Who is Kate Gengo? - We asked her. . .

"7 years ago, I took a pair of TRS Rollerblades, and anti-rockered them.
I wanted to grind!

I was just starting out and dance skating with Team Rollerblade.
I met Angie Walton (who’s now Editor of Daily Bread) and witnessed what I thought was the most exciting thing I had ever seen . . . Skaters - airing on a Half –pipe!

From then on – my life changed. I became addicted and wanted more.

I realized that I was the only girl in my neigborhood who was aggressive skating. Angie was in California and I was in NYC.

So I hung out with the guys.
That turned out to be good and bad.

The guys both pushed me and made fun of me. They didn’t know they pushed me –

The “making fun part” made me tougher. Today, I still hear the same type of stories from girl skaters, and in a way I’m glad. If we didn’t have obstacles and there wasn’t a challenge of becoming a better skater, then it would get pretty boring.

It became a sport, the moment we skaters brought it to competition.

This is all good – but competition isn’t for everyone. You have to be prepared for corporate sponsorship and know the responsiblities of being a professional. Unfortunately, the emphasis today, is all about competitions – which brings me back to the girl’s scene.

There isn’t much support in the woman’s divisions of the competition circuits. For 3 years, I traveled to compete against only 6 other girls at any given competition. It was very exciting and I wouldn’t give up my experiences for anything!

However, unless there is more out there for girls, it’s going to die. Girls are getting better and that’s great – but why not start off “GRASS ROOTS STYLE” like the whole skate scene started?!

I’m sure that a lot of you share the same feelings as Kate – so while Kate and I are working to put together a package of benefits for all of us, we’d love to hear what you think - what you need - so please
E- Mail us!