“A real bucket list is that I’d love to have a cover of one of the skateboarding magazines. It’s something that’s never quite got there for me, for whatever reason. I need to do a banging trick on something cool.” Lucy Adams 

Ask anyone who their favourite figure in female skateboarding is and Lucy Adams will normally get a mention. Not just because of her history of winning competitions, and latterly her role in presenting at global skateboarding events such as the Olympics, but because of the work she has done in giving women access to the sport, and her appreciation of the cultural importance of skateboarding overall. 

In her role at skateboard GB, she’s helping to entrench skateboarding as a philosophy, emphasising the connection and playfulness it offers, at a time when the world is focused on the competitive side of the sport. She’s focused on young people appreciating that their journey through the sport can be so much more than competitive achievement, especially at a formative time in their lives, given that many of the top skateboarders average out at age 14. 

We’ve tried to make this podcast work for a while now, but what was fantastic about the opportunity to finally chat to local girl (she lives up the road and is originally from Horsham) Lucy, was understanding more about the challenges she’s faced as a mum alongside her love of skateboarding. 

It’s challenging full stop for sports people ageing out of competition and finding their route through the sport (we saw the same challenge with Jenny Jones, olympic snowboarder, in our interview here). Add to this parenting two small people and finding the time to still get out; alongside ageing and your body not being quite as responsive as it used to be; and skateboarding (in the way you want to) becomes perennially difficult. 

Lucy is known as much for her own skateboarding prowess as she is for opening up the sport for others. Events like Push the Prom and groups like She Shredders were some of the first in the UK to really bring skateboarding to new audiences, and paved the path for the many micro-communities that exist today to bring people into the sport. 

This is a conversation that makes you realise we’re all experiencing the same parenting challenges, and ageing humps, whether we are professional sports people, or not. We cover: 

• How Lucy got into skateboarding (and pretending to her parents she was swimming)
• The importance of active parental role models 
• Prioritising the things that give you energy as a parent
• Creating a space for women and girls to skate
• The Cultural Capital of Skateboarding 
• Finding your own route to progression 

Enjoy! And please do share, the more we build the audience for the podcast, the more fantastic guests like Lucy we can get on the show. 

We'll be back in September with our next episode which features Emylia Hall, author of the popular Shell House Detectives series, keen skateboarder and snowboarder, talking about the importance of board sports and her creative process. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss it! 

Caroline 

Board Women Founder

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Host: Caroline Keylock 

Producer: Selma Chalabit 

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