With a 'courageous flick' these women have surged into Bowlzilla's skateboarding culture

It may be in the Olympics, but do not tell Tora Waldren that skateboarding is just a sport.

«It takes a bit of guts to come down here and pretty much eat concrete,» she said.

«You really have to just have that little courageous flick in the back of your mind that says, 'I want this, it's gonna hurt but I want this'.»

The 27-year-old Gold Coaster started when she was 8 years old and now skates competitively, including in last week's Bowlzilla National Park Skating Championships.

She is also part of a growing community of women embracing skateboarding and the culture that comes with it.

«You have this diversity in skating that allows [you to] just present yourself however you wish,» Waldren said.

«I feel like I was a completely different person to who I am now. I found my identity just because of skateboarding.

»I'm laughing pretty much all the time — unless you smack your face."

Waldren said she «lost a lot of skin» in her early years but soon met others «who really wanted to feel safe at skate parks».

«When I was a kid I didn't skate with any other girls, didn't know any other girls skating,» she said.

«Then when I really picked it up again as a late teen the community just started coming around me.»

What started as a group chat among a handful of friends has since grown into We Skate Queensland, a community with more than 3,000 Instagram followers.

«I didn't do that much, just showed up to skate parks and introduced people to other people,» Waldren said.

But her success is not unique.

Sarah Huston founded Yeah Girl, an online media platform dedicated to women in skateboarding, about five years ago.

«It's important to have it all documented from a woman's point of view [so] it's not just the men telling the women's story,» she said.

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