‘Breaking your face’ would probably deter anyone from a sport they love, but not Jess Lord. Jess did exactly that – nose and cheekbone broken after going face first into a ledge. Now a second-year physio student, she's basically doing her own post-injury rehab in the form of a degree.
Jess started skating in Auckland about seven years ago, after signing up for a girls skate class. “There were maybe five of us,” she told Critic Te Ārohi. Now there's heaps more. With skateboarding being added to the Olympic roster in 2020, Jess feels like it has become more mainstream. And that's not a bad thing. “There's just so many more girls skating now,” she says. “It's actually fun.” Skate culture, once a gatekept land of twelve-year-olds doing ollies and Tony Hawke wannabe teen boys sculling energy drinks, is now a lot more open to people who don't look like the cast of Zeke and Luther.
Jess has carved out a name for herself in the world of skateboarding. While she was still in high school, Jess won the girls street senior title at the 2023 NZ Secondary School Street Championships.That same year, she also placed second in the Women's street open category of the Skateboard Nationals.
While Jess mostly skates in Auckland over uni breaks (where the spots are less “crusty”), she's got a soft spot for skating down at the wharf. Dunedin, she says, doesn't really have a distinct “style” – unless you count “gnarly and crusty” as a style. There’s a certain knack to zig-zagging around or ollie-ing over broken glass, and probably broken bones.
When she's not skating, Jess is busy chipping away at second year physio, having recently completed her first placement at the hospital, a pretty dramatic change of pace from hurling yourself at concrete ledges all in the name of fun. But for Jess, the two worlds make sense together; skating helps her to switch off, get out of her head and be completely present. From Anki flashcards and massaging her classmates to ripping kick flips left, right and centre, what a life.
Jess’s advice for anyone picking up a board for the first time? Keep going. “Just keep trying,” she says, “If you're enjoying yourself, that's all that really matters.” Also, wear some protection. Trust us. Jess’s cheekbone would agree.