This video has everything: jumps, falls, crying, fairy wings, tutus, and a pony piñata riding a skateboard. It also includes an incredible amount of heart, strength, empowerment, and general badassery.
Meet the three six-year-old girls who are invading the skateboarding scene — and doing it in fairy wings and tutus. Together, they're known as the Pink Helmet Posse. The California-based pack shrugs off taunts from older brothers and skate-park boys alike — letting their own spirit, talent, and passion send the message that they're not leaving the skate ramp anytime soon. "We know it can be intimidating, but we’re here to show you that skateboarding is not just for boys," says their website, which also offers video tutorials and pictures of the gals' adventures.
Skateboarding and other extreme sports are still male-dominated — of the 192 competitors in the 2013 Summer X-Games in California, only 33 were women. While athletes such as Jamie Anderson and Carissa Moore are game-changing at the professional level, the inspiring Pink Helmet girls are bringing attention to females (of all ages and levels) in extreme sports; a documentary about the posse even made it into the short-films screening at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival.
Our mission at R29 Wellness is to inspire and empower through health and movement, and these skaters are doing just that. They're pint-sized role models for all other girls who want to surf, skate, snowboard, get dirty, you name it — and they ride like they have nothing to prove. "I cry sometimes, and sometimes I don't," says one girl in the video. "I hurt my knees and get bruises," says another. But, they keep riding. "I want there to be the same amount of girls to be skating as the same amount of boys," Pink Helmet Posse member Sierra Kerr says. We do, too.