The wheels * were out of whack and the board was split down the middle, but it worked well enough for her to ride it around the sloping streets of her hometown.

"When I got to high school, I was trying to be less of a tomboy," recalls van Roechoudt, now 24.

"And I remember walking to class with a bunch of girls who wanted to hang out with these guys after school. They said `bring your boards' and I was the only one who had one. After that, I was hooked," she says, sitting in a deserted dressing room.

"But I want you to understand that I've always thought of myself as a skateboarder, not a girl who skateboards," she says.

Three decades after a bunch of bored California * guys (and one girl) snuck into dried-up suburban swimming pools and spawned a culture, women like van Roechoudt are still a rare find on the pro skateboarding circuit.

And on the crowded floor at Mississauga's Hershey Centre, with music blasting and skateboards flying, they are almost impossible to find. There are only a dozen women among more than 100 competitors registered here, the only Canadian stop on the World Cup professional skateboarding tour.

Van Roechoudt arrives tired and hungry from a long car ride. She is wearing jeans and an oversized sweatshirt. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Fresh from a summer of skateboarding in Paris, she is anxious to jump back into the competitive circuit.

She says she didn't get serious about skating until she finished her senior year of high school and moved to California.

"I went down there and just skated and backpacked around. I met other kids and crashed at friends' places," she recalls, balancing both feet on her skateboard.

In San Francisco *, she started going to trade shows and talking to people in the industry. Eventually she started competing on the pro circuit, where she was often one of the only women around.

In 1996 *, 7.5 per cent of frequent skateboarders were women, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.

Today, of the 3.3 million Americans who skateboard more than once a week, about 11 per cent are female. (There are no comparable statistics available for Canada *.)

"There's really no reason why men and women should compete separately. I think if it wasn't segregated there'd be more of a turnout," van Roechoudt says.

"With skateboarding there's a lot of common culture that crosses traditional gender lines," she says.

The similarities span fashion and sport.

Women who skateboard basically dress like men who skateboard: cargo pants with worn out pockets, big, baggy sweatshirts, baseball caps and sneakers.

They listen to the same music, like Incubus * and the Beastie Boys * and can't imagine wanting to do anything else, she explains.

"We use the same ramps, and try the same moves. I feel like skateboarders are open-minded but sometimes women don't have the same financial support as the guys."

While some skateboarders are railing against corporate branding of their subculture, women athletes remain desperate for any dollars.

"On the road if you ask a girl what her sponsor's done for her she tells you they bought her a pair of shoes. What about air fare, hotels and meals?" says Danielle Bostick, who owns World Cup Skateboarding * with her husband Don.

On the pro circuit, van Roechoudt is well known. And she's one of a handful of female skateboarders who do have corporate sponsors, such as Billabong * and Vans *. Still, there are some companies who won't deal with her.

"It's hard to convince people on the outside that I am what skateboarding is. Companies already have an image of a skateboarder as some young guy, so that's what they sponsor. And the image perpetuates itself even if it's not true," she says.

"And as far as moving up the ladder once you're on it ... I feel like I have to build my own ladder before I can climb it," she says.

By Sonia Verma, thestar.com Staff Reporter. This article was originally entitled "Women skateboarders have guts but get little of the glory" and was found at http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer? pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article& cid=1026146371619

Search this site for more about Respect Women Skateboarders *