My name is Paula Brent
and I am 51 years old. I was born in Richmond, Virginia but I grew up mostly in Orange Park, Florida. I came to Lynchburg to go to Lynchburg College. I graduated with a BA in Sociology and Accounting and a M.Ed. in Counseling.
How did you find GRO?
I’ve been skating since I was ten. I was looking for a way to help females feel comfortable skating because I’ve been intimidated by being the only girl out there. I was looking on the internet for likeminded groups and found GRO’s website. I was intrigued so I called Courtney Payne-Taylor. She told me about how she created GRO for the same reasons and agreed to help me get a chapter going in Lynchburg. There are not a lot of skaters in Lynchburg and I hate that they are missing out on the thrill, confidence, and creativity of skating.
What do you hope to bring to Lynchburg through GRO?
I hope to create a group of females of all ages and abilities in Lynchburg to enjoy each other and feel comfortable skating at the parks. I’ve skated a lot by myself and didn’t like being the only girl out there.
I hope to increase the girls skating (in Lynchburg) because it develops confidence and creativity. We would also like to do projects in the community so skating doesn’t get such a bad rap. It brings a lot of good into our community.
Liberty Mountain Skate Park has vert skating, rails to grind and a pool. It’s a friendly place to learn and grow.
We’re hoping to partner work with Parks and Recreation so we can use the local, outdoor park. This park has a half pipe, ramps, rails, and steps.
Snowflex is unique because it makes snow year-round, hosts Pro competitions and welcomes beginners with its diverse terrain.
Both Snowflex and Liberty Mountain Skate Park are run by Liberty University and have been wonderful to work with.
This year, I hope to get a good group together in both snow and skate so we can develop a club and reach out to the community.
I would like to do fundraising so we can take trips to the beach for surfing and go as a group to different places to skate and snowboard.
Ultimately, I would like to see some of the girls compete and become sponsored because it’s hard for people on the East Coast to do that right now.
It would be nice to see colleges offer scholarships for skateboarding and snowboarding but mostly I just want ladies to learn the joy of skating and snowboarding.
.