This year, was a special year in women’s skateboarding in general. It’s the year that skateboarding contests really started to “mean” something due to Olympic qualifying events. We’ve seen an insane amount of talented women coming from all over the world to compete in these events. However, long before the Olympics were on the horizon for skateboarding, Amelia Brodka saw a lack in exposure for women skateboarders and sought to fix that with the Exposure Contest and Non-Profit.
Exposure brought a lot to the table this year. The contest changed locations to the Vans Skatepark in Huntington Beach, CA, had a record setting prize purse ($60k with each top 3 finalist getting money, and each category earning the same amount), and had a large amount of international competitors.
The thing that stood out the most to me was the general positivity and communal vibes that literally oozed out of every moment I experienced. From an outside perspective, you would almost think it was a skate jam, without any pressure, just a whole lot (150+) of friends, getting together to skate. The only way you could really tell a contest was going on was by hearing the commentary on the microphone (I happened to have preferred most when Amelia was on the mic).
I’m mentioning this because I think this year marked a notable turning point at Exposure as it was no longer one of the only contests for a woman to attend. During a time of intense Olympic qualifying events, I think Exposure was more impactful to skateboarding as a passion and a community. There was not a competitive vibe in the air for the entire weekend. It was truly a celebration of a love for skateboarding. After watching other contests, I can’t tell you how refreshing this was for me, and I think… for the women competing.
Take a peek into the weekend with the photos below…
