{"id":830259,"date":"2026-07-28T00:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/830259\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T00:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:18:15","slug":"montreal-women-embrace-skateboarding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/830259\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal women embrace skateboarding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDo it scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three words are written across Naya Koussa\u2019s skateboard, but for the 34-year-old Montrealer, they\u2019re about much more than learning a new trick.<\/p>\n

\u201cSkateboarding is kinda scary,\u201d Koussa said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also about going over that fear and trying something new. I realized that this quote helped me through a lot of things in my life, personally, emotionally. I carry that sentence everywhere because once you can do something scared, then you can do everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Naya Koussa, a member of Les Manon en skate, at Ahuntsic Park Skatepark in Montreal on July 23, 2026. (Genevi\u00e8ve Sylvestre, CityNews)<\/p>\n

Every Thursday evening, women gather at skateparks across Montreal through\u00a0Les Manon en skate, a collective welcoming women who skateboard, or simply want to learn.<\/p>\n

During their latest session , they gathered at\u00a0Ahuntsic Park Skatepark, where members of all ages took turns rolling down ramps, cheering each other on and celebrating every small victory.<\/p>\n

Members range from their 30s to their 60s. Many are mothers, some are grandmothers, and almost all remember what it felt like to believe they didn\u2019t belong in a skatepark.<\/p>\n

Instead of competition, they find encouragement. Instead of judgment, they find community. And instead of waiting until they feel fearless, they learn to show up anyway.<\/p>\n

\"\"Members of Les Manon en skate at Ahuntsic Park Skatepark in Montreal on July 23, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n

From watching on the sidelines to leading a movement<\/p>\n

For\u00a0Les Manon en skate member Genevi\u00e8ve Tremblay, the group began after two summers spent sitting on a bench watching her husband and children skateboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I gotta try that. I gotta give it a try. It seems like it\u2019s fun,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rather than teaching herself, Tremblay enrolled in one of the first adult group skateboarding lessons at Montreal\u2019s Le TAZ indoor skatepark. It was there she met the women who would eventually create Les Manon en skate.<\/p>\n

\"\"Genevi\u00e8ve Tremblay, left, and Naya Koussa, members of Les Manon en skate, at Ahuntsic Park Skatepark in Montreal on July 23, 2026. (Genevi\u00e8ve Sylvestre, CityNews)<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s name came from an unexpected joke. The coaches, accustomed to teaching children, often mixed up Tremblay\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some reason, my name is Genevi\u00e8ve, but they were calling me Manon all the time,\u201d she said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Eventually, she stopped correcting them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just gave up and I told the girls, there\u2019s no point. I just think we\u2019re a bunch of Manons.\u201d<\/p>\n

What began as a playful mistake became a badge of pride.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided to own it. We decided to be Les Manons en skate, which is what we are \u2014 a bunch of middle-aged women with skateboards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Members of Les Manon en skate at Ahuntsic Park Skatepark in Montreal on July 23, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n

The hardest part isn\u2019t skateboarding \u2014 it\u2019s showing up<\/p>\n

Before discovering Les Manon en skate, Koussa says she often spent 15 minutes sitting in her car before gathering the courage to walk into a skatepark.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an older woman, you see kids, you see teenage boys and you\u2019re like, \u2018Is it my place here?\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Now that she is a part the group, that feeling disappeared.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that I have the Manon en skate, I don\u2019t stay in my car. I just get up and I go.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says having women waiting for one another changes everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you fall, there\u2019s like a support group just over there for you. It\u2019s just less embarrassing to have people with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

That support extends beyond learning how to skateboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you walk in a skate park, there\u2019s not a lot of women or girls,\u201d she said, looking across the ramps where boys still outnumbered girls.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being there, even if we don\u2019t do any tricks, it shows that the skate park is ours also. That\u2019s the whole thing about the Manons \u2014 taking place in a place where we don\u2019t expect to see women, and even less older women.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A member of Les Manons en skate wears a sticker from the group on her helmet at Ahuntsic Park Skatepark in Montreal on July 23, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n

Over the past year, that visibility has grown.<\/p>\n

When Koussa joined, she said the group\u2019s Instagram account had about 400 followers. It\u2019s now approaching 1,000.<\/p>\n

But the numbers aren\u2019t what matter most.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not much about having followers. It\u2019s about having girls that come to the skate park and try the skateboard for the first time. We just want more girls. It\u2019s not about having more followers. It\u2019s about having more girls to start skating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rewriting the lessons they grew up with<\/p>\n

For 43-year-old Montrealer Pamela Fredes-Zuniga, a Les Manon en skate member, skateboarding isn\u2019t just a new hobby; it\u2019s a chance to rewrite a story that started in childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a child, I wanted to try it and my mom said no because back in the days, it was a guy thing \u2014 stereotypes, cultural upbringings \u2014 and she said no.\u201d<\/p>\n

Decades later, she decided it was finally time.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that I\u2019m the boss of myself,\u201d she said with a smile, \u201cI actually tried.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Pamela Fredes-Zuniga, left, learns a skateboarding trick with help from fellow Les Manon en skate member Naya Koussa at Ahuntsic Park Skatepark in Montreal on July 23, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n

She\u2019s only been skateboarding for four months, but says learning alongside other women has made all the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Manon brings so much fun. It brings a sisterhood. It brings new friends. When you\u2019re over 40, sometimes it\u2019s harder to make new friends and to make a new community. You can come in as you are. You can be a mom or not. You can be a grandma or not. You can be good or not, and you can still feel very accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Fredes-Zuniga, falling has become part of the lesson.<\/p>\n

\u201cLearning a new skill is always something important, but it\u2019s not always the successful part that\u2019s important, but also how you achieve it. The hard work you put into it, the failing\u2026 actually no, it\u2019s not sometimes. It\u2019s always very important. Failing is part of the progress that you\u2019re making.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Pamela Fredes-Zuniga, left, learns a skateboarding trick with help from fellow Les Manon en skate member Naya Koussa at Ahuntsic Park Skatepark in Montreal on July 23, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n

She says she wanted her eight-year-old daughter to see that firsthand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted something that I could learn\u2026 so I can actually also teach my daughter that she can fail and she can get up and try again.<\/p>\n

\u201cMommy isn\u2019t perfect. Nobody is reaching perfection, but you can just try it as hard as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding confidence \u2014 and an inner child<\/p>\n

Like many members, Nicole Almond spent years looking for other adults who learned to skateboard later in life before she found Les Manon en skate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI searched out all of the later skaters in Montreal, Quebec and surrounding area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The group, she says, offered something she hadn\u2019t found elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s helping women get more comfortable at the skate park and be less intimidated in typically male-dominated spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Nicole Almond at Ahuntsic Park Skatepark in Montreal on July 23, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n

But the impact reaches beyond skateboarding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes you feel included in community. It makes you feel connected to your inner child. Feel powerful and strong. Feel like you\u2019re going to overcome challenges. You can fall and get up again. You can just play.\u201d<\/p>\n

After six years on a skateboard, Almond still calls it her \u201cnew obsession.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really therapeutic. It\u2019s good for getting into your body. You make fun friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

A place to belong<\/p>\n

For\u00a0Les Manon en skate member Caroline Fabbro, joining the group changed how she felt every time she rolled into a skatepark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always a bit scared at the skate park skating alone as a woman. It\u2019s impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Caroline Fabbro, a member of Les Manon en skate, at Ahuntsic Park Skatepark in Montreal on July 23, 2026. (Genevi\u00e8ve Sylvestre, CityNews)<\/p>\n

A friend encouraged her to join Les Manon en skate.<\/p>\n

Now, she says, the skatepark feels different.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me feel like I belong somewhere. I often skated on my own, and when I come and skate with them it\u2019s so fun. I feel like I can fail if I want, I can fall and someone will pick me up from the floor and I can ride again. We encourage each other. We applaud when we do something new and we master it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Caroline Fabbro, left, learns a skateboarding trick with help from fellow Les Manon en skate member Genevi\u00e8ve Tremblay at Ahuntsic Park Skatepark in Montreal on July 23, 2026. (Genevi\u00e8ve Sylvestre, CityNews)<\/p>\n

Like several women in the group, Fabbro wishes she hadn\u2019t waited so long.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to do this since I was a little girl and I never did. I started only last year. I\u2019m quite old now and I regret I didn\u2019t do it before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her advice is simple: \u201cDo it now. If you want to do it, do it now. Because\u2026 do it scared. Just do it. Listen to your heart. Do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than a skateboard<\/p>\n

For Tremblay, the message is one she hopes reaches women who have spent years believing skateboarding isn\u2019t for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cSkateboarding is more accessible than you think.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it might seem a bit intimidating to start something new, especially skateboarding, since it\u2019s more associated with males and teenagers. But it\u2019s such a good sport. And when you start skateboarding, you not only do a sport, but you find a community because it\u2019s such a good community. It\u2019s supportive. It\u2019s inclusive. We\u2019re all there for each other, cheering each other and supporting each other. Even if it\u2019s a small achievement or a big trick, we\u2019re all going to be there to cheer for the other ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tKeep it Factual<\/p>\n

Add CityNews Montreal as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.<\/p>\n

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