Skate Girls Tribe Rolling Into Cuba

Photo credit to Amberly Alene Ellis

Skate Girls Tribe Rolling into Cuba for first-of-its-kind Hermana Skate Competition

Cuba is about to receive a shipment of all female skateboarders, hobbyists and professionals alike. We are the DC based Skate Girls Tribe, a group that invites girls of all ages and skill levels to skate together and forge a stronger female presence in skateboarding culture. We're heading to Cuba to help organizing the Hermana Skate Competition, and we need your help to get there! 

“Skateboarding in Cuba isn’t easy, and female skateboarders face challenges on an everyday basis”, says Tatiana Kolina, founder of Skate Girls Tribe and action sports and street wear brand sPACYcLOUd. In Cuba, skateboarding is still an unrecognized sport by the government, and the girls search to find their paths in a subculture that is not only male dominated but also completely underground.

Photo credit to Amberly Alene Ellis

This is all examined in Hermanas en Ruedas (Sisters on Wheels), a documentary that follows the stories of young women in the underground skate culture in Havana, Cuba. What makes the young women of Hermanas en Ruedas so special is that Cuba, unlike other countries where skateboarding has emerged, has no official or professional skateboard industry. Additionally, Cuba has yet to see the opening of an official skate park since the emergence of the sport on the island. “As skate collectives emerge around the world, the young women of Havana's skate scene seek to be recognized as a contending force” touts Amberly Arlene Ellis, director of Hermanas en Ruedas.

The Hermana Skate Competition has arisen out of a partnership between Hermanas en Ruedas, Skate Girls Tribe, and sPACYcLOUd, an action sports and street wear brand owned by Tatiana Kolina, who also founded the Skate Girls Tribe. It will be the very first-of-its-kind female-only competition. sPACYcLOUd is bringing the Skate Girls Tribe, as well as a professional skateboarder, Natalie Krishna Das, to show support and camaraderie to Cuban skaters participating in street-skating course in the Hermana Skate Competition. 

Photo credit to Amberly Alene Ellis

The partners are running a fundraiser to help them cover the costs of getting all of the girls to Cuba. You can help them by contributing to their fundraiser here.