Stillwater native highlighted in women’s skateboarding documentary

STILLWATER, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Minnesota native is one of a handful of professional athletes highlighted in the first feature documentary about the rise of women's skateboarding.

"SKATE DREAMS" had its world premiere in march in Austin, Texas, at SXSW 2022. But over the weekend, it got its Minnesota premiere, with screenings in Duluth and Stillwater. 

On Sunday, the Stillwater community had the opportunity to see how far Stillwater native Nicole Hause has come in her 10 years as a professional skateboarder.

"The women before me had to fight for their for their rights in skateboarding and for their equality and everything that has come along with it," Hause said.

Hause is one of four main women highlighted in SKATE DREAMS, a first-of-its-kind documentary about the rise of women's skateboarding.

"If you look at a female representation in sports media, only 5 percent of sports coverage is about women, and that feels like an absolutely ridiculous number," said Jessica Edwards, director and producer of SKATE DREAMS.

The idea for the film came to Edwards five years ago when her then 6-year-old daughter expressed an interest in the sport.

"I went on the internet to try and find some history, a documentary or something that could give her some more information about what she was doing. And I couldn't find anything," Edwards said.

So Edwards took it upon herself to change that and capture what was mostly just an oral history of women in this relatively new sport. Hause now lives in California and recently got her name on the bottom of a skateboard, the sign of an ultimate pro. But her roots are in Stillwater, which has a strong skating community.

"In the grand scheme of things, anyone can skateboard. You could come from any background or any demographic and it welcomes you," she said.

So what does Hause love most about the sport? How freeing it is.

"I also love like how fast you can go, how high you can go. Just the feeling you get when you finally land a trick after four hours of battling it, or even multiple days of going back to the same spot or whatever it takes. I feel like there's a lot of reward in it, and it teaches you a lot of perseverance. So I've always loved that. And yeah, just I love flying in the air. It feels so good," Hause said.

Though the film focuses on skateboarding, the filmmaker hopes people who watch it will take away the power of women supporting each other in other communities. And then on an even broader scale, it's about people finding what they're passionate about.

"The story is about women. It's about men. It's about non-binary people. It's about the LGBTQ community," Edwards said.

Edwards’ daughter, now 10 years old, is still skating. She considers Hause to be one of her heroes.

The film SKATE DREAMS will be made publicly available online at the end of the year.