Teenage girls in Ōtara and Papatoetoe have the perfect opportunity this month to upskill their skateboarding abilities thanks to a new workshop in their area.
The girls-only skateboarding workshops will be at the Otara Pool and Leisure Centre on 10 June and later in the month, there will be similar workshops on 17 and 24 June at Allan Brewster Leisure Centre, 1pm-2.30pm in Papatoetoe.
Auckland Council’s Activation Advisor for Young People in Parks, Sport and Recreation, Claire Beuvink, says the idea for girls-only workshops came from south Auckland young people themselves.
“Aktive Auckland Sport and Recreation, partnering with Auckland Council, ran a Hera Have-A-Go Day for girls in south Auckland and a lot of the young women gravitated to skateboarding and suggested doing further girls-only workshops," she says.
“One of the issues we see is that teenage girls in south Auckland have quite low participation rates in sport and physical activity, so this is about empowering young women and boosting their confidence to try something new."
Claire says skateparks can be quite male-dominated places and these workshops enable young women to learn together and support each other.
“I know that some of the instructors taught themselves skating by going early in the morning or late at night because it can be quite hard learning in front of others.”
Funding aimed at empowering youth
Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board Chair Lotu Fuli says the local board is pleased to be providing young women with a safe environment to pick up a skill like skateboarding.
“We want to give our young people more opportunities to get active and make use of our great facilities and this is just one way we can support this aim.”
To find out more and to register for the skate workshops go to the ManaakiFit Facebook page.
