A few times a year, Trim Collective has “board meetings” to get to know each other and learn from each other
A surfing club in the Halifax area is helping to build a community of women surfers by giving them chances to improve their skills and share what they know.
The Trim Collective: A club for women who ride longboards was set up last summer. It has “board meetings” and “progress sessions” a few times a year at Martinique Beach, 50 kilometers east of Halifax, on the Eastern Shore.
Sarah Zollinger, one of the group’s founders, told CBC Radio, “We all get together, bring our surfboards to the beach, and just hang out.”Good Morning, Nova Scotia!.
“It’s nice to talk to other women about gear or equipment, or just to talk to other women without worrying about mansplaining, if I may.”
Collette Robertson and Zollinger started the collective. They were inspired to do so after a few sessions for women only were held at Lawrencetown Beach, just outside of Halifax.
During those times, someone would record video of the surfers so that they could watch it later and learn from it.
“For Sarah and me, that was the main light bulb. That was the first time either of us had seen ourselves on video surfing. It was also the first time either of us had surfed with so many women at the same time, which is very, very rare “Robertson said toInformation Morning.
After another surfing event for girls, she said they realized that women wanted events where they could meet and get to know each other.
Zollinger said that since she started surfing in the early 2000s, there have been a lot more women in the water.
“I was almost always the only woman in the water, and now there are many days when there are more women than men,” she said.
Zollinger said that between 15 and 25 women show up to their events. On the summer and winter solstices, members will get in the water together and record themselves surfing.
The group will get together again the following month to look at the tapes, talk about techniques, and give each other feedback.
“Surfing is a hard sport to get better at. There are a lot of blind shots and hoping you’re doing the right thing, so we just wanted to do something nice for the community “Zollinger said.
She said that not many people get to see themselves surfing on video and learn from that. That was what the group wanted to do.
Robertson said that the first time she saw herself surfing, it was very embarrassing, but it gave her a place to start getting better.
Since the surfing group only gets together twice a year, each person can see how much they’ve changed in six months.
She said, “We had some women who came to these events all the time, and it was great to see how much they’d grown over the sessions.”
The name “Trim Collective” comes from a simple move called “trimming” that you can do on a longboard.
Robertson said, “You just stand in the sweet spot on the board and glide. When you see someone do it, it’s so beautiful but so easy.”
“I guess this focuses on the beautiful simplicity and elegance of longboarding, which is kind of what longboarding is all about.”
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