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“It’s a lot easier with practise,” Ben tried to assure me.
“But I’m a girl,” I said feebly, vaulting into a wall and grazing my ankle on the stone.
This apparently was not the right answer, as Ben informed me a third of the people he trains with at home were female, and were pretty good.
I don’t know if it was my own impatience, the freezing temperature or the sheer loss of dignity, but I was getting seriously fed up. It seemed that it wasn’t the fact I was a girl that was causing me to fail, but the fact that it was me.
Sensing my loss of self esteem, Ben set me a mini mission. Just a simple vault over a low wall, nothing too fancy. We walked through how I was going to do it, how I was going to launch up and swing my legs in between my hands without falling backwards or sideways or any other way that was going to cause me significant pain. It was at this point that I realised I didn’t care if I got hurt or not, and this was what I now refer to as my “boy moment.” A few cuts and bruises felt like nothing compared to achieving even a small goal, and so I understood how this group of young men met up every week and pushed themselves harder and harder every time to physically overcome seemingly impossible boundaries. With girls I find such boundaries are more in our heads. Call me old fashioned, but I just don’t think we’re physically cut out to launch off of walls or leap over railings. Our boundaries lie more with our careers and with our appearance. Determined to experience the other side of things, I motioned for Ben to move out of the way and began to run. I can’t say that it was graceful, and I definitely can’t say that I didn’t get hurt (my ankle remained swollen for a week afterwards,) but I cleared the wall and landed on my feet. I received cheers and a few pats on the back. I was one of the boys.
This new found determination made we want to do more. And so I joined the team at a local gym for a few extra sessions later that week, where my confidence (greatly helped by the safety of big padded mats,) began to swell. I tried some new moves and even dared the boys to try a few new things, even tough I was still too scared to try them myself.
But this still wasn’t enough, and so I took my new boys mentality and my Primark daps down to the skate park in my small hometown in Wiltshire. Plenty of open space and plain boredom meant that most boys in my town knew how to skate, and so I was greeted by a few familiar faces as I headed down, even if they had no idea what I was doing there. Thankfully they were willing to help, and so again I underwent the painfully slow process of a few basic moves across the tarmac. One thing I do admire of boys in comparison to girls is their patience. I can’t help but feel that if I were learning with a bunch of women they would have given up five minutes in, whereas the boys remained even when it started to turn dark. Skateboarding was a lot harder than parkour. At least you can control your feet and stop them going off in a random direction. At least you can’t fall off your feet. This sport relied a lot more on your physique for balance and stamina, and I could see why not many girls take it up.
The half pipe was especially terrifying. The idea of launching yourself down a concrete slope on a wooden board on wheels took some talking into, but I wanted to at least try even if I fell off. Which I did. Twice.
In the process of entering the boy’s world of sport I have suffered a swollen ankle, various cuts and bruises, a wrecked pair of Primark daps and a severe loss of dignity. In return I have gained the ability to shove myself into situations that I didn’t think I was capable of succeeding in. I have learned that where boys are very competitive they are also very patient, and far less judgemental than girls in my experience. I even quite enjoyed myself, and whereas I might not be hurling myself over walls and down half pipes in the near future, with a few big mats and some proper footwear I might be well on my way.
Are you a girl with a hidden wildside? Do you have any crazy sports you would like to share? Leave or comment or email a member of staff and get your thoughts heard.
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