Friday, March 30

Etnies All-Girl Skate Jam Kicks Off Fifth Season

By Julie Gengo

Central Skatepark in Clearwater Florida welcomed the 8th All Girl Skate Jam (AGSJ), now in its fifth season with over 60 girls on decks. Florida pro locals, Elissa Steamer, Jen O'Brien, Jodi MacDonald, Candy Hiler, as well as skaters from as far away as Germany and Canada, embraced the day by busting out big time.

"These girls are so impressive. They have definitely put our guy locals in their places," says skatepark owner Jay Turner.

It wasn't difficult to understand why. They were executing some serious stuff such as Smith and K grinds off the bars, big 'ol 50-50s down the rails, backside airs, indy airs, slider to fakie, fakie ollies and pop-tarts on vert. Jen O'Brien made our jaws drop further by cleanly bs-olling the huge street course wall at the coping level.

The AGSJ is the brainchild of action sports photographer and skateboarder Patty Segovia who first brought girl skateboarders together back in 1997. In a remote skatepark in San Diego, the first Jam set the record straight that girls want to skate, have the talent to skate and are never going to take no for an answer when over 50 competitors turned up. Prior to this monumental day, the skateboarding world had only heard of maybe five or so skaters including Cara-Beth Burnside and Elissa Steamer. Once the word was out, it was amazing to see these girls come out of hiding to jam in an all-female format with no guys allowed. Not only did this day set the ball rolling but proved that it's not a boy's world anymore. The AGSJ also offers the largest prize purse in female skateboarding. $7500 is paid out and split between the street and vert comps.

"It's been a difficult road pulling these events off. Seeking sponsorship has been challenging to say the least," says Segovia. "However Etnies has stepped up for a second straight time as well as Velvet Eyewear and other industry sponsors such as Grindking, BC, Nixon Watches, Illenium Decks, Flexdex, Harbinger Pads, Red Bull, Arbor Skateboards, Urban Decay, Chorus Snowboards, Timberline Colorado Clothes and Miken Clothes. Without their support this event would never exist on this level." Our media sponsors, Wahine, Heckler, Teen Mag, Pacsun.com and Transworld also help us put girls skateboarding on the map.

Designed to attract girl skaters of all levels, the AGSJ features Am and Pro divisions in both street and mini-ramp as well as the vert comp depending on the turn out. The format is usually done in jam style with three competitors skating at once in twenty-minute increments. This way the girls, especially the Am, feel more at ease. This was the case for the Street Ams but the Street Pros decided to take their runs separately with the best of three 60 second runs determining the final score.

In street, the top pros turned out including Steamer, Cnaan Omer, Jaime Reyes, Loren Mollica and Lisa Whitaker but it was fourteen year-old Vanessa Torres from Riverside, California who stole the show. She was virtually flawless as she hit almost all of her tricks. Reminiscent of a AGSJ that took place in Rhode Island in '99 (where 11-year-old Alexis Sablone came out of nowhere to take second in street), Vanessa had all eyes glued to her every move. However this time, the young skater came in a solid first.

"I just practiced and I felt good about it and I just went for it," said Vanessa, who went home with a big smile on her face as well as $2,600. Oh yeah, she also won for best trick.

When asked what she had planned for all her earnings she said, "I'm going to put it in the bank but I'm taking out some of it to use it to get to other places to win another contest and get more money."

The expected winner, Elissa Steamer who grew up in nearby Tampa was suffering from an ankle injury that prevented her from skating up to par. Nonetheless, she came in second. Cnaan Omer, who rides for Etnies, along with Steamer, just wasn't on the money but managed to hold onto third. Jaime Reyes who is know for hitting some of the most difficult tricks in the book also had a rough day as she too was skating on an injured ankle. Reyes failed to place in the top five.

Am street featured locals Noelle Stolp and Kristie Colantropo as well as the next generation of skaters, eight-year-old Hanna Lisk and 10-year-old Lyn-Z Adams-Hawkins, who flew in all the way from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where she spends the winter season.

"These girls are the future. I encourage everyone to come out and watch them rip," says Patty. Hanna, who also competes in gymnastics, managed to take first in both street and amateur mini-ramp. Her prize consisted of a long skateboard, which she traded another winner for a mini Kelly Slater flexdex and a Chorus snowboard that unfortunately is twice her size. It was way too cute when she stood up on the prize table to collect her winnings.

In the background, the girls skated to all-girl punk band Wretch, who flew in all the way from Vancouver, Canada. They provided some serious energy to keep the skaters in motion. After the street comp the band moved their gear outside next to the Red Bull vert ramp to keep the vert skaters punching the sky as well.

The vert comp was a bit more challenging as the ramp itself wasn't quite up to standard.

"It's gnarly. It's 13 foot and 24 foot wide so it's not wide enough," says Candy Hiler who managed to figure out how to overcome the obstacle and win. "Jen and Jody and even me, we're all carvers and there's no carving on this."

Jen O'Brien, with her one year-old daughter looking on, threw in some frontside 50-50s, backside ollies, fronside ollies and skated well enough for a nice second place spot while the aggressive style of Heidi Fitzgerald was good enough for third.

"We all learned how to skate at the same park. We knew how to carve before we could make turns," says O'Brien, who eagerly awaits her return home. Jen shares residence with pro skater Bob Burnquist and their brand new backyard vert ramp.

After all was said and done, the girls were stoked. Stoked with the day, their unusual trophies (which included some metal bugs and broken glass) and the rad sessioning with some of the best girl skaters. Check out www.allgirlskatejam for details on future events. The Jam will hit NYC this summer and will be back in its home state of San Diego in September.