By MARY ALICE EWING
If you wondered why people were hooting and hollering in front of Tutt Science Center Tuesday evening, it was not eager science students ecstatic about their work; it was the Girls Skate Club convening for one of their weekly meetings. Femme skaters of all levels gather at roughly 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday to hone their skateboarding skills.
Self-taught skateboarders Jane Hatfield ’22 and Izzi Valente ’22 started the club during the second week of Block 1. Valente, new to skateboarding, learned this fall, but Hatfield has been skating since she was a little girl.
“Skating has always been a passion of mine,” said Hatfield. “I taught myself at age 10 and have just been trying to learn from my peers since then. My favorite move is skateboarding down stairs.”
At their first meeting, they had around 40 attendees, and they have continued to get a regular turnout of 20–30 people since then. The group welcomes anybody that happens to be walking by Tutt at this time. Boards are borrowed from friends and shared among everyone. People of all skill levels are encouraged to join and to learn from Hatfield, Valente, and other experienced attendees.
Hatfield described how when she was growing up, she had very few female skateboarders to look up to. Skateboarding is typically a male-dominated sport, but Hatfield hopes to one day see greater female representation in the sport she is so passionate about. The goal of the Girls Skate Club is to change that underrepresentation and provide girls with a pressure-free space to learn to skate.
“Jane is a fearless skater and has taught me so much,” said Lily Epstein ’22, one of the group’s first members. “I never thought I would be able to skate down stairs, and I did this year.”
In addition to providing a gathering place for cool skater girls, Hatfield and Valente have expanded the club to involve volunteer work with the YMCA after-school program. The Collaborative for Community Engagement helped Hatfield and Valente establish a relationship with the YMCA. This partnership started in November, and about 8–10 skaters volunteer there twice each block to work and do crafts with kids in grades 5–8. Most recently, the Girls Skate Club wrote letters to their skater role models. Later this block, the members are looking forward to painting and spray-painting skateboards with the YMCA afterschool program. Girls Skate Club is trying to build friendships with the kids at the afterschool program, and will begin teaching them how to skate in the spring.
Anyone interested in joining Girls Skate Club can contact Hatfield or Valente, join the Facebook group, or wander out to the front of Tutt Science Center on Tuesday evenings, where you will always receive a warm welcome.