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I went via the motions in a daze: thanking the judges. Maintain the trophy. Smile for images. Accumulate the prize cash. Faux the whole lot is okay when it clearly is not.
I stood on the rostrum in second place, but when this had been a good competitors – if I had solely competed in opposition to different girls – I might have stood on the highest podium and acquired the corresponding test for first place.
Because it was, a person in make-up took residence first place and prize cash that day in 2021 on the finals of the Crimson Bull Cornerstone girls’s skateboarding competitors in Lincoln, Nebraska. Between the qualifying matches and the ultimate, he acquired $5,000 in prize cash meant for girls.
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It felt so improper as a result of it was so improper. I had beforehand competed in two girls’s competitions that included males, and I had even been bumped from first to second place by a person as soon as earlier than. This time it wasn’t nearly coming second behind a man who got here first within the girls’s division, nor nearly not having the ability to return to my hometown because the winner of this Crimson Bull occasion… one thing no different lady did. Kalamazoo, Mich. It additionally meant shedding a monetary alternative.
Dropping prize cash and first place recognition that I might have acquired if this had been a good competitors appeared small in comparison with the whole lot that’s taken away from feminine athletes of their sport. What concerning the girls who lose world information? What concerning the teenagers in highschool who practice diligently to earn an athletic scholarship or a spot on the staff, whereas male athletes deprive them of those alternatives? What concerning the women and girls who’re compelled to share a locker room with mentally ailing and predatory males? What concerning the psychological well being penalties for feminine athletes in the event that they expertise this abuse?
The stakes are excessive for feminine athletes, and we’re shedding – not as a result of we’re not ok, however as a result of sports activities packages, governing our bodies and authorities officers reject the organic actuality that women and men are bodily totally different and select to consider a lie.
After the Crimson Bull occasion, I emailed the occasion organizers to elucidate what had occurred and to specific my issues that the competitors had not been dealt with correctly and pretty. I simply wished to speak to them and ensure what occurred to me would not occur to a different feminine skateboarder. They by no means responded.
Nicely, I am not going to be silenced. Feminine athletes are bored with pretending that we simply need to go together with this lie. We must always by no means really feel comfy accepting that now we have to compete with male athletes who’re usually larger, sooner and stronger than us. I joined many different girls who stood up for equity in our sport. Athletes like Selina Soule, Madison Kenyon, Riley Gaines and dozens and dozens of others who converse out on daily basis. It is time we’re correctly acknowledged and rewarded for the years of onerous work now we have put into coaching to excel in our sport.
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I grew up with a single father who put me in each sports activities program as a child to see what would stick. I particularly beloved softball and basketball, however after I began snowboarding as a teen, I knew board sports activities had been my true ardour. So after I wanted a summer season board sport, I began skateboarding at age 16. How a lot more durable can balancing on that board be?
It seems to be much more tough. I began working towards the fundamentals, like ollies and shuvits, in our basement. I visited the Kalamazoo Skate Zoo, the place I gained my confidence on my board. I by no means anticipated to be superb at it, however after a number of years I used to be requested to assist with skateboarding camps for youths, and ultimately I began touring to compete.
For the primary time I believed perhaps I may make some cash from the game I really like. Skateboarding has taught me a helpful life lesson: the best way to overcome the concern of taking a danger, each on and off my board.
Anticipating the worst outcomes can hold you from experiencing the most effective ones. Positive, I’ve had my justifiable share of sprains, bruises, and stitches, however the ache pales compared to the sensation of driving away from touchdown a brand new trick. Likewise, the web bullying and threats from so-called ‘trans rights activists’ can not match the extent of assist I’ve acquired or the satisfaction I get from doing the suitable factor.
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Feminine athletes do not deserve the burden of males competing in girls’s sports activities as a result of they declare to determine as girls — a burden just like the one I’ve borne 3 times in skateboarding competitions with three totally different males.
The one means we’re going to defend future athletic alternatives for girls is by demanding that we return to a spot of honest competitors and primary frequent sense. Sadly, now we have reached the purpose the place telling the reality is taken into account brave. And that’s such a low determine for society. As an alternative, we should converse and act primarily based on what is correct and true, and anticipate others to do the identical, together with these in authority who form regulation and coverage.
Taylor Silverman is a aggressive skateboarder. She lives in West Virginia and creates content material for the skateboarding platform Boonies HQ.
