ASA
The Action Sports Alliance, (“the Alliance”) was formed in 2005, to bring together and give voice to professional women skateboarders. In 2008, the Alliance caused a watershed moment heard around the world by securing prize purse equality for men & women at all X Games events (all sports, both summer & winter). Global members from the Alliance’s original committees continue to work as advocates and community leaders today through WSA. Many have also stepped into leadership roles at respected brands and organizations worldwide, further raising the bar for women, girls, and non-traditional individuals in skateboarding.
History of the Alliance & WSA
2005
– Action Sports Alliance “the Alliance” founded by Drew Mearns,
Cara-Beth Burnside, and Mimi Knoop
– X Games Boycott by top professional female skateboarders to create one voice at X Games
2006
– NY Times article released front page of the sports section
– Long awaited meeting with the Vice President of ESPN at the top of the Staples Center w/ CB Burnside, Mimi Knoop, and Drew Mearns
– Prize purse parity deal struck the night before the X Games Women’s Vert competition
2007 – 2008
– Increased prize purses, media coverage, and women begin organizing their own skateboarding events at X Games
Oct 2009
– Equal Prize purse announcement made for all summer and winter X Games (Aspen Times, Denver)
2013
– Women’s Park discipline introduced to X Games line-up of events, Real Women video series drops.
2015
– “Womens Skateboarding Alliance” (WSA) a global managing and consulting agency is founded by Mimi Knoop to fill the need for services around women’s skateboarding trends in events, film, TV, and commercial spaces.
2015 – 2017
– In conjunction w/ the Alliance, WSA creates and executes the first ever Women’s division at Street League Skateboarding
2018
– In conjunction w/ the Alliance, WSA helps reinstate womens’s skateboarding events at the Dew Tour in Long Beach with equal purses, and live television coverage.
– “The Skate Exchange” is created and executed by WSA; an event bringing together top women skateboarders from around the world to Tokyo with the foresight & intention of creating community & public interest prior to skateboarding’s debut in the Olympic Games. The Skate Exchange is history’s first ever for-women-by-women skate excursion unrelated to contests, & was the biggest women’s skateboarding event ever held in Asia to date.
2019 – Present
– WSA goes global and hosts events in Norway, China, Brazil, Australia, and Japan.
– WSA works with clients curating content & novel opportunities for skateboarders by consulting with global brands including Old Navy, Sony, Cadillac, Visa, Nike, Adidas, HBO, ESPN, NBC, Glamour, Conde Nast, and Walt Disney World among others to create authentic connections from the athletes to the big screen.
