Girls gain confidence, role models at YMCA skate camp

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Port Townsend mom Carrie Spender Lennox considers confidence the most valuable trait a parent can instill in a young girl.

“It's great to see her so confident after a morning of her feeling so nervous,” Lennox said of her 8-year-old daughter Quinn on Thursday afternoon at the Port Townsend Skate Park following the first of a two-day YMCA camp aimed at teaching girls to skateboard.

“Even though you might think you can't do something, that doesn't mean you can't actually do it,” Quinn said while standing on a skateboard. “Before, I couldn't even stand on it without it moving.”

A dozen girls – ages 8 to 13 – turned out for a chance to learn from three adult skaters with the Seattle-based nonprofit Skate Like A Girl (SLAG). The camp is one of some 10 summer camp activities organized by Jefferson County's branch of the Olympic Peninsula YMCA.

Volunteer Kristin Ebeling, 25, directs Seattle's chapter of SLAG, which also has chapters in Portland and San Francisco. Ebeling, who began skating at age 12 and had already acquired sponsorships when she entered a SLAG skateboarding competition in Seattle, said she never felt that she fit in with skateboarding culture.

“It [SLAG] definitely changed my life,” she said, pointing out that the female-run nonprofit allowed her to see that skateboarding isn't just for “white boys in their 20s.” “It changed my perspective on who can skate.”

While watching her 9-year-old daughter Adeline do a trick she had learned minutes earlier, Deborah DePalma of Port Townsend said she and her husband Frank could never teach their daughter how to skateboard.

“It makes such a big difference for her to learn from these women,” said DePalma, adding that she rarely, if ever, sees girls at the skate park. “This is so empowering and encouraging for young girls. It's such a fantastic program and I wish it lasted more than two days.”

After her parents got her a skateboard for Christmas last year, her dad tried to show her how to use it.

“When I tried to show her how, I totally wiped out,” said Frank, who has since left the skateboarding to Adeline. “As soon as we told her about this, she was all about it.”

'IT'S AWESOME''

Unlike most of the other girls, Adeline had spent the last six months learning to ride her skateboard and visiting the skate park with her parents.

“I came out here yesterday and the day before that and the day before that,” said Adeline, adding that she was excited to come back the next day and would probably keep skateboarding all summer. “It's awesome.”

Most girls didn't come into the camp with Adeline's level of confidence and experience, but they all rolled away with new skills, new friends and new role models. Ten-year-old Twisters gymnast Lia Poore of Port Townsend had never before ridden a skateboard, and said she would not have known how to teach herself.

“I actually learned how to do it the right way,” Lia said of learning where to place her feet on a skateboard pump through transitions.

Ebeling said she takes a lot of pride not just in showing young girls that they can skateboard like the boys, but also in teaching them how to do it right.

“I remember hating when people would say, 'You're pretty good for a girl,'” she said. “That's why I'm passionate about this. It's a challenging sport and we have to be hard on them to learn it the right way.”

Ebeling said she learned to skateboard from boys and was surrounded by boys and young men at Seattle-area skate parks. That's why she was shocked when she over-confidently entered her first SLAG skateboarding competition and saw other girls and young women shredding the course.

“Learning to skate from another girl helps to change the culture,” she said. “It's revolutionary. I love to see these girls come together.”

SKILLS SHOWCASE

As the first day came to a close, Ebeling gathered the girls for a showcase of their skills, reminding them that SLAG is all about creating an encouraging, inclusive atmosphere where anyone can learn to skate with support from peers.

Nikko Macklin, 11, of Port Townsend was first to step up and show off what she'd learned on her first day. The group clapped and cheered as she successfully dropped in on a quarter-pipe ramp larger than the one on which she had learned earlier in the day.

“I thought I would fall over at first,” said Macklin. “But I learned that you just have to put your weight on your front foot and commit to it.”

Many parents said this program made it possible for their daughters to try skateboarding at the local skate park, which otherwise might be a scary place to learn.

“I think it's intimidating for younger girls to come down here to the skate park,” said Oceanna Van Lelyveld, whose 10-year-old daughter Malia was recently fitted with an insulin pump for her diabetes. “I think this is an activity that can help get her mind off that and allow her to be a kid.”

Lennox said she heard about the skateboarding camp through Lia Poore's mom Michelle, who had spread the word to fellow Twisters Gymnastics moms. As a result, about half of all the girls at the camp were also Twisters gymnasts. And although Lia's gymnastics teacher warned her not to get hurt while skateboarding, Michelle said she wasn't too worried.

“I love sports and I want my daughter to love sports, all sports,” she said. “I don't want her to be afraid of sports.”

One volunteer instructor – Sima Safavi-Bayat, 18, of Seattle – said unlike her fellow volunteers, she is still learning to skate, having been at it for the past five months. Teaching has helped her to learn, she said, and learning has helped her relate to her students.

Lennox said as a teacher herself, she was impressed by how the volunteer instructors encouraged and pushed the girls.

“I am a real believer in girls programs and these ladies are great at working with young girls,” she said. “This is the ideal setting for them to learn in. This program is perfect for Quinn, who at first sat on the sidelines saying, 'I can't do it. I can't do it.'

As the girls began clearing the park and heading to the parking lot with their parents, Quinn turned to her mom while rolling along on her skateboard and said, “I could teach you, momma.”