Babes Brigade is a women’s skateboarding group and brand founded by Stephanie Battieste in July 2015. After spending countless years skating at parks almost always as the only female, Stephanie began to start seeing more girls at her local Toronto skateparks. She realized there were others but wanted to find a way for them to connect. After a little brainstorming she decided social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram would be the best way to do so. She then created weekly meet ups just for women to meet up and skate together. The idea was to simply skate together but it very quickly became a support group and safe space for women on and off the board. Stephanie grew up with three brothers, which made her comfortable around the opposite sex, so her position was never that she felt uncomfortable skating with guys but that she wanted to skate with other women too. After launching the group she realized that the biggest issue for many women was the fear to actually go to the park since it was male dominated and unknown territory. After a year of weekly meet ups, skate trips, and women’s only skate contests (a first to ever happen in Toronto) Stephanie decided her next move would be to start teaching lessons, she also intends on helping the group and brand grow by also offering apparel and skateboards for purchase. The emphasis is on creating a women’s skateboarding industry for younger girls to aspire to be part of. The business currently offers lessons for girls 4 and up, weekly meet ups, women's skate contests and events as well as casting female skateboarders for film and print media.
"Females in Canada and beyond do not yet have a face in skateboarding and Babes Brigade aims to change that."
-Stephanie Battieste
