On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the Rockville skate park is buzzing with scattered groups of boys. There are teenagers, pre-teens and small children. Some are whizzing to and fro on their skateboards, others are in a corner working on tricks. A small boy around the age of eight walks up to the top of a steep hump, sits on his board and whooshes down the hump and across the park. A white van pulls up and out steps a woman with burgundy plat-formed sneakers, floral patterned sweat pants and a grey hoodie. A big fluffy white dog jumps out after her. The dog excitingly runs into the park area, and back out, circling the woman. Her name is Tatiana Kolina, founder of the all-girls skate group Skate Girls Tribe.
“There are no girls here,” She says disappointed.
The DC-based Skate Girls Tribe invites girls of all ages and all skill levels to skate together. The group holds monthly events to celebrate life, art, culture, education, and fun through skateboarding, longboarding, surfing and snowboarding. They have held events at the Kennedy Center and have sponsored many action sports events and community service events around the DC Maryland and Virginia area.
Kolina, 45, a long boarder and snowboarder herself, was inspired to start the group after watching the documentary “Skateistan” by Oliver Petrovich. The documentary shows a group of skaters going to Afghanistan and introducing skating to some Afghani kids. Kolina said that the documentary shows how skating can bring kids together of different races and classes. Boys and girls worked together and learned from each other in a society where men and women generally live their everyday lives separately. Kolina later brought her 12-year-old daughter to the skate park and saw her daughter just sit and watch everyone.
“There were only boys there and she was so nervous she just sat the whole time,” Kolina said.
That was the moment when she realized there was need for more girl skaters. In 2012 Skate Girls Tribe was born.
Skateboarding is a sport that can cause scraped up knees, broken bones, concussions and much worse. Although the skating world is very male dominated, girls skate too. Skating is not just a rough and tough past time, it is a sport that brings people together and allows them to challenge themselves. Groups like Skate Girls Tribe can also serve as a community support system. This is a good experience for people of any gender.
Maddie Launais, the event coordinator for Skate Girls Tribe, joined when she was only 16. Launais says that she always felt like the only girl skater because she rarely ever saw girls when she went out to skate. She met Kolina at the skate park while working on an art project and was invited to shoot photos at an event. Launais came from a broken home with separated parents and Kolina was able to set a go-getter example for her when she was unable to look up to her parents. She soon began to help Kolina organize and schedule events, market for the group and create and manage their social media accounts. Launais looks up to Kolina as her strongest role model.
“Whatever Tati thinks of, she does. Whatever ideas and plans she has, she follows through with. it really showed me that I could do and be anything I wanted in a world where I felt so alone and out of place as a female skateboarder,” said Launais.
Skate Girls Tribe frequently holds clinics for beginner skaters, especially girls, to advance the culture. This past March, they held a skating event for beginners. Elle, a new member of the Tribe, and an attendee at this event says that skating has taught her to be more persistent in other areas of her life. Elle recently moved to the DC area and had few encounters with other girl skaters, similar to Launais’ experience.
“Everyone falls, no matter how good they are. There is something so vulnerable about falling. I love falling. When you are with a group of people supporting you, they encourage you to get back up and keep trying,” Elle said.
Kolina says that the group is still growing and forming an identity. She does not want girls to be nervous or scared of achieving their goals.
“Having an all-girls community encourages girls to be fearless,” said Kolina.