10-year-old Emily Garbutt.
Dubai - "I remember watching a documentary on two men skateboarding and I just thought they looked really cool," she tells Khaleej Times from The Zoo Skatepark in Dubai.
Published: Sat 25 Jul 2015, 4:18 PM
Updated: Sun 26 Jul 2015, 11:03 AM
Wearing a snug-fitting black helmet, with her elbows and kness clad in thick-padded protective gear, 10-year-old Emily Garbutt drops in from a half-pipe. As she glides back and forth along the ramp, her light brown ponytail flickers behind her.
Just six months ago, Emily had never picked up a skateboard before - primarily out of her mum's fear - but the sport, or culture as many call it, had always intrigued her.
"I remember watching a documentary on two men skateboarding and I just thought they looked really cool," she tells Khaleej Times from The Zoo Skatepark in Dubai.
Now swapping pretty headbands and bows for a helmet, the budding skateboarder-cum-thrill seeker has her heights set pretty high - and she's not letting her age stop her.
"I love climbing, skateboarding and swimming. I wish there was an Olympics for all three sports, that would be so cool."
From an ollie to a grind, and a kickflip to a fakie, to be a skate-boarder is to take risks, be creative, and dust yourself off after that 100th fall.
In a male-dominated sport, Emily's fearless attitude is a trait that is bound to be the making of her - in both her skateboarding life and future career. Though her rebellious side often "scares" her mum, it's a remedy for success in a scene which has grown by leaps and bounds here in Dubai. As she skates the half pipe (a ramp that curves up at both ends), Emily appears to be in a world of her own.
As her eyes are firmly set on the curve in front of her, Emily's mum Laura, tells me how her skate-boarding journey began.
"If it was up to her she would have started when she was just eight, but I said no. It scared me, she's my little girl after all."
But after a friend bought her a penny board - a mix between a skateboard and a longboard - it was her dad who saw it as an opportunity to give her skateboarding dreams the go-ahead.
"Her dad did his best to sell the idea to me. He said 'now she has this board, she may as well give it a go', so I gave in, reluctantly."
Since been given that green light, Emily hasn't looked back, and though she's still learning the tricks of the trade, the wheels for success have quite literally been set in motion. When I ask Emily how skate-boarding makes her feel, her one-word answer sums her passion up in one.
"Lively."
Skateboards' 'roll' in empowerment
Back in 2007, Skateistan - a non-profit organisation using skateboarding as a tool for empowerment - began as a grass-roots 'Sport for Development' project on the streets of Kabul. A development initiative which combines skateboarding with education, over 50 per cent of its students are street-working children, and over 40 per cent are girls.
Though Dubai is a world away from the streets of Kabul, gender imbalance is still witnessed in skateboarding here, and The Zoo Skatepark manager, Jeremy Klynsmith, says only about 10 per cent of the park's skaters are girls.
"It's changing though. If you look at the people coming in to take lessons, about 30-40 per cent are girls. What places like this do is open up skateboarding to a wider audience."
Describing skateboarding as its own "culture", Klynsmith says the fact that it is wrapped up in music, art and its own fashion style means it has developed an image of its own.
"That's appealing to kids. It gives them their own identity and their own family of sorts."
A culture that was "born on the streets", he says Dubai's fascinating architecture makes it a great place to skateboard, and it is a local scene which is going from "strength to strength" here.
"It would be great to see more girls joining the skateboarding scene here, and already, we are witnessing that change. In general though, we just want to encourage whoever is keen to try skateboarding. It is a great community sport.
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The mix of excitement, fear and adrenalin is what keeps Emily coming back for more - and it's what often provokes a 'hand-over-eye' reaction for mum.
"I don't come down to watch her too often as I hate seeing her fall. Her dad's usually the one egging her on from the sidelines," she tells me. Younger sister to a 13-year-old brother, Emily's gutsy courage is just as impressive to him as it is to empowerment her friends at school, and though he's never tried skateboarding himself, her brother is "proud to have a sister that skateboards".
With her skateboard in-hand, Emily strolls back to the bench after showcasing some of her tricks, and the softly spoken youngster says she vividly remembers the first time she "dropped in".
For the not-so-skater friendly out there, that's when a skateboarder stands on the deck of a half-pipe, puts their back foot on the tail of the skateboard, then drops in to a skate.
"It was scary, but I managed to stay on my board the first time. Now I'm a little more used to them I like to see how high I can get on the big half-pipes."
But it doesn't stop at skate-boarding for Emily. Last year, at just 9-years-old, she travelled to Croatia with her family and climbed one of the big rock faces there - an experience she describes as "truly amazing".
In the future, Emily, who says she gets her adventurous streak from her dad, wants to be a professional climber, but skateboarding will always be a part of her life.
"I want to perfect the tricks and even come up with my own unique style. I want to do more competitions too."
And as one of only a few girls in a sea of guys who actually skate-board at The Zoo Skatepark, she hopes she can persuade other girls to give it a go.
"I competed in one of the competitions here and won a tee-shirt because I was the only girl skate-boarder. I want more girls to join and become a part of this scene," she says.
kelly@khaleejtimes.com
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