In the very first issue of Skateboard! (Britain’s first skateboard magazine), which came out in August 1977, there’s a photo and short blurb on a skater named Minh Duc Tran in the “Who’s Hot” section. The feature shared that Minh was 17, had been skating less than a year and was from the Kensington neighbourhood in London. “She is probably our hottest female on wheels,” noted the author. Learning about Minh is also special, as it appears that she’s the first female skater of Vietnamese descent that I’ve stumbled upon.
Minh would skate at the legendary South Bank and in Holland Park, and another location called ‘The Broadwalk’ (which I assume was no longer accessible, as she was missing it). In a short period of time, Minh was mastering handstands, elbow stands, one foot 720s, nose wheelies and tail wheelies with a speciality being “handstand slalom.”
Minh explained that, “I got started when I made my first board out of roller skates. Now I’ve got a good board, and I’ve been on TV for Magpie at Brands Hatch.” [Note: Magpie was a British TV show for children, and Brands Hatch was a motor racing circuit, although perhaps there was skateboarding nearby?].
Photos of Minh from May 5, 1977 by James Gray
There was mention that Minh was planning on entering the first UK National Championships to be held at Crystal Palace (originally planned for July but heavy rains delayed it until August 10th, 1977). Minh stated that she was interested, “but I think they should have separate events for boys and girls, then I think I could do really well. More girls are skating here than people think – and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t get as good as any of the guys. I’m really keen to get more girls interested in the sport.”
Photo: Minh catching air at Danger Bank at Meanwhile Gardens in 1977
The results of the Crystal Palace skateboard contest show that the organizers decided not to create a separate category for the girls, and there’s sadly no mention of how Minh performed as she would’ve been competing against 200 skateboarders.
A young woman named Helen Thomas from the Bristol Skateboarding Centre girls’ team was interviewed for an Evening News special report on the National event. “‘People seem to think girls aren’t interested in skateboarding – but they’re completely wrong,” said 21-year-old Helen, who lives in Victoria Square, Bristol.” The author responded with, “Well, we’d be interested to hear whether that’s the case. All we can say is that we didn’t see a great many girls around at Crystal Palace.” Boo! How disappointing and predictable.
The following year, in 1978, Minh was celebrated in another UK magazine called Skateboard Scene within Issue No. 7. Minh was interviewed for the “Kate the Skate” feature (a ground-breaking column by Kate Mahony!) where it was shared that she won the Girls’ Freestyle Trophy at the “Skateboard 78” competition and even quit school to concentrate on skateboarding full time! She joined the Blue Tile team as their resident pro for sales promotion and planned on entering more contests.
In the article, Kate explained how “Minh began, like many other skateboarders, on a home-made board. She and her friend Otto Wilkinson first saw some people riding boards on the street. ‘I decided to go home and dig out my old roller skates, so we could build a board. At school we had woodwork classes, so we designed one ourselves. We started a little business selling them to the other kids at school too!”
Besides freestyle, Minh also raced slalom and skated bowl, and was grateful for the encouragement she received from fellow skaters like Simon Napper. Although, it hadn’t always been easy for Minh. She broke her ankle at Skate City but was back practising two weeks after her cast was removed, hitting up the local ramp.
Minh shared her dream, saying “I’m hoping someone will sponsor me to the States. I’d love to enter the World Championships. I would work really hard if I got the opportunity.”
In the February 23, 1978, issue of The Skateboard Special newsprint, there was a sequence of a skater demonstrating “How To Do Railers.” And while the skater and photographer weren’t explicitly named, I’ve confirmed that this was Minh!
Special thanks to Kevin Marks at the LookBack Library for access to his archive and to Professor Paul O’Connor for flagging the issue above.
If interested in UK women skaters, also see: Sue Hazel; Sheenagh Burdell; Thea Cutts
Update July 26, 2024: I just received an email from Jasmin Tran (she uses her middle name now) and she is 64 and still skates!! Jasmin is a regular at the BaySixty6 skatepark in West London and lives in Bayswater, Queensway. Special shout out to Marc Sinclair, one of Jasmin’s skate buddies for the support. Marc was just inducted into the Skateboard Hall of Fame.
Womxn Skateboard History 