Girls Riders Organization (GRO) founder, Courtney Payne-Taylor started skating back in 2004 on a whim, and says it changed her life. She said she had gone through depression, but says when she started skateboarding, she became happy. She traveled to different skate parks, and she noticed there were no girls skateboarding.
As soon as she started skating, she started teaching other girls how to skate. Payne-Taylor graduated from the Kelley School of Business, and she said she was thinking about what she was going to do with the rest of her life, and she didn’t want to go into the corporate world. She likes teaching girls to skate, and says it represents an unfilled need. Thus, she became inspired to start GRO.
Payne-Taylor discusses how GRO started, what it’s like to be the only girl skating and how skating builds self-esteem.
The Community Skateboard Sessions started in 2017. The program is offered every Thursday the elementary schools are in session from 5-7 pm at no charge. GRO sponsors the sessions and boards, and helmets and pads are provided. Donations are encouraged.
11-year-old Levasey Skens heard about the program when she was looking for a skateboard at Rhett Skateboarding shop in Bloomington. She said her dad took her to the session, and she got hooked. She has been coming to the sessions for a month.
Skens shares how she started skateboarding, her favorite part about the program and how she will reach her goal of getting down ramps.
When Skens started, she already knew how to push around and turn a little bit, but prior to this program she just rode around her neighborhood with friends. Now, she gets two female instructors, Courtney and her co-instructor Kitty. Skens said it was nice surprise to see another woman was the other instructor because she expected a male one since mostly males skate.
Kitty has been an instructor for GRO for almost two years. She is a junior at IU. She has been skating since she was six, and she started doing tricks three years ago. Skateboarding has always brought Kitty a sense of community, she says, and helped her through the hard times in her life.
Kitty met Payne-Taylor when she went to Vans Skate Night in Indianapolis. Kitty fell in love with what Payne-Taylor was doing, and says she found it inspiring. Kitty said growing up, she only had male skateboarders emulate, and she hopes to be a mentor to young girls. She said seeing smiles on young girls faces when they complete a trick or reach a goal never gets old. She gets to spread love and passion for something she’s passionate about, and on her 20th birthday earlier this year, she was worked at X Games in Minneapolis with Payne-Taylor.
Kitty talks about being an advocate for skateboarding and how it feels to play such a huge role in the sessions.
Payne-Taylor has been recognized on a national scale for empowering young girls through GRO. She was awarded the Toyota Everyday Hero at espnW Women + Sports Summit in 2016. Skateboarding changed Payne-Taylor’s life, and she is changing the lives of young girls in the Bloomington community.
