Skating for a change: Meet Vidya Golla from Hyderabad showing way for other women to take up action sport

Vidya Golla, a 25-year-old from Hyderabad who goes by the name Pixie is often the only female skateboarder at the WallRide Park, the city's only skate park that has a pump track, which is a circuit of rollers, banked turns and corners.

Hyderabad: Skateboarding and roller skating community in the city is close-knit and thriving. But seldom would you find female, non-binary, trans, and queer skateboarders. Vidya Golla, a 25-year-old from Hyderabad who goes by the name Pixie is often the only female skateboarder at the WallRide Park, the city’s only skate park that has a pump track, which is a circuit of rollers, banked turns and corners.

The youngster is now showing the way for other female and gender minority skaters in Hyderabad and elsewhere to learn and practice the art form with her beginner’s workshop called Girls SK8 Hyderabad.

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“I started skating back in Philadelphia, US. And initially, I was the only girl doing it. Then I moved to New York and met other women and queer skaters after which I realised how important it is to have a safe space for femme skaters,” says Pixie, who later went on to co-found Skate Shawty, a non-traditional platform for women, non-binary and minority skaters in Philly.

Along with the SK8 crew, Pixie now hopes that this one-of-a-kind workshop creates a similar safe space here in Hyderabad. Last Sunday, she hosted her first workshop at the WallRide Park which saw over 20 participants, all women who were on skateboards for the first time.

Reacting to the positive response from the participants, Vidya and her team have decided to host similar workshops every month. “I see a lot of people around me who are interested in skating but find it uncomfortable. This workshop is for them. And I don’t want to be the only girl at the park anymore,” she says, adding that the main goals of the workshop is to create a safe space for minority skaters and spread the love of skateboarding.