<p><span><span><span><strong><span><span>About Beatriz’s Leidse Girls Skate Camp</span></span></strong></span></span></span></p>

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<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Bea definitely has a strong connection with skateboarding and the 2020 ROLL Models program was a great opportunity to spread it. Despite the difficulties of last year, the ROLL Models showed huge adaptive capacities to lead their project sduring challenging times. </span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Beatriz’s project idea was to provide a skate camp for girls at the local park of Dwergwier/Merenwijk in Leiden,The Netherlands. She planned to schedule it for a week during the “Herfstvakantie” (autumn vacation).&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

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<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Despite not belonging to a bigger organization to help her design and run the project, Bea had the support of two friends that were happy to help her as volunteers on her project.&nbsp; Together with these two volunteers, they created a safe space for girls at skateparks by encouraging them to get on board, teaching them the basics of skateboarding and its values, and spending time together in skateboarding spaces. However, the main focus was on the fun aspects of skateboarding such as playing, empowering each other and meeting people. She believes that people can easily be discouraged in the beginning if they miss the fun.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

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<p><span><span><span><span><em><span>“The idea was to create a week to teach skateboarding at all levels – skateboarding one to one. We were there to support everybody who wanted to learn. It was here in Leiden (The Netherlands) where the park is not hostile but I still don't see many women going regularly. Then I met two who were interested in learning how to skateboard, but they were kind of intimidated because of being beginners and skating in a park with the pros. Then we started to go to the skatepark together and they started skating and supporting each other.”&nbsp;</span></em></span></span></span></span></p>

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<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>She started through one-on-one skateboarding lessons for all levels and encouraged girls to go to the local skatepark more often. The main objective of this project was to make participants comfortable rolling on their boards and hanging at the skatepark in middle-long term. In this way, they would be able to continue their skateboard progression after the camp without feeling discouraged. She didn’t have any exact learning goals in her project because she believes that everyone learns skateboarding at a different pace and the exact learning goals depend on the participants themselves.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

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<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Bea and her friends approached local schools and community centres in order to reach their participants who were girls between 10-15 years old.&nbsp; They created posters of the project and spread them through the city.&nbsp; They also used a sign-up form which asked about things like skate equipment needs to improve their planning. In this way they managed to plan and get anything that was needed before starting the skate camp. She also contacted the local skate shop (Wood Be Hero) and they agreed to support Bea’s project.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

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