Skateboarding in Mexico in the late 1970s was gaining in popularity among youth, with skateparks opening and companies like Pepsi sponsoring a local team, including a girl named Beatriz Saens.
I had heard about Beatriz because Stephanie Fernández, who was the first Mexican girl’s National champion in 1979, mentioned skating with her. The two girls would often compete against each other, but according to Stephanie, it wasn’t a rivalry because they were close friends and near the same level of ability.
I have four photos of Beatriz. One from 1977 where she is kick-turning on a ramp at the Skatorama park in a neighbourhood called Lomas Verdes north of Mexico City, a Team Pepsi photo from 1979 by Ivan Cervantes with Beatriz standing solo on the 2nd tier, and then she is in the background on the cover of Mexico’s Roller magazine (Vol 1, No. 4) from June 1979 where a different spelling is noted than what I’ve seen via posts online: Beatriz Garcia Sàenz.
I was lucky when it came to Stephanie since a family member with an interest in skateboarding happened to Google her name and helped connect us, so hopefully Beatriz sees this post and reaches out.
And finally, after posting this feature to Instagram, I was sent an additional photo of Beatriz from the Museo Del Skate Mexico, although no direct leads yet.
Would love some more photos and backstory of skateboarding in Mexico in the 70s, and how she landed the Pepsi sponsorship. It would also be wonderful to enable a reunion, since Stephanie left Mexico as a teenager to pursue her education and career.
Womxn Skateboard History 