Conversation with Bristol Girls Longboard Crew
Today we are having a conversation with Bristol Girls Longboard, both co-founders Georgia and Danielle, along with a few people from their crew. Bristol Girls Longboarding crew started in Lockdown of 2020. Recently they have been featured by BBC and Best of Bristol.
Can you kindly introduce yourself and the group for us please?
Georgia: Hi, I’m Georgia and I co-founded Bristol Girls Longboard with Danielle. It started with just a very small group and grew to be what it is now, almost 2 years old and incredibly 60+ people strong. We’re a close group and skate regularly with our friends. Bristol Longboard Crew throws mixed sessions and travelling together to other cities; we have created a space for strangers to meet, fail together, learn about each other and explore the many different longboard styles. It’s been a journey!
Danielle: My name is Danielle Davis, I’m the co-founder of Bristol Girls Longboard, a women’s longboard community that aims to remove the barriers for girls to get into skating, build friendships and bring love and laughter via longboarding across Bristol!
How did you both first come across longboarding?
Georgia: I didn’t start skating until age 25. I don’t remember seeing many women who skate; there was one pro in my small town growing up (shout out to Ellis Frost).
Instagram has been a big inspiration for me. I love watching crazy carving videos around palm-tree lined streets with the sky glowing like Madrid and California, and also coming across and connecting with all the different communities of longboarders across the world.
Danielle: I bought a skateboard randomly one day whilst at uni in Exeter, taught myself off YouTube in a car park and then quickly, as we say in our group, “got cocky and ate shit” (aka broke my arm). I later stumbled across some dudes at Freshers Week with longer boards and thought “surely that’s safer”... and I quickly joined the crew, got hooked and never looked back!
Yes! Part of skateboarding / longboarding is falling off. So what was it that inspired you to first step on a board?
Danielle: Hard to say, something was guiding me that day I bought a board. I don’t think I had much choice in the matter.
Georgia: I found a second hand board in a Brighton charity shop early 2020 and watched tutorials by Natalie Pluto, Hans Wouters, Giu Alfeo to name a few. I’ve since fallen for the thrill of being challenged by a new combo or trick, and dancing flow!
What or who have been your inspirations in skateboarding/longboarding?
Georgia: Valeria Kechichan co-founded Longboarding Girls Crew ten years ago, which is now run by the equally inspiring Isabella Motta. It's been an incredible network of over 100 ambassadors in cities around the world and a safe space to connect with anyone, travel, share advice. They are continually campaigning for better visibility and conditions for women in the sport.
Danielle: I agree, definitely Valeria Kechichian. Also Valeriya Gogunskaya who taught me longboard dancing at the longboard camp in Portugal.
Georgia: I’m also inspired by my teammates. I'm lucky to be sponsored by Luca Longboards and Slide Perfect; my teammates inspire me to be better.
What's the Bristol skate scene like?
Danielle: Super supportive! It’s rare to ever meet a bad egg in Bristol, people are always chatting to us.
Georgia: We share spaces a lot and recently we were skating in Lloyds, and a group of skateboarders there were stoked to see me do a one-foot manual. People are just happy to see anyone on wheels.
Can you tell us about the boom in female skateboarders in and around the Bristol area please? How has the scene grown and when did you start to notice a change?
Danielle: I think COVID and lockdown had a large part to play! Like Georgia and I, people needed a way to be outside and learn something new. More and more Instagram reels were showcasing female riders across the world and people wanted to give it a try! We grew really organically, friends brought friends along to sessions and as I’d go around the city, if I saw a girl with a longboard I’d immediately head over and ask if she wanted to skate with us.
We started to be noticed across the city as well as recognised across the country as one of the largest groups of women longboarders in the UK. We loved running sessions in collaboration with the surf skate girls and the surf girls - girls who are into one discipline are often into another as well!
Georgia: Since we started, Campus Pool has set up girls nights on Wednesdays. Regular jams run by our skateboarding friends BrisGirlsSkate at the M32 and Dean Lane. We regularly skate in the centre at Lloyds Amphitheatre and meet people on all types of boards. Also, when we go to the Brunel Way Pump Track it’s much more common to see women rock up and send it there than I remember it being before.
So how did the idea of Bristol Girls Longboard form? Can you tell us a bit about where the idea came from and how it has positively affected the shape of your local scene?
Danielle: Georgia, my sister Ash, our friend Ellie and I one day met up in millennium square to have a skate together and then I decided it would be fun to make some videos of our progress! Within a few weeks we thought more girls might like to skate with us and we hosted a session!
Georgia: We saw a few women around the city and wanted to see if a separate space would install more confidence in girls to skate with the guys. It does!
The end goal is always; everyone skates together.
As awareness and visibility of people who identify as non-binary grows within the skateboarding community, is Bristol Girl Longboard just for ’girls’?
Georgia: Not at all! If you put aside the name, we are just a crew that loves this sport. The group is full of welcoming and kind and inclusive people.
Danielle: There’s a brilliant mixed bristol longboard group as well who are our besties for anyone who identifies as a male.
You've had quite a bit of coverage over your group recently. What have been some of the most unexpected happenings from it?
Georgia: Wow, yes! From Best of Bristol, to front page BBC Online. A few drone videographers have reached out and more media outlets. I’m pretty stoked to be here on SkateHut!
Danielle: I think the sheer amount of messages from people from all walks of life wanting to have a go! Parents, their kids, people moving to Bristol and messaging us in advance of their move, really all sorts! There have been a number of people reaching out to feature us in music videos or feature on panels which is super exciting.
What’s next, this year and in the future?
Danielle: I think it has to be really showcasing the girls’ skills and progression in the group, collaborating with other local groups and further afield! I’d love to help younger girls get into longboarding as well as currently we ask that everyone is 18+. And of course more trips to meet women in other countries, there are so many skate spots on my bucket list!
Georgia: I’m working on developing a big competition in Bristol, definitely more meetups, more international travel too. More edits and birthdays to celebrate. Collaborating with more filmmakers and growing our own skills.
Now let's invite a few of your core group members into the conversation. Hello Sonia, Tobi and Maggie!
What does longboarding mean to you?
Tobi: It means teaching myself that it’s okay to fail but the most important thing is to be resilient and try again. Also, it’s okay to just enjoy yourself. I don’t have to be the most daring or the most skilled, cruising along the harbour or on the streets is just as pleasurable and that’s alright.
Sonia: Having fun, making memories that put a smile on my face.
And how do you feel when you're longboarding?
Georgia: The only thing I can compare it to is the feeling of surfing, particularly on smooth concrete. Skating is the best feeling in the world and everyone should get to experience it.
Daniella: The feeling of skating down a road with your gals on either side is indescribable and gives you goosebumps. In Barcelona we were 25 women from across Europe, you feel invincible.
Maggie: Sometimes free, sometimes scared of falling off, but always excited to get that trick in the bag!
What's the most rewarding thing about being part of Bristol Girls Longboard?
Georgia: Meeting all the different characters and identities. In Bristol we have girls from Poland, Ukraine/Latvia, Spain, Nigeria - they are all badass! People from all walks of life. The longboarding community in the UK and those I have met across Europe is great.
Tobi: The friendship. We met as skaters but are now the best of friends and personally, I regard them as family.
Maggie: The people and friendships that have come from this. Personally, this group has become so much more than just skating for me. The girls have been so supportive, whether it's learning a new trick on the board, or something else going on beyond skating, they've always been there for me and I appreciate them!
Wow! That's so heartwarming to hear! Have you guys travelled to other places with longboarding? If so where's been your favourite place?
Danielle: We’ve been all over the UK, London a lot, Wales, Scotand, Cornwall and Devon. I just came back from Mexico after fulfilling a dream to skate with the girls there.
Georgia: We just came back from Barcelona shooting a movie with Longboard Girls Crew. It will be launched later this summer. The last films were shot almost a decade ago; Endless Roads and Open. I can’t wait to see and travel more, Madrid and Portugal are on my bucket list to visit next!
Tobi: Wales by far. It was sort of a skills exchange with a female surf and skate group but it was so much fun. There are some similarities with surfing and skating and those communities so it was easy to get on.
Maggie: I've not been on many trips just yet. My favourite is probably the ‘Hog Hill’ Downhill Racing Event in London. It was my 2nd skate meetup (so very much a newbie to the scene) but I feel like this little getaway set some strong foundations in my friendships very quickly.
Do you feel safe in the skate community and how?
Georgia: I trust the group immensely and it includes some of my closest friends. We are vulnerable with each other - talk about everything we are going through and celebrate each win.
Maggie: Georgia and Danielle have created a very safe inclusive community where it's not intimidating to get involved. I'm very grateful for them.
Do you prefer freestyle or downhill longboarding?
Sonia: I prefer freestyle. I do enjoy downhill too but I don’t do it much at the moment.
Danielle: I love both dancing and freeride (each is so different and makes your heart quicken just as fast!)
I’m on a mission to get more women into freeride and downhill, across Europe and Asia dancing and freestyle is more popular but the opposite across the pond in North and South America. I’d like more women across the UK to feel the exhilaration of sliding and putting yourself out of your comfort zone.
Georgia: Freestyle tricks, every day!
Tobi: Downhill— I’m a bit of a speed demon.
Maggie: Freestyle & Dancing.
What was the last new trick you learned?
Danielle: A friend and I recently coined the Charleston on the board - a proud moment in my longboard dancing.
Sonia: A no-comply variation that I don't know the name of, but it's hard to keep track because even if you land the trick, you still keep working on it after to be more consistent.
What new tricks are you working on right now?
Georgia: I’m working on a cross-foot shuv. It’s a really stylish trick and I would really love to land it consistently.
Danielle: I love dancing and I’ve done ballet and other forms of dance since I was 3 - I want to bring more of this into my longboarding, so smoother pirouettes and more pirouette variations. In my freeride I want to master the Coleman Slide, a basic that will give me more confidence.
Sonia: Tail manuals, pirouettes, 540 pivots into a shuvit.
Tobi: Standies - practice makes improvement.
Maggie: No tricks in particular at the moment, I'm hoping to learn more freestyle tricks.
Finally, if you had any advice for beginners getting into longboarding what would it be?
Danielle: Buy a second hand board off facebook marketplace and teach yourself off YouTube, get the basics and just cruise around! Find a crew and if there’s not a meetup suggest one, don’t be scared because this community is so kind! The first years of my longboard journey were just skating to work across London Bridge and using my board as transport whilst living in Madrid. Just get confident with basics; carving, foot braking etc.
Sonia: Just enjoy yourself and have fun. And please wear safety gear!
Maggie: Music is a game-changer! I struggled to confidently skate on my own at first, but music gets me in the zone and less conscious of people watching and don't compare your skate journey to anyone else’s!
