Tricks with the board

Skateboarding is not that popular in the city yet and many might step back when it comes to choosing this action sport. However, there are a few youngsters who are giving it a try and excelling in it.

One of those is 22-year-old Atita Verghese, India’s first professional female skateboarder, who has set an example for many. With her passion and determination for skateboarding, she has encouraged not only male skateboarders but has been empowering more women to take up this sport on a larger scale.

“I grew up in Bengaluru and am presently a skateboard instructor at the ‘HolyStoked Collective. I started skateboarding four years ago. I basically began surfing first and became good at it. However, I had to come back to Bengaluru and that’s when I thought that the closest to surfing is

skateboarding so why not get into that? My inspiration for this was my close friend Abhishek who is the co-founder of ‘HolyStoked Collective’,” says Atita.

This sport, she highlights, focusses a lot on creativity. For her, it is like a creative outlet where one can release their energy and that helps one develop a positive frame of mind and body in the long run.

“Skateboarding is a community oriented sport I would say. One can skate with friends or make new friends. There are no coaches or set rules; one can do whatever they want and learn the sport in a fun way. There are over a thousand styles in skateboarding yet one can choose their creative form of expression and come up with something on their own,” details Atita.

So what does she think of the skateboarding scene in Bengaluru? “The scene in the city is quite an amazing one. There are a lot of young people showing interest in this sport. We have two concrete skate parks here and a couple of spots around the city where people can skate.

However, in India, we presently have only one competition, so the competing culture has not yet reached here, as the scene is not big enough for that. It is still in the germination stage and we need to focus on developing infrastructure that can provide these talents with a competitive platform,” explains Atita.

She adds that a lot more support from the government and higher authorities can help this sport grow in the country. Atita has started an initiative last year called ‘Girl Skate India’, that provides a platform to women and inspires them to take up skateboarding more seriously.

She says, “It presently has an online presence where I feature different female skateboarders from across the country. I do this to inspire other girls to come forward and take up this sport.”

Atita, with 12 other skateboarders from nine different countries, recently organised a 10-day ‘Girl Skate India’ tour where they had free workshops for girls in four different locations that included Kovalam, Bengaluru, Goa and Hampi.

“Apart from the workshops, we also had a skate yoga instructor to give out a message that just like yoga, even skateboarding is great for one’s mind and body. Skate yoga focusses on improving one’s core spots on the body that are used for skateboarding,” she says.

Atita adds, “This sport works directly on one’s confidence level as one is doing something new, pushing their limits and conquering their fear and once they achieved it, they are definitely motivated to a higher level.”