[ad_1]
Rasha Amid points to the large ramp.
– Lisa look, I’ll jump there!
– No you should not. I don’t mean to call your mother and tell her that I let you jump from there, replies project coordinator Lisa Tolf.
Rasha Amid is 8 years old and one of the newcomers who, along with his 14-year-old cousin Medina, has been at Skate Nation Stockholm for almost nine months. This particular gathering takes place at the Stockholm Skatepark near Gullmarsplan in South Stockholm.
Children who have been with us longer than others are more than happy to help. Nadia holds Rasha’s hands on the ramp.
Photo: Lars Lindqvist
Skate Nation is an initiative that started in 2016 and aims to integrate newcomer Swedes with established Swedes. In addition to giving young people a context in which to meet, they can meet other young people and learn the language.
In December, Skate Nation launched the For Her campaign, which focuses on getting more girls to skate. It is a challenge. The sport has long been labeled “killsport.”
Lisa Tolf works as project coordinator at Skate Nation and feels that most of those who come to the meetings are children, but as soon as the children enter the attraction, the norms of society no longer matter.
The project coordinator, Lisa Tolf, believes that it is an advantage that she is a beginner at skating.
Photo: Lars Lindqvist
– It is a great threshold to approach this sport. There are still many who have the idea that it is a boy’s sport. But they’re not afraid, when they first come in, they just check out what friends are doing and driving, says Lisa Tolf.
She herself has none bottom in skating and stood for the first time on a board in January. But it has been an advantage in this particular context, he says.
– I can be a role model in the sense that I’m bad at driving and I think that’s great.
Skating is sometimes considered a boy’s thing, but once the girls who have applied for Skate Nation get into the game, the norms of society no longer matter. Then just wear them, he explains.
Photo: Lars Lindqvist
Lisa Tolf has been involved since January and has seen the cousins develop both on the boards and outside of the skate park. The development has been particularly clear in Medina.
– He has started to dress a little differently and has friends here that he listens to and hangs out with. Then our work is done, says Lisa.
Rasha goes up and down down the ramp without the slightest fear in the body. My friend Alvar Rudholm shows how to ollie, the most basic trick in skateboarding. Rasha has her foot on the board, ready to try the trick.
Alvar Rudholm shows Rasha Amid how to ollie, a basic trick for all skaters.
Photo: Lars Lindqvist
As part of the effort to attract more girls, female coaches have been hired. Among them is Alice Tande, 18, who has been skating for four years.
She knows what it is to take the step to start skating as a child. At first, I only skated on the special times reserved for girls. It was two years before he started skating in the times that are open to all.
– I wanted to feel like I was good enough to keep up. I felt that it was very accepted to be a beginner at girls skate and there were coaches who helped one, she says.
Alice Tande says her role as a skateboarding coach has given her new perspectives. Here he helps Medina, 14 years old.
Photo: Lars Lindqvist
During the fall break she started I work as a coach at Skate Nation. A job that was different from her previous experiences as a coach. Skating and spending time with the newcomers gave Alice Tande new perspectives.
– I can feel how you would feel about them in other contexts, because now suddenly I am the one who does not understand their language when they speak, it says about the language barriers that sometimes arise.
Nadia Meekula, 14, is one of the girls who has been skating for a long time.
Photo: Lars Lindqvist
On Fridays, the Stockholm Skatepark is open to everyone. But even though the skating culture accepts it, there are certain rules and regulations on how to behave on the ramp. Rules that can be difficult for a beginner to follow. But so far, Alice Tande thinks everyone has understood.
– All of themselves have been beginners at first.
Nadia Meekula, 14, is one of the girls who has been skating for a long time. She and Medina met through Skate Nation and became friends. They often skate together. Right now, Nadia is trying to do the kickflip trick and is training at the same time as Medina and coach Alice cheer and give advice.
Cheers erupt when Medina after some struggles manages to put the fingerflip trick
Photo: Lars Linguist
After several attempts, she gives up and Alice suggests that they try the finger flick trick. She acts as a support and gives advice. When Medina finally gets the hang of it, all the onlookers cheer. Moments like this are the explanation for why Alice Tande likes to be a coach, she explains.
– I can follow them and see how they improve more and more. I am so proud of them, I think this is how mothers feel about their children.
Read more: Högdalen boils as skaters take over
