team Soapbox for being the first to kick down some cash for this wholesome, fun, skate shredding contest!
More leaks soon, but check out the flier, and more info below!
Pass the word out, let's blow this up!

Skate Like a Girl presents Wheels of Fortune, the biggest skate contest for the ladies in the Pacific Northwest!
Cash prizes for advanced riders.
www.skatelikeagirl.com

Seattle, Washington (November 18, 2008) – Skate Like a Girl presents Wheels of Fortune, an all-girl skate competition on December 13th at Skatebarn in Renton, WA. (http://www.skatebarn.com/).

Wheels of Fortune
This will be a fun filled day for skaters and fans. Skate Like a Girl will start the day off with a one hour beginners skate clinic at 11AM leading into the Wheels of Fortune street contest, with 3 divisions (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). This contest is designed to be a fun and low stress jam. Skate Like a Girl co-director and co-founder Fleur Larsen says, “We really want to make this an event that skaters of all abilities can come to, have a great time, and be cheered on in a supportive environment The contest will also showcase talented skaters from all over the Northwest.”

Historic Cash Purse
Thanks to the support of Insight of Washington (http://www.insightwa.net/) an online high school, and Team Soapbox (www.teamsoapbox.com) a local PR firm, a $300 cash purse will be showered on the top three advanced skaters. If other individuals or businesses would like to help grow the pot and be part of this historic cash purse for Northwest female skateboarding, please contact Skate Like a Girl.

Live Music w/the Valkyries and a Ramp Jam Open to Guys
Wheels of Fortune will be emceed by Seattle local and pillar of Northwest skateboarding, Marshall Reid of Manik Skateboards. Tunes will be spun up by DJ lil’ armenia. In addition to the street skating, Wheels of Fortune will invite any gentleman skater to register to join the ladies in a good old fashioned ramp jam, while the Seattle based all-female rock band the Valkyries (www.myspace.com/thevalkyriesrock) jam out. There are limited spots, so please make sure to pre-register at skatelikeagirl.com starting December 1st.
Other exciting features of the contest will include raffles, and live painting and art show with local Seattle artist onesevennine (http://179ers.blogspot.com/) and from Portland, Jackie Danger (www.myspace.com/jackiedanger).

“Wheels of Fortune will be the biggest girls’ contest in the Pacific Northwest drawing out of the woodwork talented skaters like Alex White (Featured in Getting Nowhere Faster), Tamara Drybrough (Top female skater in Canada, placed 2nd in 2008 Chicks Flip Out), and Kristina Naryan (Local Portland ripper who placed 4th in the 2008 Chicks Flip Out contest), and other gals from California, Oregon, Canada, and of course, Washington,” remarked contest organizer Kristin Ebeling (2008 Chicks Flip Out Winner).

Mark your calendars!
Ladies and gentlemen mark your calendars! Pre-registration for the clinics and contest starts December 1st. Contest will be taking place December 13th.
Go to skatelikeagirl.com for more information.

More information

Clinic Information:
Skate Like a Girl will offer a one hour beginner clinic open to girls and women. The clinic will teach the basic foundations of skateboarding: board control (balance, pushing, cruising, stopping, and turning). For those that master board control, the clinic will work with those skaters to get the feel of riding ramps, and an introduction to simple flat ground tricks. The clinic will be taught by Nancy Chang (Skate Like a Girl co-director and 2008 L’oreal Paris Women of Worth) and Skate Like a Girl volunteer instructors. The clinic costs $15 for those who register on-line, and $20 for day of registration. The clinic starts at 11 AM sharp, all participants must come at 10:30 AM to check –in. Those with skateboards and safety gear are encouraged to bring them. Skate Like a Girl will have gear for those who don’t own their own. Those who participate in the clinics are encoraged to skate in the beginner category, and will not have to pay the entry fee. Spaces are limited so please pre-register to gurantee a spot.

Contest Information:
Wheels of Fortune is open to any female skater of any age and skate abilities. We recommend that skaters pre-register online between December 1 – 10 to receive a $5 discount, and to have a guranteed spot in their perferred division. All participants must fill out all release forms. Under 18, parents/guardians must sign off forms. Helmets are required!


Entry FEE
Pre-registration / Day of registration
Beginners FREE / $5
Intermediate $5 / $10
*Ramp Jam( FREE for ladies / $5 for gentlemen) / $5
Advance $15 / $20
*Beginners, intermediates, and advanced skaters paying to compete can skate the ramp jam for free.

Wheels of Fortune Schedule
• 10 AM Registration / Check -in
• 11 AM Clinic
• 1 PM Beginners
• 2 PM Intermediate
• 3 PM Ramp Jam (Gentlemen Welcomed) / Live Music w/ the Valkyries
• 4 PM Advanced
• 5 PM Awards Ceremony

Sponsored by:
We are proud to be sponsored by the following businesses, who are helping to support female skateboarders. With out these sponsors we wouldn’t be able to throw such a big event. Please take time to check them out online.
• Insight Washington: http://www.insightwa.net/ http://www.insightschools.net/
• Team Soapbox: www.teamsoapbox.com
• Skate Barn: www.skatebarn.com
• Snowboard Connection: www.snocon.com
• Manik: www.manikskateboards.com
• Evo: http://culture.evogear.com/
• Nomadic: www.nomadicskateboards.com
• Lealta: www.lealtaskateboarding.com
• Ugly Girls: www.uglygirlsclothing.com
• Marrada: www.marradaskateboards.com
• DC: http://www.dcshoes.com
• Vans: http://www.vans.com
• Independent Trucks: http://www.independenttrucks.com/
• Fallen: http://www.fallenfootwear.com/
• Monster: www.myspace.com/monsterskateboards

DEC 13th

*Vote Nancy*

Seattle Resident Nancy Chang
Honored by L’Oréal Paris for her Exceptional
Community Achievement and Volunteerism as part of the
Third Annual Women of Worth Program

Seattle, Washington (October 30, 2008) – Seattle resident Nancy Chang has been honored as a Woman of Worth by L’Oréal Paris for her outstanding commitment to community achievement with her work for Skate Like a Girl. Chang is one of 10 honorees from across the country that will be recognized for her outstanding volunteer achievements and positive influence on her community. From November 10 through November 24, a public online vote will take place at www.womenofworth.com to nominate one National Women of Worth honoree. The National honoree will receive an additional $25,000 donation for her cherished non-profit organization.

Chang will be honored at the CNN Inspire Summit in New York City where she will receive $5,000 for her charitable cause plus a matching $5,000 monetary donation will be made in her name to The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, the eleven-year charitable partner of L’Oréal Paris.

Chang was chosen as a Woman of Worth honoree from nearly 3,000 applicants by an elite group of judges, which includes: Jacqueline Hernandez, Chief Operating Officer of Telemundo Communications Group; Soledad O’Brien, CNN Anchor; Dayle Haddon, L’Oréal Paris spokesperson; Elizabeth Howard, Chief Executive Officer of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund; Anne Garrett, Executive Director of the Microsoft Alumni Foundation and 2007 Women of Worth honoree, Karen Fondu, President of L’Oréal Paris and Anne Talley, Senior Vice President of Marketing for L’Oréal Paris.

Nancy Chang directs Skate Like a Girl, an organization promoting female skateboarding by providing free lessons to underprivileged girls, ladies-only contests, week-long summer skate camps and other events, and instructional clinics to female groups. Skate Like a Girl’s mission is to empower girls and woman of all ages, abilities, shapes and sizes, through skateboard programs, an arena where women and girls are typically excluded. Skate Like a Girl has served over 500 young women in the Seattle area, setting up workshops and camps in surrounding teen and community centers.

“Skate Like A Girl is dedicated to empowering girls and women to make healthy decisions and become confident leaders through skateboard programs. I’m delighted to be honored as a L’Oréal Paris Woman of Worth for my work and be in the company of such amazing women,” remarked Chang.
The other nine honorees are a cross section of women from all across America, dedicated to a range of causes and are exceptional representatives of the current trend in grassroots activism.

Women of Worth National Honoree Online Voting Begins November 10th at: L'Oreal Women of Worth

Equity at the X Games!

"ESPN is proud to announce that the X Games and Winter X Games will feature equal prize money for both men and women in 2009."

check the link for more info:

http://www.go211.com/u/acknoop/blogs/3786

How did this happen? http://www.actionsportsalliance.com/

We love Portland!

Kristin and I piled in to my car and drove down to Portland for the best 24 ish hours we have had!
We had two missions: Go to the SLAG pdx benefit that Jessie the PDX Coordinator put together with her crew. They raised close to $1000! Yeah!

Big ups to: the Egyptian Room + Staff, bands: Ms. Led, Saucy Yoda, and thats what she said, biz that donated raffle prizes, and for all of you all that came out to dance and buy raffles!

The other mission was to skate and do some filmage.

After a long night of living it up, we woke up to skate. Our travels included: Burnside, a street spot close to Burnside, an abandoned building with ledges + possible asbestos floating in the air, and another even sketchier building that had possible high lead contents.

I will tell you this epic tale through photos.

Starting at Burnside we waited for Moira, Jessie, Kristin and Chrissie to show up. We rolled in and saw a group of plus size ladies all dolled up and were like, oh, a photoshoot, this looks burlesque.

As they are posing, a few start getting topless, this caused quite a stir. Then all of a sudden this guy decides that he wants to get naked and compete with the ladies (B6). Then things got really weird and we left, but before that we snapped a photo of Kristin with her Blue Steel face.



We fled the scene and went down a few blocks to this loading dock. Chrissie, Kristina, and Kristin killed it as Moira filmed. Here's some stills of Chrissie.


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Afterwards we went to this place where skaters put up some ledges. I was a bit afraid of asbestos particles.





























For pictures of the rest of our trip check out our Facebook: http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=35134&id=8582012458&ref=mf

Bellingham and Burlington

The other weekend, our co-director Nancy Chang organized with some of gals from up north to have a skate date. We opted to meet up at Bellingham which isn't too far up the i-5 from Seattle. So last Sunday Nancy, along with Muriel, picked me up at my house in Ballard and we made our way up. The park in Bellingham is pretty sick. It used to be a crusted over horrible park with death trannys and awkward rails, but Grindline came and saved it, adding a sick ditch on one end, and a bowl on the other side. The gals from up here ripped the bowl with mach speed. I got my kicks on the rainbow rail and in the ditch. After talking to some local male allies, we decided to travel a lil south to hit up Burlington. This city also is home to the Vans outlet, where us ladies couldn't resist the temptation of the "buy one get the other 1/2 off" sale. Burlington was a great time until I collided with our friend Jessyca. Kind of a gnarly way to end the day. 

Portland Mission

I got work off for the weekend so I could make it to Portland. I wanted to make it to our clinic on Sunday and do some filming with Moira. After Attempting to find a train, which were all sold out due to the holiday weekend, I settled for a Greyhound (something I had never done before). $30 for a ticket wasn't bad considering paying for gas to drive down would've been more expensive probably. I made it to the station, and after being accused of cutting in line, I boarded the hound. Feeling like Forrest gump on his first bus ride to school, I found my Jenny to sit next to...a twenty-something gal playing a Nintendo DS on her way to Portland's annual anime convention. Everything was pretty legit about the motorcoach except for the bathroom, which was covered in tags and smelt like shit. Did I forget to mention the door didn't close? Definitely blanketed the seat with toilet paper before I laid my precious behind on it.
So I got off the bus with stiff legs, and sweating profusely. Portland is hot. Krisitina swooped me up in her dads car and we rolled away...yelling random stuff out the window... which is becoming more and more of a tradition for us. We picked up her black rocket from the auto shop, and if you have been keeping up with our blog, you'll know why it was in there. Then we met Moira and her couple friends at the river... some Bellingham lokes Donkey and his sister Danielle, and Portland's own Traci. After taking a dip we opted to make a Burnside mission. A couple beers down I rolled up the park with a smile...it had been a few moons since I had been here. A few back-D's and grinds later I had my fix. Kristina and I left to get some pizza and ended up watching every gals wetdream of a skate video...aka:girl skater. The only thing Gallaz ever manufactured that was cool. I awkwardly passed out in her dads bed next to a picture of my homeboy Jesus.
After waking up startled, thinking that Kristina's dad was home early, only to realize it was Kristina coming home from her job interview, I put on my pants and ate some breakfast. We met up with Chrissie, who had made it down the night before, and our beloved father Moira. I got a line at Burnside, after much frustration. We moved on to lurk around portland street spots running into some people getting their wedding photos taken, homeless men with no shirts on, and chads telling us to do tricks. We got some random clips. Then we made it to Popeyes for some dinner. Delicious tastes of my New Orleans homeland. After noshing and watching "The Wash" staring Dr.Dre and Snoop Dogg at Moiras, we headed out to skate more. Chrissie headed out, and what now became a trio made it out to the new Beaverton skatepark. Pretty random set-up, but fun. BIG stuff and very baby stuff. I dare you to try and ollie up the step-up. Moira ate some shit, Kristina ollied over a trash can and I clipped ollying up a curb. We were over it pretty soon and me and Kristina dropped Moira off so she could get to her dance party. Kristina cooked up some mean garlic bread and asparagus at her dad's pad for us. After taking a shower and watching the Element video, we passed out.
We woke up pretty early for the Dept. clinic we had to be at by 11am. As usual, Kristina lagged and sagged. We got coffee and donuts and made it to D.O.S. fashionably late. The clinic was huge! It was rad to see so many girls learn how to drop in or roll off a curb..etc, etc. After filiming a lil line with Moira, and meeting up with Nancy, Muriel, and portland SLAG folk, we took it to the streets. Filmed some mean clips outside this antique shop. Tall ledges, kicker, loading dock, and a steep 5 stair. We almost bombed hills together, but got rained out. We checked out this "crust" punk show at Burnside and skated a lil bit. Being super tired and sore, I begged Nancy to take me home. Said my goodbyes, and hit up Burgerville on the way out...as all Portland missions should end. Had to make it back up to Seattle to work on Labor Day.

-Kristin

Polar bears are cute.

Polar bears are drowning and it's your fault. Stop driving!


As luck would have it, I had the wonderful burden of a janky car situation before our invasion of Canada. Upon returning to the states, and $680 dollars later, my car was up and running. After several days of entertaining Nugget, Esther, and Chrissie (trifecta was flippin' rad), my car was running stronger then ever. After dropping the girls off, I headed home...that's when my luck caught up with me. Call it kharma for being obnoxious at trifecta, or what have you- but long story short;

I was going about 70mph on the freeway when the hood of my car popped up, curled, and smacked my windshield which obstructed my view. I quickly pull to the shoulder of the road (which happened to be the fast lane) and call AAA. I get the insurance estimate after getting my car towed home, and wait for my dad to come home so I can tell him the GREAT news. Needless to say, he wasn't stoked.

Living without my car was shitty the first time around, as it had been in the shop for a week before Canada. This time around, I decided I wasn't going to rely on other people for rides, and I wasn't going to sit around for another week and wait for my car to be fixed.

So instead, I grabbed my cruiser. I skated across the freeway back into town, I skated to friends homes, I even skated at our janky ass skatepark (which consists of shitty wood and an oversized pyramid) for the first time since Freshman year.

I fell back in love with skateboarding. The love I felt before I got my license. I fell in love with cruising. How does that song go? Kick, push, coast..

Now that my car is fixed, I'm making a challenge for myself (one that i hope you'll take on also) to start skating more, driving less. It's fun and it's cheap. Meeting your friends in town for some grub? Skate there. Headed to the park down the street? Skate there. Plan ahead, pack a water, bring a backpack, get off your ass and skate.


Product suggestions: Zip Zingers are super cruisers, they're small, fast, and you can actually skate on them if you need to ollie a curb or something. Plus, they're easy to stop unlike longboards. Or, invest in some large, soft, wheels for your normal board. They'll make the ride much smoother, and you'll totally enjoy skating without having your knees rattle.



-Kristina, OUT!

CONTEST

Greetings earthlings!

Thanks to the awesomeness of Jill over at Skatebarn West, we have the green light to start planning a girls skate comp/jam for this winter. The tentitive date is December 13th and for those of you that "aint know" Skatebarn is located in the humble town of Renton, Washington.

Once again, if you want to donate your time and help us make this event Kim Jong-ill...hit us up! yee

skatelikeagirl@gmail.com
kristinebelinggg@yahoo.com

Speaking of Skatebarn... as a beezy you get to skate for freezy every Wednesday. I'm headed over tomorrow, so hit me up if your down.

oh yeah, watch this video and learn your history.

love kristin

So we made some mix tapes for all you all.