Tag: freestyle
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April Hoffman
April Hoffman (Weems) was a freestyle skater in the 1980s who was sponsored by Gordon & Smith (G&S) and Independent trucks. She was the grand-daughter of the legendary couple Jeanne and Stan Hoffman who opened and operated the Pipeline Skatepark in the Badlands from 1977-1988 in Upland, California. And, her uncle Don Hoffman is a…
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Tara Kaylor
Tara Kaylor (Garner) first appeared in skateboarding media within a report on the “Easter Week Contest” in San Diego on April 8, 1977 by Di Dootson in the May 1977 issue of the National Skateboard Review. The contest was hosted at the Standley Recreation Center with 300 spectators. Dootson wrote, “Tara (the Terror) Kaylor was…
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Michelle Sanderson
Michelle Sanderson (Hart) from West Covina, California was a competitive freestyle skater in the early 1980s who persevered during an era when skateboarding had dramatically declined in popularity compared to the 1970s but slowly returned to full force. Photo: a still of Michelle skating in the film Future Primitive (1985) Michelle competed in the California…
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Kym Milburn
Kym Milburn from San Diego was primarily a freestyle skateboarder during the mid-1970s riding for Grand Surf, Team Bahne, and eventually Tracker trucks. She practiced her skills at the Bay Park Elementary asphalt playground, which was a “long-time gathering spot for local skaters” according to Brian Gillogly. She had a background in gymnastics, which was…
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Fabiana Duclos
In 1973, Fabiana Duclos (Badie) received her first skateboard and within four years she was being recognized as a freestyle expert. Fabiana was showcased by the Wild World of Skateboarding magazine first in July 1977 within a 4-page feature on how to perform a 360, while skating at the Montebello skate park. That same year…
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Sophie Bourgeois
In the late 1970s and 1980s, one of the top female skateboarders from Canada was Sophie Bourgeois from Drummondville, Quebec but you would hardly know it due to the limited acknowledgement, if any in Canadian skateboard magazines or history books. Like Pam Judge, Canada’s first female National Champion, Sophie would go on to be sponsored by…
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Elisabeth “Eli” Meyers
Elisabeth “Eli” Meyers (RIP) was from Schoten, a town in Antwerp, Belgium and is considered the country’s first ripping female skater. Meyers was introduced to skateboarding by her brother and friends, and she consistently skateboarded into her fifties. “In those days, there were no videos – we had to wait for Skateboarder Magazine to come…
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Ellen Oneal (Deason)
In May 1975, Ellen Oneal from San Diego, CA received a skateboard for her sixteenth birthday and began to translate her skill and athleticism from activities like gymnastics, bike-riding, ballet, body-surfing and water-skiing to skateboarding. As a guest columnist for Skateboard Journal (November 1977), Ellen contributed some of her back story. She said, “My own…
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Desiree Von Essen
Desiree Von Essen-Harrington of Ventura, CA began skateboarding in 1968 at age 10 and became a regular at skateboard contests – she was also a whistleblower when it came to gender inequity. Brian Gillogly featured Desiree in a “Who’s Hot” profile for the June 1976 issue of Skateboarder where it was noted that in the…
Womxn Skateboard History 