WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Tigers Skate Club

Since its founding in 2019, Tigers Skate Club has become a cornerstone of Alberta’s skateboarding community — a space where women, girls, and gender-diverse skaters can learn, connect, and thrive. What began as a small idea to make the skate park feel a little less intimidating has since grown into a vibrant movement built on inclusivity, mentorship, and representation. Founders Char and Denise have created more than just a skate club — they’ve cultivated a supportive community where everyone, regardless of skill or background, is encouraged to find freedom on their skate. We sat down with them to talk about how Tigers began, the impact they’ve seen over the years, and their hopes for the future of skateboarding in Alberta.

Tigers has become such a foundational club for the skateboarding community in Alberta, especially for women & gender diverse folks.  Can you tell us what inspired you to start Tigers back in 2019 and how your personal experiences in skateboarding shaped the vision for the community you would one day build?

Char: Growing up, my time on the skateboard was extremely limited. I was too scared to go to the skate park as a little girl and there were no groups or coaches available back then to help. At 26, I decided it was time to get back on my board, and that it would be less intimidating to do in larger numbers. The environment we create now is welcoming and inclusive, so those who feel like the skate park wasn’t the place where they once belonged, now know they do!

Denise: My hope was to help create a space and build a community that I could have used when I was younger. It wasn’t easy for me as a teen girl skateboarding in the early 90’s and much of my experience was negative due to the bullying that I experienced. However, that’s translated into us decreasing as many barriers as possible so others can experience the true joy that comes from skating and within a supportive environment.

Skateboarding can be such a powerful tool for building confidence, community, and creativity. What do you think makes skate clubs like Tigers so important—especially for youth and underrepresented groups?

Char: The game totally changes when you see someone like you doing something you wish you could do. That representation of seeing someone else go against the status quo and earn their spot makes you believe it’s all much more possible now that you’ve seen it! It empowers those to live outside of the boxes that society tries to put us in.

Denise: You can’t be what you can’t see, and growth happens exponentially when you feel a sense of safety, representation, and acceptance. Clubs like Tigers foster these things and serve as an important reminder that you’re not alone and there’s a community out there waiting to welcome you in and accept you for who you are. 

Since the club’s inception, what changes have you seen in Edmonton’s skateboarding community when it comes to diversity and inclusion? What work still needs to be done? 

Char: Speaking specifically of Tigers’ experiences, the number of allies we have acquired over the years has increased substantially. A lot of the males in the community are huge fans of the Tigers and help spread the word of mouth at the parks when they run into femme identifying folks at the skate park. There’s a lot of respect for us and the work we are doing, and we find so many individuals are so happy to support the cause

Char: Work that still needs to be done, especially towards femme identifying skaters, is checking in to see if they want help before coming in with corrections or coaching. The intention is likely positive, but there’s still that stigma floating around sometimes that femme skaters need the expertise or support of male skaters to advance.

Denise: The diversity within Edmonton’s skate community has grown over the years. Nowadays, you really can’t apply the old skateboarding stereotypes upon anyone, saying that “all skaters are bad people, rebellious, and cause problems,” because the ‘face’ of skateboarding doesn’t belong to any specific type of person. Whether someone is 4 or a 40 year old mom who started skateboarding to bond with her kids - skateboarding truly is and can be for everyone and you can’t make any assumptions. 

Denise: I think more work can be done in the area of inclusion. While diversity exists, there’s still a lot of gatekeeping and strong opinions on what skateboarding should be to other people, what makes a skater “good”, or who is or isn’t a skateboarder. We ought to let skateboarding be what it is to people, decreasing that societal pressure to be a certain type of skater or look a certain way in order to skate - forget that noise. We just need to skate. 

What role do volunteers play in keeping the club running? Are there any moments or people that stand out in terms of the support you've received from the community?

Char: We are a community ran club and community through and through, volunteers are the true heart and soul of the club. We throw a year-end event, the Ambush, at the end of every season. The committee who organizes it is solely volunteers. We also just have so many various skills for what the club might need, whether it’s accounting, website design, or social media content creators, we usually can find someone in our community who has the skillsets to help us out!

Denise: Tigers is a volunteer-driven club and we wouldn’t be who we are without them. The Ambush draws over 50 event volunteers annually with approx. 50% being allies and non-skateboarders. They believe in what we do and why we do it, and their support has ensured that our season and The Ambush keeps going strong every year!

What have been some of the most rewarding moments so far? And what challenges have you had to overcome to keep things moving forward?

Char: Some of the most rewarding moments have been to see the relationships that form and develop between members of the club. Whether it’s hearing about two skate pals making plans outside of the meetups or seeing a familia relationship come in together and support themselves and each other taking on something hard, it’s all pure gold.

As mentioned earlier, we’re fully volunteer-run, and everyone helping does so in their spare time outside of full-time work and life commitments. We’re incredibly thankful for all the community support, and honestly, we wish we could do even more cool stuff than we already are!

Denise: Personally, some rewarding moments include (1) Seeing the multigenerational mentorship and support develop among our crew at the skatepark. No matter one's age, there’s something to learn from everyone and it’s a beautiful thing to witness the knowledge transference and how people support one another no matter the age gap; (2) Watching beginner participants of all ages unlock a trick for the first time. I’m not sure there’s anything that you can compare that joy and sense of accomplishment to; (3) Getting to share about our club and crew members by way of our Tigers Skate Club documentary. The film just scratches the surface on what makes our community and the people within it so special and it’s been a joy to learn more about why skateboarding and Tigers mean so much to people of different backgrounds and lived experiences. 

Looking ahead, what are some goals or dreams you have for Tigers? How do you envision its future role in shaping the next generation of skaters in Alberta?

Char: A major goal for Tigers is to continue shaping leaders across all generations so there will be someone running the club when our time has passed and lots of diverse support along the way. Throughout our journey we have heard many folks share how much impact our space has had on their lives, so we want to make sure this club is around for as long as it possibly can be!

Char: Skateboarding is still very much in its beginning phases of becoming a recognized sport formally and informally. We hope to see younger generations learning how to be community members and leaders, so the fulsome appreciation of what skateboarding can bring a person continues to reach as many eager to join people as possible.   

Denise: Ditto to what Char said about building up leaders in and outside of skateboarding, and passing the torch so the Tigers live on for years to come! It would be amazing to see skateboarding in Alberta get to a place where it’s no surprise that femme identifying skaters and skateboarding clubs exist, and with the next gen of skaters I believe that dream is in good hands. Femme identifying skaters have been around for a very long time, we aren’t leaving anytime soon, and that’s going to make for a great future. 

Tigers Skate Club continues to redefine what community looks like — both on and off the board. Through their focus on empowerment, representation, and grassroots leadership, Char and Denise are not only inspiring a new generation of skaters but also reshaping the culture of skateboarding in Alberta for the better. As they look ahead, their mission remains clear: to keep building a space where everyone feels welcome, seen, and supported — and to ensure that the impact of Tigers is felt for generations to come.

Want to support Tigers Skate Club? Learn more on their website or follow them on instagram.