International Women's Day 2023
With features from Bristol Girls Longboarding to our Ultimate Girl Guide to Skateboarding, we’ve been covering the continual rise of Women in Skateboarding as it’s happening. Inspired by the greats of the present, we’re seeing more girls on boards than ever before. Read here for information on some of the Best Women in Skateboarding, from Community Pioneers to Young Olympians.
Danni Gallacher
Danni is the founder of The Skate Retreat as well as Girl Skate UK. Danni first came across Skating in 2001 when she was 14 or 15.
Danni Gallacher first set up her website back in 2014, hoping to provide a convenient place listing the different girl jams and comps happening in the UK. Danni says ‘I’ve always tried to ensure that Girl Skate UK is above all inclusive. No matter who or what they may identify as, they have always been welcome at Girl Skate UK.’ The female skate scene seemingly grew by thousands overnight when Danni launched Girl Skate UK in 2014 as the scene was finally given a voice. In the beginning she had a number of people writing the website and contributing to Instagram, including Charlotte Thomas, Natasher Beecher, Jenna Selby and Lucy Adams.
Girl Skate UK was chosen as one of Europe’s leading community platforms, and a film crew was sent over from the States to make a short film about Girl Skate UK. Following its international attention and success, Girl Skate UK was asked to take part in Schuh’s International Women’s Day: Inspiring Women project. The campaign ended up being featured across the UK Schuh storefronts.
Danni wanted to create a welcoming and unique space where you can feel totally free and comfortable to learn new skills, no matter your ability. It’s important to her that the location is calm and beautiful, making for the very best learning environments because when you are relaxed, we are more open to trying new things.
Lola Tambling
14-year-old Lola Tambling came first in last year's park national championships held by Skateboard GB at XC Hemel Hempstead, and this year placed sixth with 81.53 points at the World Championships in Sharjah.
Lola started skateboarding at the age of 7 years old, she says "I first wanted to start skating when my parents did a skate jam at our local park called 'Junkyard'. I saw everyone skating and I was like 'I want to do that so bad'. It looked so much fun."
Tambling’s skills have earned her a few sponsorships coming from well-respected brands such as Vans and Volcom, the Cornwall-born rider is one of just four female skaters on the current GB team and wants to try and qualify for the Olympics for Paris 2024.
Sky Brown
14 year old Sky Brown became Great Britain’s youngest ever Olympic medallist Last year when she Won Bronze in the summer 2021 Olympics. At age 13 while training in May 2020, Sky fell from a ramp and fractured her skull, broke her left arm and wrist and suffered lacerations to her heart and lungs. She was lucky to be alive, but throughout all her healing she stayed positive and just couldn't wait to skate again. sky said "I think the message is you can fall but you can also get up. Bad things can happen but good things usually happen after them, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.”
Sky Brown started skateboarding and surfing at the age of three. Her preschool had a skatepark, and her father built a backyard mini ramp where he skated every day.
Brown first went viral aged four, when Stu posted a clip of her on Facebook. She spent hours watching and recreating clips from YouTube. This year Sky has already won gold in park skateboarding at the World Championships in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday with a best score of 90.83 from her three runs.
Lucy Adams
Lucy’s presence in the UK skateboarding scene for over 20 years as one of the most high profile female skateboarders out there has been an inspiration to generations. Lucy has won the UK Skateboard Champs and Girls UK Skate Jam numerous times with her infamous skills. Through her hard work to help transform the landscape of British skateboarding as a whole, her reputation is well-earned. When companies started taking an interest and giving female skaters more exposure in the early 2000's, Lucy was a prominent female skater in the UK scene and made moves for female representation within the Skate scene.
Lucy's efforts to make skateboarding more accessible for girls includes setting up Brighton based She-Shredders coaching sessions and leading mass participation and inclusion events such as 'Push The Prom'. Most recently Lucy was made Chair of Skateboard England as well as recently being appointed as an ambassador for IWG Women and Sport. As well as that Skateboard GB announced that they appointed Lucy Adams as Progression Project Lead. Continually acting as a guiding force to improve grassroots skateboarding through various projects, Lucy’s mark of progression resonates with generations of skaters of minority genders.
Amber Edmondson
Amber is a co-founder of Women Skate the World with Nanja Van Rijsse in the Netherlands, after meeting earlier this year whilst volunteering for SkatePal in Palestine. After only skating as a child, last year Amber went along to a girls’ night in Manchester with a friend which was the first time she'd been back on a board for 14 years. Since it began, Women Skate the World have been on a mission to promote inclusive skateboarding through encouraging female volunteers and encouraging women to skate. After making her mark on the world of International Women's Skateboarding, Amber now works at Skateistan and is busy setting up new-wave in Sheffield.
