EXPOSURE competition aims to empower women
EXPOSURE, a yearly skate competition and event celebrating women in skateboarding, will take place Saturday in Encinitas, California.
EXPOSURE was established in 2012 by USC alumna and professional skateboarder Amelia Brodka two years after creating her film UNDEREXPOSED: A Women’s Skateboarding Documentary, which she earned course credit for while studying at USC. A part of a selection of film festivals — including Frequency Film Fest, Indie Film Fest and Thin Line Film Fest — and the winner of Best Documentary at USC Web Fest in 2012, Brodka’s documentary centered on the lack of exposure and support for women in the world of skateboarding, which she had experienced firsthand. After the success of the documentary, Brodka was inspired to continue supporting women in skate and created the EXPOSURE event, furthering opportunities to showcase the talent of these women and encouraging girls to get involved.
“The documentary ends in a call-to-action, which states that if you want to see something happen you have to create it yourself,” Brodka said. “A lot of the documentary focused on the lack of events, so I partnered with Lesli Cohen, and we started the EXPOSURE event and then turned it into a nonprofit two years later.”
The event is certainly bigger than ever. EXPOSURE is currently the largest women’s skateboarding event, and has the biggest prize purse of any all-female skate competition at $20,000. This year’s event will feature 100 of the world’s top female skateboarders participating in vert, bowl and street events and competitions. However, the fact that the event celebrates women does not mean men are not invited.
“Our clinics are gender-inclusive. Top male pros come to sign autographs, and a lot of our volunteers are male,” Brodka said.
Saturday’s event will include a variety of activities, including learn to skate clinics, spin art, a tech deck hunt, raffles, a yoga clinic and a large scale vendor village.
Though the event features both professional and amateur competitions and is geared toward the skateboarding community, Brodka assured that those who don’t skate are welcome to attend, participate and get involved on all levels, through donating online, spreading the word about the event or volunteering. Brodka also explained the international appeal of the event.
“EXPOSURE is an event that gets all of the top female skateboarders in the world together to share their passion,” Brodka said. “In the future, we plan to expand to multiple events around the world.”
The event is set to begin at 8 a.m and end at 5 p.m. Amateur competitions start at 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. in both 14 & Under and 15 & Over divisions, with professional vert, street and bowl competitions starting at 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively. Tickets are not required for attendance. However, those interested in competing in events and participating in either the skate or yoga clinics can register on EXPOSURE’S website at exposureskate.org. Proceeds from the event support survivors of domestic violence.