We held an event on Feb 27th called “Ladies Day”.

The idea was to get more girls involved with extreme sports.

There was demos from the Female Pro’s and we gave out loads of freebies. Guys were welcome as always. Hundreds of people turned up to the event and it was a great success.

Check the video in HD Streaming. Thanks Matthew Dearden.

Ladies Day Review by Tony Berry:

Well… it finally happened! Nope not the first black president of America, nor the fact that Slumdog Millionaire finally scooped a stack of awards at the Oscars after what seemed like a years build up – no sir… it was Rampworx very first Ladies Day Event. ‘A what!”, I hear you cry!

Yep.. a ladies day event… designed to get more girls involved in the sports that we cater for at our little skatepark tucked away in the corner of a city more renowned for its football, politics and music than for the best location in Europe to host free wheeled extreme sports events.

It was a mere 6 weeks ago that this event was dreamt up one idle Monday afternoon shortly after Christmas. After chewing through a few pen tops we came to the conclusion that far too many girls were coming to our park and didn’t have anything to do… we also realised that we, or anyone else for that matter had never done such an event. Similarly, we thought if we can get more girls into the sports we cater for then we could become a nice breeding ground for the future of the sports and of our skatepark. It was just a thought!

The event kicked off at 6pm sharp. Between 4 and 6pm the ladies were allowed free entry so we had a good number already in the building anticipating the forthcoming shenanigans. Lined up within the Skate shop were some 200 free goodie bags containing treats from Zoo York, Gumball, Les Ettes, Elements, Box Fresh, Nandos, Rockstar, Bio Synergy, Famous Stars and Straps, Billabong, Dynamic Media Events and Dickies.

By 6.30pm we had over 350 people in the building… by 7.30 pm it was closer to 500. In terms of numbers this event was already a major success. Industry based media, non- industry based media and Film crews from Channel 4, Mpora TV and the University of Chester clambered to document the event. Just a shame that no one from the local press could be bothered to (yet again) not cover the event… hmm maybe a water main had burst on Dunningsbridge Road, or Rafa Benitez had finally made sense, or better still some hoody battered some kid for having hair longer than half an inch on his head… nay matter… the event didn’t need such triviality, or token press coverage… it was BIGGER than that!

In a lightning flurry of four hours skaters, bands and young ladies ripped through the schedule.. Baby Gravy played their guts out with MC Adie adding his usual and unusual commentary on the nights proceedings, throwing out 150 quid Element skateboards, FBM bikes kindly donated by Four Down, Shake-about vouchers, Nikita, Gumball caps, Les Ettes Perfume, Zoo York shoes, Nando’s passes, from anything like best trick to the major finale of a full on dance off with the Funkstar girls… the event didn’t snowball… that’s too tame… it nuclear fireballed through the rafters of Rampworx’s creaky old building… leaving only the doubters and nay sayers in its embers… Jenna Downing was on hand to offer tips and tricks to eager girls trying to remotely emulate the dizzying heights of her World Number 1 status. Sue Smith (Leeds and England Footballer) took time out of her busy schedule to spend several valuable hours meeting the young people. The effervescent Miss Smith showed a courtesy and warmth that was thoroughly refreshing as she mingled with young people sharing her experiences and achievements that we hope inspired some of our youngsters.

The Rogue Skatebaord Team were burst into the Park with a cool demo and Funkstar certainly scored some brownie points with their alternative fusion of street dance and raw feminine energy that jolted the eager, mostly all male crowd with an edgy and playful routine that certainly fuelled the excitement and, indeed the testosterone levels by about…. oooh ten fold!! They went down a treat and demonstrated Rampworx’s shift from a sports facility to something a little more representative of where it is at and where it wants to be if it is to stay at the pinnacle of not just extreme sports, but youth provision for the next 12 years. Even the Lord Mayor dropped in (not literally) to say ‘hi’ and find out what all the fuss was all about… Suitably impressed the Mayor wandered the skatepark amazed at what events unfolded before him, enjoying a quick beer with the VIPs and marvelling at the fact that young people can actually congregate in one area and participate in a fun activity and not set fire to it… into the night he left with a flick of his regal cape to the more mundane duties a political head honcho demands satisfied that at least one area of Sefton remained untouched by violence, mercy killings, corruption, scandal and media misrepresentation.

So 10pm swung round in what seemed like a kick flip … I guess that’s what happens when you and about 500 others are having fun.. the skatepark… like the staff looked exhausted.. bodies, bottles, t shirts, chips, unused condoms (donated by Sexual Health Advisory Group Isis and Parenting 2000) lay strewn throughout the dehydrated shell of wood and concrete that once resembled a skatepark, but was now more like a war zone… but this my friends had been no war… it was a union… a climactic union of people, of minds, of culture and of symbolism… wrapped up in the warmth of collective ideals, of sports, gender and mutual support. Finally, Rampworx was capable of organising an event geared towards accommodating females, towards getting females into the sports that we so dearly love and we could do it without appearing patronising, condescending, whilst not detracting from the skateparks true core values. Rampworx is not one dimensional… it never was… it is fluid and ready to embrace the future.. and that future may include even more girls getting into extreme sports… we hope so.

Thanks to everyone who staffed, supported and sponsored the event…

I hope to see you all very soon… including our new lady friends!!

-Tony Berry

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Tags: girls, jenna downing, rampworx

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