April 3, 2026 • 56 mins
This week, Annie joins GLWT.
Olympian, community builder, and president of Canada Skateboard. We get into how she found skateboarding, the Montreal scene, and her master’s thesis We’re Not In It For The Money — breaking skateboarding into three camps: Nostalgics, Pragmatics, and Promoters. And why the IOC is reminding everyone exactly why we loved DIY culture in the first place.
We hit the headlines too. Phoenix Am delivers a next-gen women’s podium. SLS LA Takeover looms. Exposure announces 2026. Momiji Nishiya’s adidas moment with the (Tekkira Cup ‘Momiji’ colorway). Blood Wizard’s latest “Sorcery” featuring Asahi Kaihara and Ana Shea.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Good Luck with That is an iHeart women's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What's up, skaters, I'm Ashley Raefeld joining me as Alex
White and Annie Googlia. This is good Luck with that?
What's up everyone? How's everyone doing?
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Hi Annie, Hi Ashley. I'm so excited to be here
with you guys.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Annie, last time I saw you was Paris Summer twenty
twenty four Olympic Games. You were draped in an oversized
Canadian flag representing Canada.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah, that would exactly be meat, so so cool to
have you back, full circle back.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
You've been on the roster of guests that I've been
really excited to speak to, which we're going to get
into in just a moment. But it wouldn't be a
good Luck show without getting into the week of news
and women's skateboarding. Alex, I want to take us through
all right.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Well, a week ago we had Phoenix am wrap up
the women's podium was Shen Winning from Korea fourteen years
old taking the win, second place Daniella Tarol seventeen years
old from Spain, and in third place Rio Tano from
Japan fifteen years old.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Last show, I was talking, I was speculating if Phoenix
Am is really still serving like up and coming skateboarders,
and I think this podium clearly shows that it does.
What do you think about that, Alex?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Yeah, I think the fact that you have World Skate
finalists like Geoshan and Daniella Tarol Skating and Phoenix Am
shows more that there's a lack of women's comps on
the scene and that they're hungry for more paychecks and
more experience.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Hey, Annie, did you ever do a Phoenix Am?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
No?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
I didn't, but it's actually.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
No.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I wish I was there right now on his sofold
in Kenda. No, but it's also wild that they are.
I think Danielle's an Olympian right, and yeah she's am
you know, like yes to me, that's the wild part.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Every female Olympic gold medal a skateboarder does not have
a pro board.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Is that correct?
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Is that so Coko Yoshizawa got one for Miao right
last year?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And also let us remind the audience, Lisa Whitaker owns
Meow Skateboards, so.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
You can put the rest together there.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
So Street League is company to Downtown Los Angeles on
April fourth, they're gonna have one of their takeover events,
long time since Street League's been in Los Angeles.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Four spots for the women, nine spots for the men.
Can you tell us, like, what's.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
The difference of a sols that we normally see in
a wild card takeover to spot.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
So as there's takeover events in arena stops, takeover events
are basically best trick competitions where you walk away with
points that lead you towards the Super Crown World Championships
and a big paycheck if you win their invite. Only
there's a much smaller roster. It's running a day. It's
a very quick and easy event, and they're actually really fun.
But the downside of these takeover events is as opposed
to an arena where you have a big, you know,
(02:51):
regular skate park with runs, it's just this massive course,
this massive rail and massive gap for everybody to huck on.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
In the last Takeover, if I'm not wrong, Chloe Cavell
won for the women's last takeover Right.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Last year there was a takeover event in Santa Monica
and Chloe Cabell took it and Margie did All actually
got second.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Place in that one too, which was pretty dope. Okay,
and not to always do the numbers on this, but
you called out the roster. You said four women, nine men,
two wild card spots, which will inevitably go to the men,
making that eleven men for women, Like, what's up with that?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
I mean, I want I'll give my opinion on what's
up with that? Then I want to hear what Annie
says too.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
I think that the reason that they have so few
women RSVP and YES to these takeover events is first
it's a small invite list, and second they don't put
the specs of.
Speaker 5 (03:41):
The actual obstacle size on the invite.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
They don't put the sizes of how big that rail is,
so you're kind of going in blind and it could
be like a massive course.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yeah. I mean, honestly, if I was invited to something
like this and I thought, like, if the obstacle is
too big and all he can do is like a
front board, it's not really worth going, you know what
I mean? So I don't know, like if Chloe knows
how high she can kick that lip, but like I
feel like they know now exactly how high, you know,
(04:14):
so having the specs would definitely make it more not
necessarily accessible, but like lower the the unknown factors. I'm
still gonna put it out there.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
There could equally be a nine men, nine women roster
that could probably step to this exact feature. So maybe
we're just not calling the right people to call out
the right skaters to get there exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
That was my main point. There's not there's very rarely
like a structural reason to do this. It's most of
the time it's just like I'll say, men thinking that
it's not worth having the same like if they have
a certain budget or a certain time frame that they
(04:59):
need the event to run in, durt call nobody. You've
watched this women's sports.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
This brings a good differentiation factor which I don't want
to get too much into the news. But because this
is an invite event versus an open event like Phoenix,
the more they invite to the Street League events, they're
getting points towards a Supercrown, and that means more invites
for Supercrown contestants, So that means that they have to
invite more women. I don't think that's a bad thing,
but I do think that they try to cap the
amount of people that have points in the running for
(05:27):
Supercrowns and Street League to try to hold that field
very tightly, and maybe a little too tightly in my opinion.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
I don't know how you get more women.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
More people are gonna be watching, all right. So Exposure
just announced their twenty twenty six dates November six through eight.
It's the longest running women's skate contest in the entire world.
It's also the most fun, so everyone marker calendars. It's
back on.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Whoa whoa most fun.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Wheels of Fortune is coming up May fifteenth through the seventeenth,
folks in Seattle, Washington as well. It is the second
longest running women's and non traditional skateboarding event running, so
I think that there's some competition there, but Exposure is
very fun.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
It's a great event.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Exposure also has explicitly bowl and vert which Wheels of
Fortune doesn't.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
So yeah, both those dates, that's right. I can't how
dare I? How dare I? Dare?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
You's been at like the og Wheels of Fortune events.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
Also you're from the Pacific Northwest, like what how dare I?
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Please forgive me?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
But really, there's some great contests up on the horizon,
so mark your calendars.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Ammiji Nishia is getting a pro colorway on Adidas, the
Takira Cup Omiji colorway.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
Pretty awesome for Omiji. Yeah, there's a part.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
That comes out.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I know that they've been doing kind of some promotional
parties for the shoe.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I can't wait to see the part.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I'd just like to remind everybody, first gold medalist and
first Japanese female skateboarder to get a colorway.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
This is huge.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
This is like so monumental for a country to be
represented in this way. Omiji is just an incredible competitive skateboarder,
but also in the streets filming out amazing parts. She
just finally got announced to reel officially on the team.
So there's just so much coming out of Ouiji and
a lot to look forward to.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
And then next up in the news, Blood Wizard released Sorcery.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
Last week's Sorcery. What are their videos?
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Featuring Asahi Kiahara and Anna shay I saw He is
nineteen years old.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
She's a vert ripper.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Her last trick in the video Faky Impossible tail grab
on Tony Hawk's ramp was bananas. It was nuts and
young Anna Sha is a fierce, a fierce little force.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Anna Shay showing up at Treasure Island for her tricks.
So cool to see her woven in the parts she's
wearing like a little mouthguard because she's going so incredibly
high that the risk of just a face slam to
like full teeth knockout is completely there. And you just
see her this. She's just like a little cannonball. She
is like someone who will be on the global stage
for the Olympics coming.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Up, Like, you know, get on the betting mark.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I don't think I should encourage people to bet on
children Polly market.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Ye, get on Polly Pocket, pollypocket for the kids. It's
called pollypocket.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
And I want to say Asahi Khara is so sick
and one of the most graceful, fluid vert skaters I've
ever seen. And she's not like hucking fives, which I
think is an interesting part in the video, like Anna
does like a proper mctwist, a leen mctwist and a saw.
He has a much different approach and repertoire with tricks.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
So pretty good video. Honestly, it came out of nowhere
for me.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, I'd say I love the skating. I thought the
song choice the Ronnie Specter, she talks to Rainbow song
was I didn't it didn't feel like it paired well
with the part, and it did not feel like it
was a writer's choice. And also, sorry if I'm calling
this out and it was your choice and you wanted
to skate to that, it felt more like the song
is literally about a misunderstood, like dreamy, mentally fragile girl
(08:52):
who's lost, and that's like over and over again as
they're skating.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
It's like a lost girl narrative arc.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
And it just feels like it's like so ironic as
it feels like a male's editing choice.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
On behalf of these women.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
And maybe I'm looking too into it and I never
normally for a skate song go lyrically this is what
the skate part means. Ever, I just want to say
that but this song and that it just felt mismatched
for the opportunity. Anyways, check it out. If I'm wrong,
hit me up, let me know. That wraps it up
for this week's News Today. Joining us with great honor
(09:24):
is Annie Googlia, who sits at this completely rare intersection
of Olympian skateboarder community builder LGBTQ plus advocate and a
business strategy trained sport leader. She's Canada's first female Olympic skateboarder.
She's now the president of Canada's skateboard This just means
that you're completely an overachiever and you've lived from skateboarding
(09:46):
from the inside and now you're helping shaping what becomes next.
So so happy to have you, Annie Googlia. Welcome to
good luck with that.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Thanks for having me. Also, I thought that was funny
because what you just said. And it's four pm and
I'm drinking KEM so I'm like, also kind of chill,
like not.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
But yeah, Annie.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Where are you right now? I am at home, which
is Montreal.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Well, we have a new little mix up idea. Typically
we save this like rapid fire portion in the middle
of our interviews, but we were like, let's just give
it a go in the beginning.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Annie can handle it.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
I think this is the Camra meal taill is going
to fuel her through this Get a Grip section.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, welcome to get a Grip, Annie. So we're gonna
throw some questions at you rapid fire. Take the last
sip of Cammra mail tea.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
You all you can okay with your dogs?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
What's your go to warm up trick at the park?
Most Canadian skateboarder ever Colin Micky. Best and worst thing
about Montreal's skateboarding The scene.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
The asphalt, worst, the best, I would say the super
boring answer. Community the community. We've had a women's skate
scene since like the early two thousands, which.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Is perfect because who was or is the most committed skateboarder.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
I'll say I'll go with Mesid because she's the one
who founded it and she was the like structuring piece
of skateboarders.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Name one straight woman's skateboarder.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Three two one egg.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Is the Olympics helping skateboarding or flattening it?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
I'll say helping? Can I can I justify? Or no?
Go for it? Yeah, because I think it's creating, like
it doesn't have to change the whole industry in all
of skateboarding, but I think it's creating a whole new
path for people who want to pursue that.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
What's worse no budget or brand money with lots of
strings attached no budget. Is skateboarding more inclusive or kind
of just better at saying it?
Speaker 3 (11:57):
I'm gonna say it's not as inclusive as it claims
to be.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Any Can you give me one thing that skateboarding taught
you that business school didn't, and then one thing business
school taught you that skateboarding could never.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Skateboarding taught me like creativity and just the fact that
you can always start. Well, you can do that in
business too, but just like you're you're the only one
who can create your bag of tricks, and you have
to go through so much to be able to kind
of build that bag of tricks, and just anything that
(12:30):
you do in skateboarding and then for business, I'll say structure,
but it's less and less true since the Olympics. But
that's definitely the reason why I was so attracted to
skateboarding in the first place, was like there's no structure,
no one to give like feedback too and stuff like that,
and business was kind of that side where it was
(12:53):
more structure and discipline and all of that.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Well, you just hit our first ever up, first ever
intro lightning round of Get a Grip, So thanks for
doing that with us.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Annie.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
I was really excited to have you on the podcast
because obviously we talked about like just your like deep
roots in skateboarding and how you've kind of seen this
new era of skateboarding dawn into a more traditional sports space,
and in fact, you went to school and studied all
of this. So I'm like, this is incredible. I get
to talk to you about being an expert as a
skateboarder and be an expert about maybe the business case
around all this, and alex Well knows that's one of
(13:27):
my favorite things to always drive home in.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
This this show.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
But I kind of want to know like the beginnings
of just like where skateboarding came into your life. And
I'm always fascinated with, like everyone did you play traditional sports?
But why did skateboarding become the thing that just like
really like stuck for you.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
So I started to My little brother got a skateboard
for Christmas around two thousand and then I just didn't
fully understand what it was. It was just kind of
another toy that we had with like pogo sticks and
whatever other toys. And then but when he learned how
to ali, I was super intrigued because I didn't understand it.
(14:09):
And I think the only other sport I had played
before or yeah before that was like I had judo
classes for a little bit, so never played traditional sports
and all the way until I was honestly thirty one,
I started playing softball and like stuff like, but I
never wanted to do anything else than skateboarding because every
(14:31):
single other thing that I tried was less satisfying than skateboarding,
you know, So I was like, why would I want
to do anything else? So I was so obsessed with
skateboarding for like twenty years that I didn't do yeah,
any other sports. I don't recommend it though, but yeah,
that's definitely my story of how and yeah, I just
(14:54):
became obsessed with it, did it every single day after school,
lunch breaks, all the time. So it was really like
ninety nine percent of my life for so long, for
my whole teen years.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
And could you tell us a little bit about Montreal skirateboarders,
Alex And I know about that era and this crew
and gang squad of skateboarders, but like, yes.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
A lot of straight women. But I could have thought
of before instead of shouting. Actually, so I was actually
the youngest of the skateboarders, so I met them in
two thousand and five. But it's a crew that started
(15:42):
in two thousand and two in Montreal. At the time,
there was thirteen women girls who skated in Montreal, and
so they started that group to promote women's skateboarding. So
for example, if there was a skate contest, they would
obviously at the time, never have a women's category. So
we would just all go together and be like, well,
(16:03):
now we're thirteen, you know, so you could could have
more than sols. You could have had, you could have
a women's category and so so yeah, so that's how
it started. We made a video. There was one before
before I met them, called Boy Video, and then two
(16:23):
thousand and six was Skirtboarders LA film that came out,
and yeah, that's like as soon as I met a
group of girls who skated, I was like, I'm going
to skate for the rest of my life. This is
this is me, this is what I want to do.
So yeah, so it was really cool and I'm super
grateful for like to have met them and to have
had that group of like I was the youngest, so
(16:45):
they were all probably around ten years older than me,
and so having these like older women people creating something
for me to to yeah, not feel alone, but also
not have to dig my own path. It was really
really cool. All I want to ask a follow up.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
So you were always in the video as I remember
in the film, and you were the young up and comer.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
What was that like for a little any Google, Yah,
it was. It was awesome. I really loved it. And
it was me and my friend Illo, so both of
us were like super competitive towards each other, always like
like she would learn crooked grands, I was like, I'm
gonna crooked I actually, or like tree flips chic and
crooked grind and tri flip way better than me, probably
still to this day, honestly, but yeah, it was. It
(17:35):
was awesome to just to also have someone to progress
with because at the time also I feel like I'm
talking about like prehistoric era but like no social media,
no video, like like if you had a video like
I had two, I had ill mentality obviously, and like
(17:56):
watch Venessa Taurus skate that's I was like women's skateboard
is Venas Taurus and the like glimpse of Elissa Steamer
in Tony Hawk Pro Skater, you know. So that's all
I had access to for like the first six seven
years of you know, skateboarding. So yeah, it was it
was way different than right now. So yeah, so it
(18:18):
was cool to have real life people to compare myself with.
That's what I'm.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Saying, man, That is you're speaking my story so much
when you say I thought skateboarding was just Vanessaturist and
Alyssa Steamer when it came to women's skateboarding.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
And even before that, I thought I didn't even know
Alissa Steamer was a person. I thought she was just
the video game character. Like I really, she was just
a random person, not even a person, like a random
like Zelda, you know, or like Big Shoe Alisa Steamer.
(18:50):
So it was cool to know that she existed. And
then yeah, Vanessa Taurus. But also like Montreal is so
far from la and at the time, that's where skateboarding
was happening mostly.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
So totally, and I feel like Canada's seen. I mean,
Montreal's on the entire other side of the the end
of the East Coast, and Vancouver was like the other
place that kind of held a little bit of an industry.
So yeah, you were really in an era pre Internet,
in your own island with people, and Alex, I mean,
you know what it was like to get information about
(19:23):
women's skateboarding.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
It was it was sparse at best, hold up one sec.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
We'll get right back into it with Andy Googlia after
this quick ad break.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
If we fast forward a little bit from the early
days to a later part of your skateboarding career and
when you end up going to school to focus on
business but still bring skateboarding into schooling. I found a
little bit of your thesis. I'd love to I feel
like you nailed it. The title says we're not in
it for the money. So that's either the most skateboarding
(20:03):
title ever or the biggest coping mechanism in sports history.
Could you explain, like why you called it that.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah, So I did a master in business strategy, and
at first I had no idea I was going to
do it on skateboarding. I had long stopped pursuing my
dream of becoming a professional skateboarder because I was like,
if no woman on earth is making your living with skateboarding,
I'm not the one who's going to do that. And
(20:31):
so I kind of when I was I don't know,
when I finished high school seventeen eighteen, I was like, Okay,
this is not happening for me, so I'll stay in school.
I liked school, so I just kept doing that I
did a bachelor in marketing and then a Master in
business strategy, and two years in you have to choose
a subject for your thesis. And it was around the
same time that skateboarding was announced to be in the Olympics,
(20:53):
and I was one of the first one, not one
of I was one of the people who were like,
why is skateboarding becoming an Olympic sport? Like makes no sense.
They just want our money, like like they just want
to use our image for money, and and I had
that discourse too. But then because I was having those
(21:15):
discussions a lot I was thinking of I was like,
I wonder how the people who have businesses in skateboarding,
Like what do they think? Do they like? Is it
gonna make the market way bigger? Is it? Like? You know?
So I was having these these thoughts and I was like,
that's actually a really cool thesish subject and question like
research questions. So I I proposed it and I actually
(21:37):
got a grant to do that research. So I went
to California for for a whole a whole winter to
do my data collection, which was basically doing interviews with skaters,
well skaters who are either like managers or strategists or
CEOs of businesses. And it was really awesome because I
(22:00):
I was hearing a lot of different discourses, Like there
was the like, oh, I'm not in it for them,
like f the Olympics, Like I'll like, you know, like
skateboarding is not an Olympic sport. And there was a
lot of people who were stoked on it for that reason,
like kind of more not opportunistic, but more like thinking
about it from like a business standpoint. So all of
(22:23):
these discourses were super interesting to hear. And basically, in
my thesis, what I did is I I regrouped them
into three different discourses depending on how like basically depending
on their identity as a skateboarding as a manager and
their relationship between the two. So we're not in them
(22:44):
for the money. Was a discourse from the nostalgic group.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Yeah, and then you had pragmatics and promoters. So could
you explain kind of these three buckets and and like, yeah,
which which one are you.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
That I'm not allowed to say because I'm no. But
so nostalgics would be your typical like I'll say skate
shop owner for example, just for the image. But you
know that's that for for who their identity is as
a skateboarders were more important than a manager and a
(23:18):
person from the like, they don't see themselves as part
of the industry. They just like they do what they
do because they love it. So that's kind of that
that discourse, and that drives a whole different group of strategies,
you know, like they're not going to go after certain
deals and stuff like that, so we like it's yeah,
it's way more complicated than that, but I'll go with that.
(23:41):
Pragmatics was kind of the people who were i'll say
more opportunistics. Opportunistic, but not in it. It's not necessarily
a bad thing. Just like they were like, yeah, the
Olympics is going to be so awesome, Like I'll make money.
I don't like I'm it's my job, you know, so
I'll yeah, I'll grow the business. I'll like kind of
that that business discourse was taking over the the skater
(24:03):
core skater discourse. And then for promoters, they kind of
made a virtuous cycle. And the brand I use for that,
let's say, for example, would be Vans that kind of
uses like they make money. Obviously they'll do like Simpson
collabse and stuff like that, but they always bring some
money back to skateboarding because they know that's the core
of their business, and then they bring it back and
(24:26):
do more. So there's not necessarily a better one, but
that's the I would say the one that I relate
to the most. But just in general, like the visibility
that the Olympics gives two women's skateboarders brings so much
attraction to like a lot of young girls are going
to see themselves in Haisa and any other person skating
(24:49):
in the Olympics, which forces I'll say, like, but development,
which attracts more like role models, which brings visibility, and
that's end of the whole cycle. So it's super. It's
super for me. The more I see it that way,
I can't say that it's a bad thing anymore. I Mean,
(25:10):
there's a lot of bad things about the Olympics and
the movements and like there, but I think overall it
was very positive to decenter skateboarding from just like California,
which I love California, but like there's skateboarding all across
like in every single country and the world almost, you know,
So it's cool that it's forcing development, not just in
(25:32):
the US. But also like in every country and even
more for women.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I think also women's sports are exploding right now, like
we're watching the business of this, like Deloitte just projected
over a billion dollars in revenue last year and Nilsen's
tracking record levels of viewership era an all time high.
So like something real is really happening here, Like from
your perspective, where does skateboarding sit inside this bigger like
women's sports boom.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I don't even know if the Olympics wasn't happening, if
anything would be happening in skateboarding, to be honest, like
it kind of forced that development in a way, no
matter the other sports. But I think in in that
whole and that whole movement of people, like I love
the everyone watches women's sports because it kind of breaks
(26:24):
that honestly, that that even that inner voice, I'll say
it like that because even like me growing up a
lot of the times, like I was like, oh, yeah,
it's normal that there's only four women in street again
nine men, because there's a lot more men, you know.
But at some point it has to it has to
even out in a way, and for for a very
(26:46):
long time that didn't even feel like an option at all.
But I think it's really cool that now it's changing
and now it's becoming like if a if a young
girl wants to play hockey, her dream is worth as
such as her little brother, Like they can both become
professional hockey players. And there's no structuring again, like structuring
(27:07):
reason why it wouldn't happen. Then there's a lot of
psychosocial reasons and maybe other types of reasons, but like,
at least if the structure is there, you don't need
to be out there creating your own path all the
time I started skating, and you would both have way
more like the right numbers but right years and stuff
(27:33):
more than me. But like I started skating in two
thousand and two thousand and one, and the first time
that a woman was on the cover of Threasure was like,
I don't know, fifteen years later, So like fifteen years
is so long. Like now with social media, we see
so much stuff every day and every week, and like
it goes so fast, but like at the time and
(27:53):
it's way like it was way before two thousand and one,
the one before like Jamie Rayes, I think, or yeah,
you know, the gap was so big, like it's wild.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
It was Carabec Burnside nineteen nine, Jamie Rayes nineteen ninety six,
and then a twenty three year gap until we saw
The Next Woman Grace the cover of Thrasher.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
So Lizzie Armanto, Yes, so like I'm growing up, I've
never seen like like Dan virtuous, like I never had
the opportunity to see or not a lot of visibility,
so a lot less attraction, no development. And so you
become a twenty six year old and then it's announced
at skateboarding, well it's going to be in the Olympics,
(28:40):
and you're like, I don't even know how to squad,
but let's try. I've never learned what a lunge is,
but let's do this.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
You know.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Yeah, I want to I want to hear a little
bit about that. Annie. You became an Olympia.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
You're the first Canadian skateboarder to make it to the Olympics.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Can you talk about your Olympic experience? Yeah, sure, it's
a big story, but basically, yeah, it was another skateboarding.
We would go to the Olympics around I don't know,
twenty seventeen. I think it is doing my masters and
stuff and Also, there was no national federation in Canada,
so we had to create Canada Skateboard. Some part of
(29:17):
the founding members of Canada Skateboard created all of that,
and we had the first national championship in twenty eighteen,
and I was like, I'll try. I'll you know, like
I had never I skated eight games once, maybe I
can compete. So I went and I won. It was
really hard even just to i'll say, pretend to know
(29:41):
what we're doing, because we had no idea. Like I
was like, okay, I need to plan a run, Like
I know what a run is, I've done competitions, but
like how do you train? It was funny. It was
just like trying to figure out what it means. And
so yeah, I won the first national championship, went to
my first street league and got eighteenth. So I was like, okay,
(30:02):
we have to we had to be in the top
twenty for like the Olympics. I was like, eighteenth is good.
Like I'll I'll put all my eggs in the same
basket for four years and I'll try to stay in
the top twenty for four years. So yeah, I did that,
became the athlete representative for Canada. Skateboard. So I was
on the board of directors. We're still like trying to
(30:22):
structure this. We had a guy from Canada snowboard be
the like our coach basically for the national team, like
trying to build all of this. And then yeah, stayed
in the top twenty for four years. COVID hit it
was let's not talk about COVID, or let's talk about
it if you want, but I'll just jump over COVID.
(30:44):
And then came back to the last competition before the Olympics,
which was I think in Iowan, No, No, yeah, Iowa,
and then Rome. So Rome was the last one and
I got bumped out of the top Like I skated good,
but I got bumped out of the top twenty that
last competition before the Olympics. So I wasn't gonna like
(31:06):
become an Olympian. I in my mind, I was like,
maybe I waste just like wasted four years of my life.
Like I was so sad. I did a very like
I was in Rome and I was like I'll just
push my plane ticket for like five days and I
went to like Chinkwity and cried for for like three days,
and then I went back home but the thing is,
(31:27):
I was like, because it's the first time skateboarding was
in the Olympics, that was a big marketing push from
Team Canada, from like a lot of sponsors and stuff.
So I was like there was like cardboard cutouts of
me and like you know, like the grocery stores and
stuff they photo shopped me out of like like bus
stops like you know, like the I was like, this
(31:50):
is I can't do this. It was kind of sad,
but yeah, So I wasn't gonna go to the Olympics.
And also every time I was going to a skate park,
like people were like, oh, I can't wait to see
you skate in the Olympics, and I was like, I'm
not going, you know. So that whole month and a
half was really hard. And then forties before the Olympics,
(32:13):
my Adam So the coach, called me and he was like,
someone got COVID and that was Candy Jacobs. And I
didn't know at the time, but I was like, okay, yeah,
I had to go get tested, I do all the things.
And then I learned that it was Candy and I
was like that's wild, Like to me, that's like Candy's
(32:34):
one of my favorite skaters, favorite humans, and so it
was really like it was really hard to feel like
I was taking her place because if I'm being completely honest,
I think she deserved it more than me. But also
I mean it was my well, actually I was an
alternate for the Olympics. I was going to Tokyo, but
(32:55):
technically I was just saying in my hotel room and
I wasn't gonna skate. But when I was on my
flight boy Pei hour from from from South Africa and
got hurt, so it was like basically I was going
I was going to skate the Olympics, but I only
had like twenty four hours. So I had one forty
(33:17):
five minute practice before the Olympics to like try to
figure out a run in five past tricks.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
But listen, coming from a women's skateboarding background, that's more
time than you've ever had.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Before in your life to practice before copy.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Hey it was televised, no, so yeah, So I had
a practice and yeah, skated the Olympics the next day,
and then you had to fly back. Like so Tokyo's
far from like from Montreal, it's like twenty hour flight.
So I went there like the next day skated. I
didn't sleep skated the Olympics and then went back. Honestly,
(33:52):
I went back home and I saw it on like
I saw the Olympics on TV, and I was like,
did did I go? Which I just felt like I
felt like it didn't happen. So it was so fast,
But yeah, it was. It was cool.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
It was such like a I mean, we have to
remind the listeners like it was COVID. It was an
Olympics with no audience. Their skateboarding is like it's vital.
You can hear the energy of the audience and everything
I want to hear more about.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
Like because you had.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
That experience at Tokyo and I and you witnessed Paris,
like some of the differences that you saw finally seeing
like a packed audience of thirty thousand people roaring for skateboarding.
And my favorite part, my memory sitting in those bleachers
in Paris was like so many people didn't really understand
any of the nuances of how skateboarding work, but they
totally got it. And so I was like, oh, this works,
(34:44):
so for you, can you tell us a bit about
the differences of those two.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Well, not skating in it was way as stressful. Actually, no,
that's not true. Watching Faith was so stressful, like watching someone. Well,
I cared for all like almost everyone that I saw
I knew like personally, so you end up caring for
all of them, so you want everyone to skate good.
But Faye watching Faye Ebert skate the park event was
(35:14):
so stressful. But yeah, the main difference, like you said,
was the crowd. No crowd in Tokyo. We were like,
I remember Riah, I was like, who are you waiting at?
So it was really funny to not have a crowd.
But also you kind of knew that every single person
(35:34):
that you've ever met in your life is watching you
in those like thousands of cameras. So no crowd was
not fun. But honestly, I didn't even have I didn't
even notice it. But Paris. I remember getting to Paris
and seeing the whole like not just the competition, but
the event and everything around it. Like you get at
(35:56):
the airport, it's like branded, there's thousands of volunteers, there's crowds,
and I was like, oh, that's the real Olympic experience,
you know, because the other one felt so isolated. So yeah,
it was definitely very different, and honestly, Ellie is going
to be wild. For like, ELI is the mecca of skateboarding,
(36:17):
so it's going to be so intense to just to
live that that scale of an event, but also in LA. Yeah,
I'm excited for ELI twenty eight. Stick around.
Speaker 4 (36:33):
We'll be back faster than Anna Gaglia's experience in the
Tokyo Olympics.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
After this ad break.
Speaker 6 (36:48):
Last Thursday March twenty sixthy International Olympic Committee announced its new.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
Policy on the protection of the female category and Olympic sport.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
This is the quote from the IOC.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
Eligibility will be based on biological sex determined by a
one time screening the presence slash absence of the s
r Y gene. The IOC indicates testing could use saliva,
cheek swap or blood sample, with the rare exceptions such
as a complete androgen insensitivity syndrome c ai S. So
now any all female athletes are going to have to
(37:17):
take a genetic test to see if they can compete
in the Olympics.
Speaker 5 (37:20):
What are your thoughts on that? As an Olympian and
also as.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
The president of a NASH of the Canadian National Federation.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
So my face, my face, the whole time. Yeah, no,
it's it's honestly, it's terrible, Like it's the policing of
women bodies, which I like society. Maybe I thought that
we kind of went like over this, but no, apparently
we're going back. So yeah, no, it's it's terrible. It's
(37:52):
I've seen a lot of posts and I just like also,
even as an Olympian, I just feel like I'm just
like putting down thumbs down on all of the posts,
and then I get so many people like commenting bad
comments under everything, and I just don't even reply. But
it's just important for me to show that there's a
lot of Olympians that are that do not agree with this.
(38:13):
It's not a way to protect women's sports. There's no
good reason. There was I think one trans women participating
in the Olympics, and that's not even a good excuse
because even if she won, like that would be awesome,
but like she didn't win, Like it's not there's no
trans women dominating women's sports because also that starts with
the premise that that women are not that it's just
(38:40):
like let's tell I'll go back, but like not all
men are better than all women. There's way more difference
between like women between them than between men and women.
And so there's so many there's no true evidence to
back the claim that we would need screening, first of all,
(39:01):
but also there's like ethically no good reason to have
to test women, Like they're not going to test men,
so honestly they should if they do that, they should
test men for their vibility, like knowing if they're like
real men.
Speaker 4 (39:18):
What is this?
Speaker 3 (39:18):
You know, like that it doesn't make sense when you
turn it around, it sounds funny. So it's the same
for us. You know, trans women are women. I'll just
say it so that it's on the record, but like, yeah,
thank you. Any trans women are women.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
How does something like this with the IOC and the
trans policy, Like, how does it land inside skateboarding culture?
Speaker 3 (39:39):
Because skateboarding culture.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Has always been like quote unquote really inclusive, and we
have been making strides make better efforts towards a bigger
community of trans, non binary, we weird people.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
We have not the whole scale. I like to talk
about the skateboarding communities because not all of skateboarding and
all the skate communities would do that. Unfortunately, at the
Canada Skateboard we had a lot of backlash for including
trans women in our Like basically we said our gender
(40:15):
inclusion policy says that for as long as we have control,
we like people can like register to the gender that
they best associate with. I don't know the wording in English, sorry,
but just like basically including all genders in our contest.
We're not going to start screening women, like you know
(40:36):
what I mean, Like, that's that's nonsense. So the people placed, like,
first of all, it's the olympickings. It's like we're playing
like it's not you know. So same for skateboarding, like
the if you start excluding people, what are these people
going to do? Like the purpose of sport and the
(40:58):
purpose of skateboarding it's like it's a community. It's like
to have fun, play, do all these So yeah, anyways,
there's no positive to exclusion.
Speaker 4 (41:11):
Well, I think that this is another way in which
I've been thinking about this a lot, annie about how
we give up a lot of our autonomy as people
for safety or inclusion.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Right.
Speaker 4 (41:26):
I even think about this in terms of you know,
the COVID policies from before, and you know, we're in
the idea of keeping people safe or keeping women's sports safe.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Can you speak.
Speaker 4 (41:35):
Anything to that about, like, you know, is any of
this keeping women safer?
Speaker 3 (41:41):
Well, I would say for skateboarding, definitely not. There might
be some sports in which maybe I don't know all
the specifics for all the sports, like if you're I
don't know boxing, maybe, but again I don't even know,
so maybe not. You know, so that's I'm not an
excerpt before skateboarding definitely not. There's no like there are
(42:05):
you said it at the beginning of the show. There's
like fourteen year olds that are better than me. I
could beat them. I could beat them up. Not on
a skateboard. You know, it's not it's not the same thing,
and there's no there's no evidence. It's not physiological at all. Skateboarder,
(42:26):
not necessarily at all. Like there might be some differences.
I think it's sport and I'll be very binary, but
like between men and women, it's like I don't know
four percent some like if for some sports it's like
four percent to maybe ten percent. But for skateboarding, I mean,
I see kids this big that can kick backlip arrel
(42:47):
that I can't like.
Speaker 5 (42:49):
Who's that little boy in Montreal's like twelve years old?
Speaker 4 (42:52):
And he's like so good, h gian Briunel. Yeah, he's
probably the best young skateboard I've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
He's good. Yeah, he's the size of your pinky.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:06):
But that's the thing. So it's so you're going, you're
gonna tell me that the difference between like the physiological
difference between like a young kid that's there's like nine
years old kid on Instagram that can big flip front
blood like top rails. I guarantee you it has nothing physiological.
(43:27):
The reason I can't big flip front board is not physiological,
you know, it's because I'm too old to learn it now.
And if I was nine years old and I had
seen a lot of people do that, maybe by today
I would be able to do it, you know. But yeah,
So the basically my whole point is the physics of
(43:51):
skateboarding is a very small percentage of why you're good
at skateboarding, you know, And it's not because you're trends
or not that it's going to make a difference.
Speaker 4 (44:01):
Yeah, And do you think do you see this like
this now? You know, genetic testing was done thirty years
ago in the Olympics. Now they're bringing it back now
Now I can't help but think that this is you know,
American politics and policy trying to push down like a
big movement in women's sports, which is something that you're
very heavily embedded in beyond skateboarding. You did say that
(44:22):
sport is play right, it's like separate from things. But
I see this push as the return to genetic testing
for women as a political ploy from the United States,
the host country from the twenty eight Olympics, right to
anti trans as part of anti trans legislation and agenda.
And I wonder for you know, somebody like you that's
(44:42):
embedded in women's sports so much too, do you feel
like they are attacking the momentum of women's sports overall?
Speaker 3 (44:49):
Yeah, I think so. And there's there's not a lot
of there are like some women who will say it's
protecting women's sports, but that's transphobia. It doesn't have to
do when and with the the like they've probably never
competed against a trans woman, you know, like they have
no idea what they're just it's just the idea scares
(45:11):
them and they don't know any trans people, so they
just they did they're afraid. It is mostly ignorance it's
like racism, Like if you're ignorant, you have no diversity
in your friend group, that well you maybe you're you're xenophobic.
Is that the work Anyways, Most people who have competed
with trans folks or I don't see it as a threat.
(45:34):
It's not a threat to women's sport. Actually, it's it's
just making sure that everybody can can participate. I think
that's the most important. Yeah, there's already, especially for women
in sports, there's already so many barriers and like problems,
(45:55):
and trans women are not one of those problems. So
it's just easier to attack trans women then like attack
the lack of funding, are the lack of visibility in
the media, or you know, all of these things that
are actually make a difference. Solid point there.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
Yeah, and you said earlier this is a little bit
winding back to an earlier part of our conversation, but
when we were just talking about a nine year old
whose physiological ability can do incredibly crazy tricks already, and
we're seeing this like new young era of skateboarders hit
the podium. Like the outside media that talks about skateboarding,
(46:31):
not the core industry media. They love to just highlight
the age range of the young girls who get the
medals and how like she's eleven years old and has
a metal which is crazy because we've never seen it
in other sport categories. But like, can you get the
listeners up to speed of like how the just literally
the announcement of this in twenty sixteen did help grow
(46:52):
the skateboard industry for women. Like a lot of what
you were saying when you did your research was that
a lot of pessimistic it's not going to grow skateboarding.
I still hear that all the time, Like the Olympics
did nothing for skateboarding.
Speaker 3 (47:03):
I'm like, it did so much, But that's what I meant.
Also at the beginning, it didn't necessarily change the core
like that still exists. If you're like in the core,
Like if you're a I'll say, like a dude in California,
you've been skate Like, no, it didn't change anything for you.
But if you're like in France or in like if
(47:23):
you're a girl in Kenya, I guarantee it changed something,
you know, And so it's it just it's a question
of perspective also, and the age for women at least
and for actually for men, it's the same too, but
there's been men for so long in skateboarding and and
(47:44):
and I think it's just harder for young kids to
take their place. But in the women's side, there was
so much space to take that all the little kids
who were getting all that visibility, those opportunities, the development
coaches and all of that. They're taking the space that
would have been there if there was enough people to
(48:05):
take it. But for so long that it was like
for Alex and you and like we had to really
want to skate to skate, you know, like our parents
were I don't know for you, but my parents, like
they dropped me at the like they came to see me.
And when I learned to drop in at the skate
and I love my parents like they've and then they
came to see me at X games like they were like, wow,
(48:27):
you're grown, you know, like our parents, Like my parents
saw it like I was playing something, you know, Like
it wasn't like, oh, you're training for the Olympics, you know,
like kids now they're like whole family are behind it.
Like when I went to my high school reunion after
ten years before, like you still skate, Like why like
did you graduate, you know, so like it's it's so
(48:51):
different now in skateboarding, and I think especially for for yeah,
for women and girls, it just took that long to
have that same like that's yeah, the same opportunities and
the same visibility and the same perception of worth from everybody.
(49:13):
So yeah, so that's I think the main difference. And
to do a parallel with like other or like professional sports.
When the Professional Women's Hockey League started in Canada and
the US, the WHL, I went to the first game
in Montreal and I like cried, like I couldn't stop crying,
and I was like, oh am, I cry, like it's
(49:35):
so beautiful. But then I was thinking about it and
I was like, I think it's kind of the younger
version of myself just seeing all these people cheer and
like giving importance to women practicing their sport in an arena.
I was like, that's beautiful because I like, for all
(49:57):
my life people were like almost like like you're here
because you're like we needed a girl on the team
or you're like the best girl I've ever seen, so
here you go. You know, like here's a like an opportunity.
And I was lucky I had a lot of opportunities,
but it was always like like we don't have anybody else,
so here you go, you know, like you're so so
(50:20):
it's it's really cool to see that. It's it's it's evolving.
But to me, the most important thing is that young
girls now feel like they're worth it, you know, like
they that that people care. I think that's more like it,
you know, not just them, like because I cared. I
was like, I want to skate, I want to do
all these things, and some people cared. But just like
(50:41):
the fact that now it's a people's like society cares,
I think makes it makes it really cool and that
to me is the biggest barrier.
Speaker 2 (50:53):
How cool is it that women's sports are like trending
in there? The cool factor right now, Like you said,
that game was probably like thirty six thousand people in
the audience. I know some of the like top WNBA
games have been like eighteen to twenty thousand, packed stadiums
and attendants, like they don't have to have the flag
(51:14):
over the top bleachers, like it's packed to the brim.
The storylines are finally getting more play, so you're actually
getting to like understand who these athletes are, but like
my favorite part is like all of the like relationships
behind the scenes in these sports and what's going on
that you actually get to like build a fanfare with
(51:35):
those athletes.
Speaker 3 (51:36):
Plus the drama is like so good.
Speaker 2 (51:38):
So if you're if you haven't been tuning in, I
highly recommend it because if you like reality TV, it's
like incredible sports and then there's like these backstories and
lore that are happening that are like way beyond what's
going on in men's sports. You know, we're talking like
ex wives playing against each other on the court with
their new fiance. Like it's nuts in the w NBA
(52:01):
and across women's sports in general. So I'm just saying
it's a great time to be alive and watch women's sports.
Speaker 3 (52:07):
Yeah. I lost you there, Alex. I watched you go
what are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (52:14):
Clearly, and I looked up and we're talking about X
wives and I'm like, what's going on?
Speaker 3 (52:20):
No, I did hear you?
Speaker 2 (52:21):
Yes, Anyways, it's it's a thrown to any I feel
like we're gonna have to have you as a reoccurring
guest because you have so many points of expertise in
the areas that we really are excited to talk about
and we do have to somewhat wrap up our show here,
but it's been such an absolute pleasure having you on
and just like to see how much you are creating
(52:41):
a new how much space you're creating for the future
of skateboarding is amazing.
Speaker 3 (52:49):
I won't have any flowers too, well, yeah, Alex, want
to you wrap us out? Actually no, no.
Speaker 2 (52:54):
I just want to.
Speaker 3 (52:55):
I didn't to say it like no.
Speaker 4 (52:56):
I really appreciate Annie's perspective on these things too, because
from classically always feeling like an outsider looking at Annie,
even from the women's scene, because you were so separated
for so long that you bring a really fresh perspective.
And it's just so fun to root for you in
everything that you do in life. You're so fun to
be around. You're such an interesting person, You're such a
(53:17):
good skater, such a thoughtful person. You care so deeply
about this just the way that we do out here
in California, and I love that you are leading in
a new era with all of us to make room
for the next generation of skateboarders.
Speaker 3 (53:32):
So thank you again, Annie. Thanks. I mean I to
go full circle, but I was so grateful for the
people who opened the opportunities for me. So I think,
realizing this a little bit older, I think it's really
important for me to be able to like people like
the skirtboarders, but also Lisa from now and like so
many and you, and like so many people in my
(53:52):
life that helped me along the way. So it's really
important for me to give back and just create space
where I can.
Speaker 2 (54:01):
I can't think of a better spokesperson talking on behalf
of skateboarding to others, So thank you for the work there.
Our show is called good luck with That because often
when you tell someone you're gonna be a pro skateboarder
or do any kind of dreaming, you're gonna need some yeah,
good luck with that, kid, So I want to know
what kind of luck do you need right now?
Speaker 3 (54:21):
I'm actually like slowing down now. That's why it made
me laugh at the beginning when you listed everything I did.
I'm like, it's true, like I did a lot of things,
but I'm in in my camameal tea era where I'm
like really learning to take care of myself and slow down.
(54:42):
And I think I need luck with that too, because
it's it's hard to, yeah, to just slow down when
you're Like you said, I've been trained to be an overachiever,
summer recovering over achiever. Now I love that.
Speaker 2 (54:59):
Well, any Googlia, thank you so much for being a
guest on Good Luck with That. Where can listeners find
you so they can tune into your channel?
Speaker 3 (55:07):
Yeah, I'm most active on Instagram, so I'll see Yeah, Instagram,
that's your Instagram handle. Oh it's my name, so it's
Annie Googia. But the A is the at like Annie Googlia.
I don't know how to say this to Aty Googlia.
Give Annie a follow.
Speaker 2 (55:28):
She's always posting cool stuff from the sidelines of women's
sports and skateboarding, so really exciting to see the journey happen. Listeners,
you can find us on our Instagram at good Luck pod.
Speaker 3 (55:40):
You know listeners out.
Speaker 2 (55:41):
There post hard, Post that hard skate content to the gram.
Stop saving it for no reason. Don't be so precious,
Alex always tells me, don't be so precious, like like
my one favorite T shirt, just wear it.
Speaker 3 (55:55):
So post the skate clips. We want to see them.
Speaker 2 (55:58):
We'll be here next week.
Speaker 3 (56:01):
Tune back in Booming.
Speaker 1 (56:10):
Good Luck with That is an iHeart women's sports production
and partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 4 (56:16):
We are your hosts Ashey Rayfeld, Nora Bascnzlos, Alex.
Speaker 3 (56:19):
White, and Mimi nu.
Speaker 4 (56:21):
Our executive producer is Jesse Katz, supervising producer Tari Harrison,
video producer Daniel Goodman, and video production by School of Humans.
Speaker 3 (56:30):
This podcast was created by Ashey Rayfeld.
Speaker 4 (56:33):
Listen to good Luck with That, a skateboarding podcast, on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple
Speaker 5 (56:37):
Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Good Luck with That is an iHeart women's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What's up, skaters, I'm Ashley Raefeld joining me as Alex
White and Annie Googlia. This is good Luck with that?
What's up everyone? How's everyone doing?
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Hi Annie, Hi Ashley. I'm so excited to be here
with you guys.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Annie, last time I saw you was Paris Summer twenty
twenty four Olympic Games. You were draped in an oversized
Canadian flag representing Canada.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah, that would exactly be meat, so so cool to
have you back, full circle back.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
You've been on the roster of guests that I've been
really excited to speak to, which we're going to get
into in just a moment. But it wouldn't be a
good Luck show without getting into the week of news
and women's skateboarding. Alex, I want to take us through
all right.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Well, a week ago we had Phoenix am wrap up
the women's podium was Shen Winning from Korea fourteen years
old taking the win, second place Daniella Tarol seventeen years
old from Spain, and in third place Rio Tano from
Japan fifteen years old.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Last show, I was talking, I was speculating if Phoenix
Am is really still serving like up and coming skateboarders,
and I think this podium clearly shows that it does.
What do you think about that, Alex?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Yeah, I think the fact that you have World Skate
finalists like Geoshan and Daniella Tarol Skating and Phoenix Am
shows more that there's a lack of women's comps on
the scene and that they're hungry for more paychecks and
more experience.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Hey, Annie, did you ever do a Phoenix Am?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
No?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
I didn't, but it's actually.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
No.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I wish I was there right now on his sofold
in Kenda. No, but it's also wild that they are.
I think Danielle's an Olympian right, and yeah she's am
you know, like yes to me, that's the wild part.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Every female Olympic gold medal a skateboarder does not have
a pro board.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Is that correct?
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Is that so Coko Yoshizawa got one for Miao right
last year?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And also let us remind the audience, Lisa Whitaker owns
Meow Skateboards, so.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
You can put the rest together there.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
So Street League is company to Downtown Los Angeles on
April fourth, they're gonna have one of their takeover events,
long time since Street League's been in Los Angeles.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Four spots for the women, nine spots for the men.
Can you tell us, like, what's.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
The difference of a sols that we normally see in
a wild card takeover to spot.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
So as there's takeover events in arena stops, takeover events
are basically best trick competitions where you walk away with
points that lead you towards the Super Crown World Championships
and a big paycheck if you win their invite. Only
there's a much smaller roster. It's running a day. It's
a very quick and easy event, and they're actually really fun.
But the downside of these takeover events is as opposed
to an arena where you have a big, you know,
(02:51):
regular skate park with runs, it's just this massive course,
this massive rail and massive gap for everybody to huck on.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
In the last Takeover, if I'm not wrong, Chloe Cavell
won for the women's last takeover Right.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Last year there was a takeover event in Santa Monica
and Chloe Cabell took it and Margie did All actually
got second.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Place in that one too, which was pretty dope. Okay,
and not to always do the numbers on this, but
you called out the roster. You said four women, nine men,
two wild card spots, which will inevitably go to the men,
making that eleven men for women, Like, what's up with that?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
I mean, I want I'll give my opinion on what's
up with that? Then I want to hear what Annie
says too.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
I think that the reason that they have so few
women RSVP and YES to these takeover events is first
it's a small invite list, and second they don't put
the specs of.
Speaker 5 (03:41):
The actual obstacle size on the invite.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
They don't put the sizes of how big that rail is,
so you're kind of going in blind and it could
be like a massive course.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yeah. I mean, honestly, if I was invited to something
like this and I thought, like, if the obstacle is
too big and all he can do is like a
front board, it's not really worth going, you know what
I mean? So I don't know, like if Chloe knows
how high she can kick that lip, but like I
feel like they know now exactly how high, you know,
(04:14):
so having the specs would definitely make it more not
necessarily accessible, but like lower the the unknown factors. I'm
still gonna put it out there.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
There could equally be a nine men, nine women roster
that could probably step to this exact feature. So maybe
we're just not calling the right people to call out
the right skaters to get there exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
That was my main point. There's not there's very rarely
like a structural reason to do this. It's most of
the time it's just like I'll say, men thinking that
it's not worth having the same like if they have
a certain budget or a certain time frame that they
(04:59):
need the event to run in, durt call nobody. You've
watched this women's sports.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
This brings a good differentiation factor which I don't want
to get too much into the news. But because this
is an invite event versus an open event like Phoenix,
the more they invite to the Street League events, they're
getting points towards a Supercrown, and that means more invites
for Supercrown contestants, So that means that they have to
invite more women. I don't think that's a bad thing,
but I do think that they try to cap the
amount of people that have points in the running for
(05:27):
Supercrowns and Street League to try to hold that field
very tightly, and maybe a little too tightly in my opinion.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
I don't know how you get more women.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
More people are gonna be watching, all right. So Exposure
just announced their twenty twenty six dates November six through eight.
It's the longest running women's skate contest in the entire world.
It's also the most fun, so everyone marker calendars. It's
back on.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Whoa whoa most fun.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Wheels of Fortune is coming up May fifteenth through the seventeenth,
folks in Seattle, Washington as well. It is the second
longest running women's and non traditional skateboarding event running, so
I think that there's some competition there, but Exposure is
very fun.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
It's a great event.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Exposure also has explicitly bowl and vert which Wheels of
Fortune doesn't.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
So yeah, both those dates, that's right. I can't how
dare I? How dare I? Dare?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
You's been at like the og Wheels of Fortune events.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
Also you're from the Pacific Northwest, like what how dare I?
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Please forgive me?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
But really, there's some great contests up on the horizon,
so mark your calendars.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Ammiji Nishia is getting a pro colorway on Adidas, the
Takira Cup Omiji colorway.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
Pretty awesome for Omiji. Yeah, there's a part.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
That comes out.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I know that they've been doing kind of some promotional
parties for the shoe.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I can't wait to see the part.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I'd just like to remind everybody, first gold medalist and
first Japanese female skateboarder to get a colorway.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
This is huge.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
This is like so monumental for a country to be
represented in this way. Omiji is just an incredible competitive skateboarder,
but also in the streets filming out amazing parts. She
just finally got announced to reel officially on the team.
So there's just so much coming out of Ouiji and
a lot to look forward to.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
And then next up in the news, Blood Wizard released Sorcery.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
Last week's Sorcery. What are their videos?
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Featuring Asahi Kiahara and Anna shay I saw He is
nineteen years old.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
She's a vert ripper.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Her last trick in the video Faky Impossible tail grab
on Tony Hawk's ramp was bananas. It was nuts and
young Anna Sha is a fierce, a fierce little force.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Anna Shay showing up at Treasure Island for her tricks.
So cool to see her woven in the parts she's
wearing like a little mouthguard because she's going so incredibly
high that the risk of just a face slam to
like full teeth knockout is completely there. And you just
see her this. She's just like a little cannonball. She
is like someone who will be on the global stage
for the Olympics coming.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Up, Like, you know, get on the betting mark.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I don't think I should encourage people to bet on
children Polly market.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Ye, get on Polly Pocket, pollypocket for the kids. It's
called pollypocket.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
And I want to say Asahi Khara is so sick
and one of the most graceful, fluid vert skaters I've
ever seen. And she's not like hucking fives, which I
think is an interesting part in the video, like Anna
does like a proper mctwist, a leen mctwist and a saw.
He has a much different approach and repertoire with tricks.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
So pretty good video. Honestly, it came out of nowhere
for me.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, I'd say I love the skating. I thought the
song choice the Ronnie Specter, she talks to Rainbow song
was I didn't it didn't feel like it paired well
with the part, and it did not feel like it
was a writer's choice. And also, sorry if I'm calling
this out and it was your choice and you wanted
to skate to that, it felt more like the song
is literally about a misunderstood, like dreamy, mentally fragile girl
(08:52):
who's lost, and that's like over and over again as
they're skating.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
It's like a lost girl narrative arc.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
And it just feels like it's like so ironic as
it feels like a male's editing choice.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
On behalf of these women.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
And maybe I'm looking too into it and I never
normally for a skate song go lyrically this is what
the skate part means. Ever, I just want to say
that but this song and that it just felt mismatched
for the opportunity. Anyways, check it out. If I'm wrong,
hit me up, let me know. That wraps it up
for this week's News Today. Joining us with great honor
(09:24):
is Annie Googlia, who sits at this completely rare intersection
of Olympian skateboarder community builder LGBTQ plus advocate and a
business strategy trained sport leader. She's Canada's first female Olympic skateboarder.
She's now the president of Canada's skateboard This just means
that you're completely an overachiever and you've lived from skateboarding
(09:46):
from the inside and now you're helping shaping what becomes next.
So so happy to have you, Annie Googlia. Welcome to
good luck with that.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Thanks for having me. Also, I thought that was funny
because what you just said. And it's four pm and
I'm drinking KEM so I'm like, also kind of chill,
like not.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
But yeah, Annie.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Where are you right now? I am at home, which
is Montreal.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Well, we have a new little mix up idea. Typically
we save this like rapid fire portion in the middle
of our interviews, but we were like, let's just give
it a go in the beginning.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Annie can handle it.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
I think this is the Camra meal taill is going
to fuel her through this Get a Grip section.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, welcome to get a Grip, Annie. So we're gonna
throw some questions at you rapid fire. Take the last
sip of Cammra mail tea.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
You all you can okay with your dogs?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
What's your go to warm up trick at the park?
Most Canadian skateboarder ever Colin Micky. Best and worst thing
about Montreal's skateboarding The scene.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
The asphalt, worst, the best, I would say the super
boring answer. Community the community. We've had a women's skate
scene since like the early two thousands, which.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Is perfect because who was or is the most committed skateboarder.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
I'll say I'll go with Mesid because she's the one
who founded it and she was the like structuring piece
of skateboarders.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Name one straight woman's skateboarder.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Three two one egg.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Is the Olympics helping skateboarding or flattening it?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
I'll say helping? Can I can I justify? Or no?
Go for it? Yeah, because I think it's creating, like
it doesn't have to change the whole industry in all
of skateboarding, but I think it's creating a whole new
path for people who want to pursue that.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
What's worse no budget or brand money with lots of
strings attached no budget. Is skateboarding more inclusive or kind
of just better at saying it?
Speaker 3 (11:57):
I'm gonna say it's not as inclusive as it claims
to be.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Any Can you give me one thing that skateboarding taught
you that business school didn't, and then one thing business
school taught you that skateboarding could never.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Skateboarding taught me like creativity and just the fact that
you can always start. Well, you can do that in
business too, but just like you're you're the only one
who can create your bag of tricks, and you have
to go through so much to be able to kind
of build that bag of tricks, and just anything that
(12:30):
you do in skateboarding and then for business, I'll say structure,
but it's less and less true since the Olympics. But
that's definitely the reason why I was so attracted to
skateboarding in the first place, was like there's no structure,
no one to give like feedback too and stuff like that,
and business was kind of that side where it was
(12:53):
more structure and discipline and all of that.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Well, you just hit our first ever up, first ever
intro lightning round of Get a Grip, So thanks for
doing that with us.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Annie.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
I was really excited to have you on the podcast
because obviously we talked about like just your like deep
roots in skateboarding and how you've kind of seen this
new era of skateboarding dawn into a more traditional sports space,
and in fact, you went to school and studied all
of this. So I'm like, this is incredible. I get
to talk to you about being an expert as a
skateboarder and be an expert about maybe the business case
around all this, and alex Well knows that's one of
(13:27):
my favorite things to always drive home in.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
This this show.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
But I kind of want to know like the beginnings
of just like where skateboarding came into your life. And
I'm always fascinated with, like everyone did you play traditional sports?
But why did skateboarding become the thing that just like
really like stuck for you.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
So I started to My little brother got a skateboard
for Christmas around two thousand and then I just didn't
fully understand what it was. It was just kind of
another toy that we had with like pogo sticks and
whatever other toys. And then but when he learned how
to ali, I was super intrigued because I didn't understand it.
(14:09):
And I think the only other sport I had played
before or yeah before that was like I had judo
classes for a little bit, so never played traditional sports
and all the way until I was honestly thirty one,
I started playing softball and like stuff like, but I
never wanted to do anything else than skateboarding because every
(14:31):
single other thing that I tried was less satisfying than skateboarding,
you know, So I was like, why would I want
to do anything else? So I was so obsessed with
skateboarding for like twenty years that I didn't do yeah,
any other sports. I don't recommend it though, but yeah,
that's definitely my story of how and yeah, I just
(14:54):
became obsessed with it, did it every single day after school,
lunch breaks, all the time. So it was really like
ninety nine percent of my life for so long, for
my whole teen years.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
And could you tell us a little bit about Montreal skirateboarders,
Alex And I know about that era and this crew
and gang squad of skateboarders, but like, yes.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
A lot of straight women. But I could have thought
of before instead of shouting. Actually, so I was actually
the youngest of the skateboarders, so I met them in
two thousand and five. But it's a crew that started
(15:42):
in two thousand and two in Montreal. At the time,
there was thirteen women girls who skated in Montreal, and
so they started that group to promote women's skateboarding. So
for example, if there was a skate contest, they would
obviously at the time, never have a women's category. So
we would just all go together and be like, well,
(16:03):
now we're thirteen, you know, so you could could have
more than sols. You could have had, you could have
a women's category and so so yeah, so that's how
it started. We made a video. There was one before
before I met them, called Boy Video, and then two
(16:23):
thousand and six was Skirtboarders LA film that came out,
and yeah, that's like as soon as I met a
group of girls who skated, I was like, I'm going
to skate for the rest of my life. This is
this is me, this is what I want to do.
So yeah, so it was really cool and I'm super
grateful for like to have met them and to have
had that group of like I was the youngest, so
(16:45):
they were all probably around ten years older than me,
and so having these like older women people creating something
for me to to yeah, not feel alone, but also
not have to dig my own path. It was really
really cool. All I want to ask a follow up.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
So you were always in the video as I remember
in the film, and you were the young up and comer.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
What was that like for a little any Google, Yah,
it was. It was awesome. I really loved it. And
it was me and my friend Illo, so both of
us were like super competitive towards each other, always like
like she would learn crooked grands, I was like, I'm
gonna crooked I actually, or like tree flips chic and
crooked grind and tri flip way better than me, probably
still to this day, honestly, but yeah, it was. It
(17:35):
was awesome to just to also have someone to progress
with because at the time also I feel like I'm
talking about like prehistoric era but like no social media,
no video, like like if you had a video like
I had two, I had ill mentality obviously, and like
(17:56):
watch Venessa Taurus skate that's I was like women's skateboard
is Venas Taurus and the like glimpse of Elissa Steamer
in Tony Hawk Pro Skater, you know. So that's all
I had access to for like the first six seven
years of you know, skateboarding. So yeah, it was it
was way different than right now. So yeah, so it
(18:18):
was cool to have real life people to compare myself with.
That's what I'm.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Saying, man, That is you're speaking my story so much
when you say I thought skateboarding was just Vanessaturist and
Alyssa Steamer when it came to women's skateboarding.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
And even before that, I thought I didn't even know
Alissa Steamer was a person. I thought she was just
the video game character. Like I really, she was just
a random person, not even a person, like a random
like Zelda, you know, or like Big Shoe Alisa Steamer.
(18:50):
So it was cool to know that she existed. And
then yeah, Vanessa Taurus. But also like Montreal is so
far from la and at the time, that's where skateboarding
was happening mostly.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
So totally, and I feel like Canada's seen. I mean,
Montreal's on the entire other side of the the end
of the East Coast, and Vancouver was like the other
place that kind of held a little bit of an industry.
So yeah, you were really in an era pre Internet,
in your own island with people, and Alex, I mean,
you know what it was like to get information about
(19:23):
women's skateboarding.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
It was it was sparse at best, hold up one sec.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
We'll get right back into it with Andy Googlia after
this quick ad break.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
If we fast forward a little bit from the early
days to a later part of your skateboarding career and
when you end up going to school to focus on
business but still bring skateboarding into schooling. I found a
little bit of your thesis. I'd love to I feel
like you nailed it. The title says we're not in
it for the money. So that's either the most skateboarding
(20:03):
title ever or the biggest coping mechanism in sports history.
Could you explain, like why you called it that.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah, So I did a master in business strategy, and
at first I had no idea I was going to
do it on skateboarding. I had long stopped pursuing my
dream of becoming a professional skateboarder because I was like,
if no woman on earth is making your living with skateboarding,
I'm not the one who's going to do that. And
(20:31):
so I kind of when I was I don't know,
when I finished high school seventeen eighteen, I was like, Okay,
this is not happening for me, so I'll stay in school.
I liked school, so I just kept doing that I
did a bachelor in marketing and then a Master in
business strategy, and two years in you have to choose
a subject for your thesis. And it was around the
same time that skateboarding was announced to be in the Olympics,
(20:53):
and I was one of the first one, not one
of I was one of the people who were like,
why is skateboarding becoming an Olympic sport? Like makes no sense.
They just want our money, like like they just want
to use our image for money, and and I had
that discourse too. But then because I was having those
(21:15):
discussions a lot I was thinking of I was like,
I wonder how the people who have businesses in skateboarding,
Like what do they think? Do they like? Is it
gonna make the market way bigger? Is it? Like? You know?
So I was having these these thoughts and I was like,
that's actually a really cool thesish subject and question like
research questions. So I I proposed it and I actually
(21:37):
got a grant to do that research. So I went
to California for for a whole a whole winter to
do my data collection, which was basically doing interviews with skaters,
well skaters who are either like managers or strategists or
CEOs of businesses. And it was really awesome because I
(22:00):
I was hearing a lot of different discourses, Like there
was the like, oh, I'm not in it for them,
like f the Olympics, Like I'll like, you know, like
skateboarding is not an Olympic sport. And there was a
lot of people who were stoked on it for that reason,
like kind of more not opportunistic, but more like thinking
about it from like a business standpoint. So all of
(22:23):
these discourses were super interesting to hear. And basically, in
my thesis, what I did is I I regrouped them
into three different discourses depending on how like basically depending
on their identity as a skateboarding as a manager and
their relationship between the two. So we're not in them
(22:44):
for the money. Was a discourse from the nostalgic group.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Yeah, and then you had pragmatics and promoters. So could
you explain kind of these three buckets and and like, yeah,
which which one are you.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
That I'm not allowed to say because I'm no. But
so nostalgics would be your typical like I'll say skate
shop owner for example, just for the image. But you
know that's that for for who their identity is as
a skateboarders were more important than a manager and a
(23:18):
person from the like, they don't see themselves as part
of the industry. They just like they do what they
do because they love it. So that's kind of that
that discourse, and that drives a whole different group of strategies,
you know, like they're not going to go after certain
deals and stuff like that, so we like it's yeah,
it's way more complicated than that, but I'll go with that.
(23:41):
Pragmatics was kind of the people who were i'll say
more opportunistics. Opportunistic, but not in it. It's not necessarily
a bad thing. Just like they were like, yeah, the
Olympics is going to be so awesome, Like I'll make money.
I don't like I'm it's my job, you know, so
I'll yeah, I'll grow the business. I'll like kind of
that that business discourse was taking over the the skater
(24:03):
core skater discourse. And then for promoters, they kind of
made a virtuous cycle. And the brand I use for that,
let's say, for example, would be Vans that kind of
uses like they make money. Obviously they'll do like Simpson
collabse and stuff like that, but they always bring some
money back to skateboarding because they know that's the core
of their business, and then they bring it back and
(24:26):
do more. So there's not necessarily a better one, but
that's the I would say the one that I relate
to the most. But just in general, like the visibility
that the Olympics gives two women's skateboarders brings so much
attraction to like a lot of young girls are going
to see themselves in Haisa and any other person skating
(24:49):
in the Olympics, which forces I'll say, like, but development,
which attracts more like role models, which brings visibility, and
that's end of the whole cycle. So it's super. It's
super for me. The more I see it that way,
I can't say that it's a bad thing anymore. I Mean,
(25:10):
there's a lot of bad things about the Olympics and
the movements and like there, but I think overall it
was very positive to decenter skateboarding from just like California,
which I love California, but like there's skateboarding all across
like in every single country and the world almost, you know,
So it's cool that it's forcing development, not just in
(25:32):
the US. But also like in every country and even
more for women.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I think also women's sports are exploding right now, like
we're watching the business of this, like Deloitte just projected
over a billion dollars in revenue last year and Nilsen's
tracking record levels of viewership era an all time high.
So like something real is really happening here, Like from
your perspective, where does skateboarding sit inside this bigger like
women's sports boom.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I don't even know if the Olympics wasn't happening, if
anything would be happening in skateboarding, to be honest, like
it kind of forced that development in a way, no
matter the other sports. But I think in in that
whole and that whole movement of people, like I love
the everyone watches women's sports because it kind of breaks
(26:24):
that honestly, that that even that inner voice, I'll say
it like that because even like me growing up a
lot of the times, like I was like, oh, yeah,
it's normal that there's only four women in street again
nine men, because there's a lot more men, you know.
But at some point it has to it has to
even out in a way, and for for a very
(26:46):
long time that didn't even feel like an option at all.
But I think it's really cool that now it's changing
and now it's becoming like if a if a young
girl wants to play hockey, her dream is worth as
such as her little brother, Like they can both become
professional hockey players. And there's no structuring again, like structuring
(27:07):
reason why it wouldn't happen. Then there's a lot of
psychosocial reasons and maybe other types of reasons, but like,
at least if the structure is there, you don't need
to be out there creating your own path all the
time I started skating, and you would both have way
more like the right numbers but right years and stuff
(27:33):
more than me. But like I started skating in two
thousand and two thousand and one, and the first time
that a woman was on the cover of Threasure was like,
I don't know, fifteen years later, So like fifteen years
is so long. Like now with social media, we see
so much stuff every day and every week, and like
it goes so fast, but like at the time and
(27:53):
it's way like it was way before two thousand and one,
the one before like Jamie Rayes, I think, or yeah,
you know, the gap was so big, like it's wild.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
It was Carabec Burnside nineteen nine, Jamie Rayes nineteen ninety six,
and then a twenty three year gap until we saw
The Next Woman Grace the cover of Thrasher.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
So Lizzie Armanto, Yes, so like I'm growing up, I've
never seen like like Dan virtuous, like I never had
the opportunity to see or not a lot of visibility,
so a lot less attraction, no development. And so you
become a twenty six year old and then it's announced
at skateboarding, well it's going to be in the Olympics,
(28:40):
and you're like, I don't even know how to squad,
but let's try. I've never learned what a lunge is,
but let's do this.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
You know.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Yeah, I want to I want to hear a little
bit about that. Annie. You became an Olympia.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
You're the first Canadian skateboarder to make it to the Olympics.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Can you talk about your Olympic experience? Yeah, sure, it's
a big story, but basically, yeah, it was another skateboarding.
We would go to the Olympics around I don't know,
twenty seventeen. I think it is doing my masters and
stuff and Also, there was no national federation in Canada,
so we had to create Canada Skateboard. Some part of
(29:17):
the founding members of Canada Skateboard created all of that,
and we had the first national championship in twenty eighteen,
and I was like, I'll try. I'll you know, like
I had never I skated eight games once, maybe I
can compete. So I went and I won. It was
really hard even just to i'll say, pretend to know
(29:41):
what we're doing, because we had no idea. Like I
was like, okay, I need to plan a run, Like
I know what a run is, I've done competitions, but
like how do you train? It was funny. It was
just like trying to figure out what it means. And
so yeah, I won the first national championship, went to
my first street league and got eighteenth. So I was like, okay,
(30:02):
we have to we had to be in the top
twenty for like the Olympics. I was like, eighteenth is good.
Like I'll I'll put all my eggs in the same
basket for four years and I'll try to stay in
the top twenty for four years. So yeah, I did that,
became the athlete representative for Canada. Skateboard. So I was
on the board of directors. We're still like trying to
(30:22):
structure this. We had a guy from Canada snowboard be
the like our coach basically for the national team, like
trying to build all of this. And then yeah, stayed
in the top twenty for four years. COVID hit it
was let's not talk about COVID, or let's talk about
it if you want, but I'll just jump over COVID.
(30:44):
And then came back to the last competition before the Olympics,
which was I think in Iowan, No, No, yeah, Iowa,
and then Rome. So Rome was the last one and
I got bumped out of the top Like I skated good,
but I got bumped out of the top twenty that
last competition before the Olympics. So I wasn't gonna like
(31:06):
become an Olympian. I in my mind, I was like,
maybe I waste just like wasted four years of my life.
Like I was so sad. I did a very like
I was in Rome and I was like I'll just
push my plane ticket for like five days and I
went to like Chinkwity and cried for for like three days,
and then I went back home but the thing is,
(31:27):
I was like, because it's the first time skateboarding was
in the Olympics, that was a big marketing push from
Team Canada, from like a lot of sponsors and stuff.
So I was like there was like cardboard cutouts of
me and like you know, like the grocery stores and
stuff they photo shopped me out of like like bus
stops like you know, like the I was like, this
(31:50):
is I can't do this. It was kind of sad,
but yeah, So I wasn't gonna go to the Olympics.
And also every time I was going to a skate park,
like people were like, oh, I can't wait to see
you skate in the Olympics, and I was like, I'm
not going, you know. So that whole month and a
half was really hard. And then forties before the Olympics,
(32:13):
my Adam So the coach, called me and he was like,
someone got COVID and that was Candy Jacobs. And I
didn't know at the time, but I was like, okay, yeah,
I had to go get tested, I do all the things.
And then I learned that it was Candy and I
was like that's wild, Like to me, that's like Candy's
(32:34):
one of my favorite skaters, favorite humans, and so it
was really like it was really hard to feel like
I was taking her place because if I'm being completely honest,
I think she deserved it more than me. But also
I mean it was my well, actually I was an
alternate for the Olympics. I was going to Tokyo, but
(32:55):
technically I was just saying in my hotel room and
I wasn't gonna skate. But when I was on my
flight boy Pei hour from from from South Africa and
got hurt, so it was like basically I was going
I was going to skate the Olympics, but I only
had like twenty four hours. So I had one forty
(33:17):
five minute practice before the Olympics to like try to
figure out a run in five past tricks.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
But listen, coming from a women's skateboarding background, that's more
time than you've ever had.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Before in your life to practice before copy.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Hey it was televised, no, so yeah, So I had
a practice and yeah, skated the Olympics the next day,
and then you had to fly back. Like so Tokyo's
far from like from Montreal, it's like twenty hour flight.
So I went there like the next day skated. I
didn't sleep skated the Olympics and then went back. Honestly,
(33:52):
I went back home and I saw it on like
I saw the Olympics on TV, and I was like,
did did I go? Which I just felt like I
felt like it didn't happen. So it was so fast,
But yeah, it was. It was cool.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
It was such like a I mean, we have to
remind the listeners like it was COVID. It was an
Olympics with no audience. Their skateboarding is like it's vital.
You can hear the energy of the audience and everything
I want to hear more about.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
Like because you had.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
That experience at Tokyo and I and you witnessed Paris,
like some of the differences that you saw finally seeing
like a packed audience of thirty thousand people roaring for skateboarding.
And my favorite part, my memory sitting in those bleachers
in Paris was like so many people didn't really understand
any of the nuances of how skateboarding work, but they
totally got it. And so I was like, oh, this works,
(34:44):
so for you, can you tell us a bit about
the differences of those two.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Well, not skating in it was way as stressful. Actually, no,
that's not true. Watching Faith was so stressful, like watching someone. Well,
I cared for all like almost everyone that I saw
I knew like personally, so you end up caring for
all of them, so you want everyone to skate good.
But Faye watching Faye Ebert skate the park event was
(35:14):
so stressful. But yeah, the main difference, like you said,
was the crowd. No crowd in Tokyo. We were like,
I remember Riah, I was like, who are you waiting at?
So it was really funny to not have a crowd.
But also you kind of knew that every single person
(35:34):
that you've ever met in your life is watching you
in those like thousands of cameras. So no crowd was
not fun. But honestly, I didn't even have I didn't
even notice it. But Paris. I remember getting to Paris
and seeing the whole like not just the competition, but
the event and everything around it. Like you get at
(35:56):
the airport, it's like branded, there's thousands of volunteers, there's crowds,
and I was like, oh, that's the real Olympic experience,
you know, because the other one felt so isolated. So yeah,
it was definitely very different, and honestly, Ellie is going
to be wild. For like, ELI is the mecca of skateboarding,
(36:17):
so it's going to be so intense to just to
live that that scale of an event, but also in LA. Yeah,
I'm excited for ELI twenty eight. Stick around.
Speaker 4 (36:33):
We'll be back faster than Anna Gaglia's experience in the
Tokyo Olympics.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
After this ad break.
Speaker 6 (36:48):
Last Thursday March twenty sixthy International Olympic Committee announced its new.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
Policy on the protection of the female category and Olympic sport.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
This is the quote from the IOC.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
Eligibility will be based on biological sex determined by a
one time screening the presence slash absence of the s
r Y gene. The IOC indicates testing could use saliva,
cheek swap or blood sample, with the rare exceptions such
as a complete androgen insensitivity syndrome c ai S. So
now any all female athletes are going to have to
(37:17):
take a genetic test to see if they can compete
in the Olympics.
Speaker 5 (37:20):
What are your thoughts on that? As an Olympian and
also as.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
The president of a NASH of the Canadian National Federation.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
So my face, my face, the whole time. Yeah, no,
it's it's honestly, it's terrible, Like it's the policing of
women bodies, which I like society. Maybe I thought that
we kind of went like over this, but no, apparently
we're going back. So yeah, no, it's it's terrible. It's
(37:52):
I've seen a lot of posts and I just like also,
even as an Olympian, I just feel like I'm just
like putting down thumbs down on all of the posts,
and then I get so many people like commenting bad
comments under everything, and I just don't even reply. But
it's just important for me to show that there's a
lot of Olympians that are that do not agree with this.
(38:13):
It's not a way to protect women's sports. There's no
good reason. There was I think one trans women participating
in the Olympics, and that's not even a good excuse
because even if she won, like that would be awesome,
but like she didn't win, Like it's not there's no
trans women dominating women's sports because also that starts with
the premise that that women are not that it's just
(38:40):
like let's tell I'll go back, but like not all
men are better than all women. There's way more difference
between like women between them than between men and women.
And so there's so many there's no true evidence to
back the claim that we would need screening, first of all,
(39:01):
but also there's like ethically no good reason to have
to test women, Like they're not going to test men,
so honestly they should if they do that, they should
test men for their vibility, like knowing if they're like
real men.
Speaker 4 (39:18):
What is this?
Speaker 3 (39:18):
You know, like that it doesn't make sense when you
turn it around, it sounds funny. So it's the same
for us. You know, trans women are women. I'll just
say it so that it's on the record, but like, yeah,
thank you. Any trans women are women.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
How does something like this with the IOC and the
trans policy, Like, how does it land inside skateboarding culture?
Speaker 3 (39:39):
Because skateboarding culture.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Has always been like quote unquote really inclusive, and we
have been making strides make better efforts towards a bigger
community of trans, non binary, we weird people.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
We have not the whole scale. I like to talk
about the skateboarding communities because not all of skateboarding and
all the skate communities would do that. Unfortunately, at the
Canada Skateboard we had a lot of backlash for including
trans women in our Like basically we said our gender
(40:15):
inclusion policy says that for as long as we have control,
we like people can like register to the gender that
they best associate with. I don't know the wording in English, sorry,
but just like basically including all genders in our contest.
We're not going to start screening women, like you know
(40:36):
what I mean, Like, that's that's nonsense. So the people placed, like,
first of all, it's the olympickings. It's like we're playing
like it's not you know. So same for skateboarding, like
the if you start excluding people, what are these people
going to do? Like the purpose of sport and the
(40:58):
purpose of skateboarding it's like it's a community. It's like
to have fun, play, do all these So yeah, anyways,
there's no positive to exclusion.
Speaker 4 (41:11):
Well, I think that this is another way in which
I've been thinking about this a lot, annie about how
we give up a lot of our autonomy as people
for safety or inclusion.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Right.
Speaker 4 (41:26):
I even think about this in terms of you know,
the COVID policies from before, and you know, we're in
the idea of keeping people safe or keeping women's sports safe.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Can you speak.
Speaker 4 (41:35):
Anything to that about, like, you know, is any of
this keeping women safer?
Speaker 3 (41:41):
Well, I would say for skateboarding, definitely not. There might
be some sports in which maybe I don't know all
the specifics for all the sports, like if you're I
don't know boxing, maybe, but again I don't even know,
so maybe not. You know, so that's I'm not an
excerpt before skateboarding definitely not. There's no like there are
(42:05):
you said it at the beginning of the show. There's
like fourteen year olds that are better than me. I
could beat them. I could beat them up. Not on
a skateboard. You know, it's not it's not the same thing,
and there's no there's no evidence. It's not physiological at all. Skateboarder,
(42:26):
not necessarily at all. Like there might be some differences.
I think it's sport and I'll be very binary, but
like between men and women, it's like I don't know
four percent some like if for some sports it's like
four percent to maybe ten percent. But for skateboarding, I mean,
I see kids this big that can kick backlip arrel
(42:47):
that I can't like.
Speaker 5 (42:49):
Who's that little boy in Montreal's like twelve years old?
Speaker 4 (42:52):
And he's like so good, h gian Briunel. Yeah, he's
probably the best young skateboard I've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
He's good. Yeah, he's the size of your pinky.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:06):
But that's the thing. So it's so you're going, you're
gonna tell me that the difference between like the physiological
difference between like a young kid that's there's like nine
years old kid on Instagram that can big flip front
blood like top rails. I guarantee you it has nothing physiological.
(43:27):
The reason I can't big flip front board is not physiological,
you know, it's because I'm too old to learn it now.
And if I was nine years old and I had
seen a lot of people do that, maybe by today
I would be able to do it, you know. But yeah,
So the basically my whole point is the physics of
(43:51):
skateboarding is a very small percentage of why you're good
at skateboarding, you know, And it's not because you're trends
or not that it's going to make a difference.
Speaker 4 (44:01):
Yeah, And do you think do you see this like
this now? You know, genetic testing was done thirty years
ago in the Olympics. Now they're bringing it back now
Now I can't help but think that this is you know,
American politics and policy trying to push down like a
big movement in women's sports, which is something that you're
very heavily embedded in beyond skateboarding. You did say that
(44:22):
sport is play right, it's like separate from things. But
I see this push as the return to genetic testing
for women as a political ploy from the United States,
the host country from the twenty eight Olympics, right to
anti trans as part of anti trans legislation and agenda.
And I wonder for you know, somebody like you that's
(44:42):
embedded in women's sports so much too, do you feel
like they are attacking the momentum of women's sports overall?
Speaker 3 (44:49):
Yeah, I think so. And there's there's not a lot
of there are like some women who will say it's
protecting women's sports, but that's transphobia. It doesn't have to
do when and with the the like they've probably never
competed against a trans woman, you know, like they have
no idea what they're just it's just the idea scares
(45:11):
them and they don't know any trans people, so they
just they did they're afraid. It is mostly ignorance it's
like racism, Like if you're ignorant, you have no diversity
in your friend group, that well you maybe you're you're xenophobic.
Is that the work Anyways, Most people who have competed
with trans folks or I don't see it as a threat.
(45:34):
It's not a threat to women's sport. Actually, it's it's
just making sure that everybody can can participate. I think
that's the most important. Yeah, there's already, especially for women
in sports, there's already so many barriers and like problems,
(45:55):
and trans women are not one of those problems. So
it's just easier to attack trans women then like attack
the lack of funding, are the lack of visibility in
the media, or you know, all of these things that
are actually make a difference. Solid point there.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
Yeah, and you said earlier this is a little bit
winding back to an earlier part of our conversation, but
when we were just talking about a nine year old
whose physiological ability can do incredibly crazy tricks already, and
we're seeing this like new young era of skateboarders hit
the podium. Like the outside media that talks about skateboarding,
(46:31):
not the core industry media. They love to just highlight
the age range of the young girls who get the
medals and how like she's eleven years old and has
a metal which is crazy because we've never seen it
in other sport categories. But like, can you get the
listeners up to speed of like how the just literally
the announcement of this in twenty sixteen did help grow
(46:52):
the skateboard industry for women. Like a lot of what
you were saying when you did your research was that
a lot of pessimistic it's not going to grow skateboarding.
I still hear that all the time, Like the Olympics
did nothing for skateboarding.
Speaker 3 (47:03):
I'm like, it did so much, But that's what I meant.
Also at the beginning, it didn't necessarily change the core
like that still exists. If you're like in the core,
Like if you're a I'll say, like a dude in California,
you've been skate Like, no, it didn't change anything for you.
But if you're like in France or in like if
(47:23):
you're a girl in Kenya, I guarantee it changed something,
you know, And so it's it just it's a question
of perspective also, and the age for women at least
and for actually for men, it's the same too, but
there's been men for so long in skateboarding and and
(47:44):
and I think it's just harder for young kids to
take their place. But in the women's side, there was
so much space to take that all the little kids
who were getting all that visibility, those opportunities, the development
coaches and all of that. They're taking the space that
would have been there if there was enough people to
(48:05):
take it. But for so long that it was like
for Alex and you and like we had to really
want to skate to skate, you know, like our parents
were I don't know for you, but my parents, like
they dropped me at the like they came to see me.
And when I learned to drop in at the skate
and I love my parents like they've and then they
came to see me at X games like they were like, wow,
(48:27):
you're grown, you know, like our parents, Like my parents
saw it like I was playing something, you know, Like
it wasn't like, oh, you're training for the Olympics, you know,
like kids now they're like whole family are behind it.
Like when I went to my high school reunion after
ten years before, like you still skate, Like why like
did you graduate, you know, so like it's it's so
(48:51):
different now in skateboarding, and I think especially for for yeah,
for women and girls, it just took that long to
have that same like that's yeah, the same opportunities and
the same visibility and the same perception of worth from everybody.
(49:13):
So yeah, so that's I think the main difference. And
to do a parallel with like other or like professional sports.
When the Professional Women's Hockey League started in Canada and
the US, the WHL, I went to the first game
in Montreal and I like cried, like I couldn't stop crying,
and I was like, oh am, I cry, like it's
(49:35):
so beautiful. But then I was thinking about it and
I was like, I think it's kind of the younger
version of myself just seeing all these people cheer and
like giving importance to women practicing their sport in an arena.
I was like, that's beautiful because I like, for all
(49:57):
my life people were like almost like like you're here
because you're like we needed a girl on the team
or you're like the best girl I've ever seen, so
here you go. You know, like here's a like an opportunity.
And I was lucky I had a lot of opportunities,
but it was always like like we don't have anybody else,
so here you go, you know, like you're so so
(50:20):
it's it's really cool to see that. It's it's it's evolving.
But to me, the most important thing is that young
girls now feel like they're worth it, you know, like
they that that people care. I think that's more like it,
you know, not just them, like because I cared. I
was like, I want to skate, I want to do
all these things, and some people cared. But just like
(50:41):
the fact that now it's a people's like society cares,
I think makes it makes it really cool and that
to me is the biggest barrier.
Speaker 2 (50:53):
How cool is it that women's sports are like trending
in there? The cool factor right now, Like you said,
that game was probably like thirty six thousand people in
the audience. I know some of the like top WNBA
games have been like eighteen to twenty thousand, packed stadiums
and attendants, like they don't have to have the flag
(51:14):
over the top bleachers, like it's packed to the brim.
The storylines are finally getting more play, so you're actually
getting to like understand who these athletes are, but like
my favorite part is like all of the like relationships
behind the scenes in these sports and what's going on
that you actually get to like build a fanfare with
(51:35):
those athletes.
Speaker 3 (51:36):
Plus the drama is like so good.
Speaker 2 (51:38):
So if you're if you haven't been tuning in, I
highly recommend it because if you like reality TV, it's
like incredible sports and then there's like these backstories and
lore that are happening that are like way beyond what's
going on in men's sports. You know, we're talking like
ex wives playing against each other on the court with
their new fiance. Like it's nuts in the w NBA
(52:01):
and across women's sports in general. So I'm just saying
it's a great time to be alive and watch women's sports.
Speaker 3 (52:07):
Yeah. I lost you there, Alex. I watched you go
what are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (52:14):
Clearly, and I looked up and we're talking about X
wives and I'm like, what's going on?
Speaker 3 (52:20):
No, I did hear you?
Speaker 2 (52:21):
Yes, Anyways, it's it's a thrown to any I feel
like we're gonna have to have you as a reoccurring
guest because you have so many points of expertise in
the areas that we really are excited to talk about
and we do have to somewhat wrap up our show here,
but it's been such an absolute pleasure having you on
and just like to see how much you are creating
(52:41):
a new how much space you're creating for the future
of skateboarding is amazing.
Speaker 3 (52:49):
I won't have any flowers too, well, yeah, Alex, want
to you wrap us out? Actually no, no.
Speaker 2 (52:54):
I just want to.
Speaker 3 (52:55):
I didn't to say it like no.
Speaker 4 (52:56):
I really appreciate Annie's perspective on these things too, because
from classically always feeling like an outsider looking at Annie,
even from the women's scene, because you were so separated
for so long that you bring a really fresh perspective.
And it's just so fun to root for you in
everything that you do in life. You're so fun to
be around. You're such an interesting person, You're such a
(53:17):
good skater, such a thoughtful person. You care so deeply
about this just the way that we do out here
in California, and I love that you are leading in
a new era with all of us to make room
for the next generation of skateboarders.
Speaker 3 (53:32):
So thank you again, Annie. Thanks. I mean I to
go full circle, but I was so grateful for the
people who opened the opportunities for me. So I think,
realizing this a little bit older, I think it's really
important for me to be able to like people like
the skirtboarders, but also Lisa from now and like so
many and you, and like so many people in my
(53:52):
life that helped me along the way. So it's really
important for me to give back and just create space
where I can.
Speaker 2 (54:01):
I can't think of a better spokesperson talking on behalf
of skateboarding to others, So thank you for the work there.
Our show is called good luck with That because often
when you tell someone you're gonna be a pro skateboarder
or do any kind of dreaming, you're gonna need some yeah,
good luck with that, kid, So I want to know
what kind of luck do you need right now?
Speaker 3 (54:21):
I'm actually like slowing down now. That's why it made
me laugh at the beginning when you listed everything I did.
I'm like, it's true, like I did a lot of things,
but I'm in in my camameal tea era where I'm
like really learning to take care of myself and slow down.
(54:42):
And I think I need luck with that too, because
it's it's hard to, yeah, to just slow down when
you're Like you said, I've been trained to be an overachiever,
summer recovering over achiever. Now I love that.
Speaker 2 (54:59):
Well, any Googlia, thank you so much for being a
guest on Good Luck with That. Where can listeners find
you so they can tune into your channel?
Speaker 3 (55:07):
Yeah, I'm most active on Instagram, so I'll see Yeah, Instagram,
that's your Instagram handle. Oh it's my name, so it's
Annie Googia. But the A is the at like Annie Googlia.
I don't know how to say this to Aty Googlia.
Give Annie a follow.
Speaker 2 (55:28):
She's always posting cool stuff from the sidelines of women's
sports and skateboarding, so really exciting to see the journey happen. Listeners,
you can find us on our Instagram at good Luck pod.
Speaker 3 (55:40):
You know listeners out.
Speaker 2 (55:41):
There post hard, Post that hard skate content to the gram.
Stop saving it for no reason. Don't be so precious,
Alex always tells me, don't be so precious, like like
my one favorite T shirt, just wear it.
Speaker 3 (55:55):
So post the skate clips. We want to see them.
Speaker 2 (55:58):
We'll be here next week.
Speaker 3 (56:01):
Tune back in Booming.
Speaker 1 (56:10):
Good Luck with That is an iHeart women's sports production
and partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 4 (56:16):
We are your hosts Ashey Rayfeld, Nora Bascnzlos, Alex.
Speaker 3 (56:19):
White, and Mimi nu.
Speaker 4 (56:21):
Our executive producer is Jesse Katz, supervising producer Tari Harrison,
video producer Daniel Goodman, and video production by School of Humans.
Speaker 3 (56:30):
This podcast was created by Ashey Rayfeld.
Speaker 4 (56:33):
Listen to good Luck with That, a skateboarding podcast, on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple
Speaker 5 (56:37):
Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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