#HGStreams: ‘Off The Wall’ Shows What Skateboarding Can Really Do For Women In India

There is a magical change that sports bring about in its players. It’s difficult to put a finger on, but women in sports will tell you that it’s a new feeling – a feeling of empowerment.

The film ‘Kamali’ will explain to you just what skateboarding does for a young girl, whose means may be limited, but as soon as her feet step on the board, she enters a world where her gender is the smallest of barriers. And so, the sport is a tool for feeling self-sufficient, powerful and strong.

Shedding some more light on this magic is ‘Off The Wall’, a video by Girl Skate India in collaboration with Vans. It features Atita Verghese, the founder of Girl Skate India along with Lizzie Armanto, a professional skateboarder engaging with young girls who’re keen to master the sport. These little powerhouses are seen falling off their boards, but getting back up with even more vigour — proving the whole point of how skateboarding empowers them.

As narrated in the video, “Skateboarding allows you the freedom to do choose whatever, be whatever, do whatever. There is so much power in that.” It makes for a vision that is least expected from women in a patriarchal society — one where they emerge stronger each time they are knocked down.

It is a sport that is as adrenaline-inducing and liberating as others, but what it does for these women and young girls in the moments that they spend on the board, is something that goes beyond the sport itself.

You can find Girl Skate India here.

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