The first time I went to NASS I was about 13 years old and hadn’t been skating for long. I really wanted to go because a women’s skate team was coming over from America to hold a girls only session, and the only girl skater I had ever seen was a video game character in Tony Hawk (shout out Elissa Steamer!)
My first impression of NASS was that the park was huge – three times the size of anything I’d ever skated. I remember feeling super hyped when I entered and saw girls shredding everywhere. The level wasn’t that high either (fair to say these other girls weren’t used to these ramps on steroids either) so I felt secretly quite confident as I joined the session. This didn’t last long though as I accidentally punched one of the girls I’d been so desperate to skate with right in the face! I promise it was a complete accident and not entirely my fault – I rolled up one of the quarters and popped a fat frontside 180 just as a girl decided to put her tail on the coping and drop in. As I came around my swinging arm hit her in the face and we both crumpled to the floor. I think I had so much adrenaline in me that I got up instantly. I tried to help her up but she refused to take my hand. I was so embarrassed that I grabbed my board and started running towards the exit; instead of making friends I had just hit somebody. As I slipped away a woman started chasing me – I was terrified that I was going to be in real trouble but to my surprise she handed me a free t-shirt. I don’t think she saw what had just happened or maybe she had and was congratulating me on an epic knock out. That experience at NASS would haunt me forever and be the last time I would skate with girls until about a decade later.
Flash forward to 2019 and NASS is much less traumatic for me. I haven’t skated with girls there again, but I have obtained a media pass to cover the women’s event, which is a dream come true for any skateboard videographer.
I was vaguely aware that this year, Girl Skate UK was not having any involvement with the girl’s comp, which is probably why no one I knew was invited to compete. In fact, I think it’s fair to say NASS didn’t invite any female athletes this year, but they made the effort to invite some boys. Unfortunately, I can only give my opinion and not hard-core facts on this, as my request to speak with the organiser of the women’s event didn’t get answered – possibly because there was no one organising the women’s event up until the very last minute – who knows!
Practice in the park was scheduled for the girls between 11pm and midnight, with the comp starting at 10am the next morning, which I believe is better than a previous year when the BMX comp over ran and the girls had to compete at midnight. I believe this same year the comp was cut down to 30 minutes too. You could say that based on this, NASS has improved its standards for women, but many would argue it’s still not doing enough and that the women’s event is an afterthought, or second best to the men’s. The argument for equal prize money comes from two sides – some guys say that the woman are free to compete in the men’s comp for a chance to win bigger prize money, and others say that if the women’s prize money was equal then women would come from all over the world to compete at NASS. Touché.
Anyhow, enough about the politics of it all. Let me give you my low down on the comp. I was up in the top corner and had an excellent view of both the park and street section of the course – this turned out to be essential as the battle for 1stplace came down to literally that – one awesome transition skater (Lola T), vs. the street skaters (including Roxanna Howlett and Helena Long).
Lola T’s run was most impressive for me because I’d never seen her skate before and I don’t follow much transition skating. From a logistical point of view, the run was perfectly thought out, perfectly timed, and perfectly executed. The hard work from Lola and her supporting family definitely paid off (and would have paid off even more if women had equal pay!) That aside, she’s definitely inspired me to skate some more transition and I’m now following her epic progression on social media (and you can too @Lola_t_ )
Closely behind Lola, was my favourite 10-year-old street skater – Rox. I want to know what this girls mum is feeding her for breakfast, because I’m currently eating co co pops and don’t have that much strength or energy. I’ve even pondered briefly whether Rox jumping that massive stair/bank set at NASS comes under child cruelty, however, Rox’s mum assures me that she loves it! Unfortunately, Rox incurred an injury to her foot in the practice before the final and it looked as if she wouldn’t compete, so to place second whilst not being able to put down your biggest tricks is a massive achievement.
In third place was Helena Long – last year’s champion. The only girl that would throw down a kickflip pretzel in the last 4 seconds of a run. Helena is the ultimate style warrior of steeze, and I’m starting to worry that my over enthusiastic support for everything she does means she might be considering a restraining order against me real soon. Please don’t do that Helena, I promise to act cool around you.
As for all the other girls, I was impressed with every single one of them. From Jessica Winter who seemed hella nervous but got through it (with a kickflip and a heelflip!) to Ellie Waters and Catherine Shanks, well done for sticking it girls! Daisy was also a new kid on the block to me that put in an epic run. Rianne pleased the crowd with a cheeky 180 to fakie big spin helping her secure 5thplace (and I hear she’s leaving Lakai shoes so lets see whats in store for her next, nike? Adidias? Vans? Place you bets here people).
There was also a chick from Brazil who had made special effort to enter as she travels around Europe ( you can follow her trip on instagram @thaisgazarra). Sophie Ludd’s run was so on point that she could have easily knocked someone off the podium (she took a well-deserved 4thplace). Lily Grace was another girl who travelled the distance (from Liverpool) to compete at NASS along with Freya, who although doesn’t post to Instagram as much as I would like (give the people what they want Freya, and what the people want is more sick clips on the gram!), she is starting to become a regular in the competition scene. Along with Freya, Beth Howells was also confidently hitting the transition on the course, whilst rocking a bucket hat (I wish I could rock a bucket hat).
Taluliah was another young shredder packing in the transition tricks and giving us a glimpse at the potential she has to join the likes of Rox and Lola as she gets older (along with Daisy of course). Camelia (with the awesome green joggers) took 6thPlace and seemed comfortable on both street and transition, which goes a long way when skating a course like NASS. And let’s not forget Jeff Ruffle, who landed her last trick with her butt on the board and rolled away, 10 extra points for steeeeeze. Of course, she skated really well but ended on this so not only will she never be forgotten, but the slam also gave her a place in NASS best slams. #foreverfamous #neverforgotten.
Overall, I respect all the girls that took part because it creates enough demand to keep a comp like NASSrunning, as those from my generation will remember a time when there simply weren’t enough competitors to justify holding a comp of this size. We can only hope that NASS continues to improve its standards (and prize money) for the women, so that it attracts more participants next year (if it doesn’t clash with Tokyo 2020 that is).
Credits:
Main image courtesy of Lewis Royden Photography
Concrete Girls
NASS Festival
