In the early 2000s, Jill Viggiani was a regular at the Talent indoor skatepark in Burlington, Vermont and had been vetted by members of the Burton snowboarding team as having potential for being sponsored by Emily Oliver’s skateboard company, Cherry Skateboards (2003-2009) which was a female-focused enterprise.
Emily explained that she had connections at Burton snowboards, and she asked them check out Jill’s skating. After their mission, they “came back telling me that she was the best girl skater they had ever seen… Then Shodie [Cherry graphic designer] confirmed that in addition to being a sick skater, she was also a very cool girl with a great attitude, and I decided to put her on the team. I’m really happy that Jill’s a part of Cherry because she is very determined and definitely has the right attitude to make a great pro skater.”
Jill was interviewed for the January 2003 issue of Resolve magazine, which was an East Coast skateboard mag. Jill shared that she was born in Yonkers, NY and that “I first stepped on a board when I was really young, banana board style. When I was like 10 or 12 some of the older guys in my neighborhood were getting into skating, it looked like fun and I wanted to do it. I somehow convinced my mom to go to the local skateshop and let me get a real set-up. It was a Vision… I was so stoked.”
After living in Poughkeepsie, NY and making trips to Burlington for snowboard trips, Jill decided that Vermont was a cool place to live with greater access to the mountains “and a good vibe. I ended up getting a job here and it seemed like the right move. I have been here for 4 years now.”
Jill noted that some of her friends had moved to California but always seemed to come back. Jill preferred the east coast because, depending on the weather, she could choose to snowboard or skateboard. “The east coast just feels right to me… Lucky for us, we have a sweet indoor skate park called Talent. Having an indoor park makes all the difference.”
There was actually a documentary called “Talent” about the skatepark’s legacy which includes Chris Colbourn of Worble fame and an interview with co-owner Hannah Deene-Wood (who strangely isn’t named in the documentary until she names herself while reminiscing about a conversation with Harold Hunter and his solo Zoo York demo!). It includes footage of skaters throughout the years, but no sign of Jill, although there was rumour that footage of Jill skating at Talent was included in the film Pretty Sweet (2012) by Girl/Chocolate.
Photo: Jill was featured in a Cherry advertisement, published in Push magazine from 2002, which was a publication dedicated to female skateboarders, edited by Denise Williams.
Jill was proud to be part of the Cherry skateboards team. “They are cool because they are down for women skateboarders and help us get exposure and opportunities. I always considered myself a skateboarder, not just a ‘girl skateboarder’ or some novelty. I don’t see the big deal about girls skateboarding. The only problem is that most companies say that they are down to support women but we end up being a super low priority to them. That’s what’s cool about Cherry, they’re totally down to support female skaters. I have been on the team since last spring.”
In regard to contests, Jill entered a few but felt that it wasn’t always the best indicator of someone’s talent and “it only shows one side of a person.” Jill even entered the sponsored division against the boys at a contest at Talent skatepark because, “I kinda like to skate in guy’s contests because there’s always a better crowd. I entered those all girl skate jams too. Unfortunately, the two I went to this summer kinda sucked. The set ups are always so jacked and they just seemed so unorganized and there was no cash prize for the sponsored divisions. I understand that next year’s will be way better with a real street course, cash prizes and all. That sounds cool to me.”
The contest Jill was talking about was likely the All Girl Skate Jam in New York at the South Street Seaport. The good thing was that, Jill’s photo competing at the event ended up being on the cover of the July 22, 2002 issue of The New York Times. Jill wrote on Facebook that “I remember being woke up the next day by a phone call from my brother Bryan Viggiani to tell me the news… James and I were staying with my best friend Kerri McShea and Ethan Escowitz. Thanks to the photographer Charlie Samuels and Patty Segovia-Krause for hosting the All girls skate jam back in the day. Great memory I will cherish forever!”
Video clip of NY contest from an All Girl Skate Jam promo video
Jill’s teammates at Cherry included Alex White, Alexis Schempp, Crystal Solomon, Hudson Poston, Jen O’Brien, Kara Pizzamiglio, Sarah Drexler, and Summer LaClair. Besides Cherry Skateboards, Jill was sponsored by Navigator trucks, received flow from DC shoes, and represented her skatepark, Talent. Her favorite spot to skate was the financial district in New York City.
In 2003, Jill’s advice to other female skaters was, “Be prepared to get hurt, sometimes harassed and always frustrated. If you like to skate, then do it, and don’t worry about what tricks you can or can’t do. Just have fun with it.” Her personal goal with skateboarding was “to keep having fun, get a chance to see the world, and make a living at it… not everyone is destined to have a ‘desk job.’”
In an article for the Times Argus from July 2003, an article was written about the outdoor Burlington skatepark in Battery Park, which took fifteen years of discussion, protest, delays and development before construction began in July 2000. At age 20, Jill was interviewed saying that instead of regarding skateboarding as a sport, she found it be more of an activity or hobby that you could do by yourself, especially with a skatepark that allowed her to skate everyday. “There are days when you feel connected to the board and you’re skating well… You’re not thinking about anything else.”
Based on the Talent Skatepark Facebook page, it sounds like Jill continued to skate over the years and was even part of the girls’ nights organized at the park in 2018. Jill is now a dog trainer and is the co-founder / owner at MotoDog Training out of East Montpelier, Vermont. She even competes with her Belgian Shepherd dogs on a global stage like the FMBB World Championships.
*Special thanks to Kevin Marks from the LookBack Library for the scan of Resolve magazine.
Update July 12, 2025: On Instagram, Jill was remembered by skater / writer, Forrest Brandt, who took a class in college on graphic print production that she was teaching. He was aware of Jill from skating Talent indoor, but they were only introduced during the class. And, after the class, during a skate session at waterfront park in Burlington, Forrest remembered how Jill gave him props for landing a trick he was proud of. He considered Jill the real deal, as opposed to many snowboarders fronting as skaters at his school.
References:
- Hirschfeld, Peter. “A battery of boarders descend on Burlington.” Times Argus (July 20, 2003).
- Waters, Greg. “Jill Viggiani” Resolve magazine Volume 2, No. 10 (January 2003).
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