Stefanie Thomas was a competitive street skater in the early 2000s. She was originally from Satellite Beach, Florida but moved to Long Beach, CA with her roommate, another ripper named Jayme Erickson. Her sponsors included woman-owned company Rookie, Stereo, Etnies, Destructor, Accel, Bones, and Westside skateshop. She had a smooth, confident style with plenty of pop, control, and a selection of flip tricks including switch stance. I just think she is awesome and should be on everyone’s radar as one of those underrated influencers of women’s skate progression.
Photos: Magda Wosinska
In 2001, Stefanie placed 2nd at Slam City Jam in Vancouver behind Vanessa Torres and ahead of Jaime Reyes. In a report on the event by Rhianon Bader for her website Skate of Mind, she said that Thomas’s run stood out in her mind and “included a kickflip up the step up, a 50-50 along the stair grind box thing, boardslides on the flat bars and a big kickflip over the gap to drop near the Shorty’s rail.” She followed up that result with another 2nd place in Cleveland that year.
Photos: Ana Negrao
Stefanie had several photos published in the female-focused magazine, Check it Out Girls including issue #17 from 2004 with a kickflip over a 9-stair and manual in Portland by Magda Wozinska. Ana Negrao documented her b/s boardslide while competing at Slam City Jam for issue #18 in 2005 as well as a f/s noseslide in the city streets.
Photo: Lisa Whitaker
Thanks to Lisa Whitaker and her documentation of the early 2000s, Stefanie was included in the ground-breaking video Getting Nowhere Faster (2005) along with the Villa Villa Cola crew showcasing her 360 flips, a solid manual to flip out, and flips off stairs among other tricks.
Stefanie was also regularly featured in Lisa’s archival website The Girls Skate Network such as Blog Cam video features and listed in contest results. In January 2009, Lisa interviewed Stefanie where it was shared that she first got into skateboarding when “One of the older kids on my block started skating, and I bought a used set up from him” and had been skating for 10 years at that point. Her inspiration was Elissa Steamer.
Here is a full part by Lisa Whitaker for her first website The Side Project that displays Stefanie’s range of skill:
Stefanie was included in several 2008 road trips for filming like Los Angeles and Arizona, with Tiffany Morgan acquiring footage for her video Dear & Yonder alongside Leticia Bufoni, Elizabeth Nitu, Alex White, Leo Baker, Amy Caron and Evelien Bouilliart, and many others.
Unfortunately, Stefanie experienced some serious skateboarding injuries according to her friend, skateboarder C’naan Omer but still has an appreciation for that time in her life, skating, competing, and traveling with friends. Stefanie now has two sons and lives in Florida.
References:
- Bader, Rhianon. “Vans Slam City Jam, 2001.” Skate of Mind. 2001.
- Whitaker, Lisa. “Stefanie Thomas Spotlight.” Girl Skate Network. January 2009.
Womxn Skateboard History 