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Late Bloomers Skate Club Proves It’s Never Too L8 to Sk8

Late Bloomers Skate Club is a space where all ages, genders and bodies can get on board.

By Kerri Donaldson /

If you’re like us, you’ve wanted to get into skateboarding for decades. But much like making the “30 Under 30” list or qualifying for the Olympics, it’s starting to feel like it’ll always just be a half-pipe dream.

“Trying something new as an adult is hard,” confirms Alicia Pelegrin-Tudor. But as director of Late Bloomers Skate Club (LBSC), she’s advocating for a skate culture where it’s never too late to carve it up; the community group welcomes any wannabe skaters or former thrashers to drop into one of their weekly meetups and get on a board. “Having a space like this is rare and important,” she says. “It gives people a chance to be themselves and try something new.”

Kate MacMillan originally founded the club after a 2018 trip with a skateboarding friend who encouraged them to bring a board and try it for themselves. MacMillan continued to share that skate journey online, organizing more and more meetups. “Things really got rolling when I went to a Vans Get on Board event hosted by Michelle from Antisocial,” says MacMillan. “We saw that more people were learning later in life.” Contributions from friends and groups like Vancouver Queer Skate, Chickflip and Skate Goats helped LBSC grow. Pelegrin-Tudor started skating with LBSC in summer 2021 and quickly became a volunteer as the original founders stepped back. “Late Bloomers was important for me and many others, so I wanted to keep it running,” she says.

Now, Pelegrin-Tudor leads a dedicated team and is taking LBSC into a new chapter. “We call ourselves a ‘club’ but we are far from exclusive,” she says. Most sessions have no sign-up, fees or requirements, except when space is limited. The group is a dynamic mix of regulars and newcomers, all united by a love for skating. “Every person that joins becomes part of our Late Bloomers family,” says Pelegrin-Tudor. And unlike an ollie, joining is easy: find meetup times on Instagram, and then just show up.

Skateboarding culture is shifting, with more women excelling and receiving recognition. “Inclusivity within skateboarding has come a long way,” says Pelegrin-Tudor. There’s a prominent queer skateboarding collective, There, in California, that includes trans skaters like Marbie and Cher Strauberry, and here in Vancouver there are groups like the previously mentioned Vancouver Queer Skate, plus Real Hot Skate Moms, Nations Skate Youth and Takeover Skateboarding, who are all paving the way for inclusivity in the sport.

Despite the ongoing challenges of finding undercover space to skate in rainy Vancouver (“It’s shocking we still have to fight for an accessible spot during wet months,” says Pelegrin-Tudor), skateboarding can make a profound impact. “It’s one of the hardest things I decided to do,” Pelegrin-Tudor admits. There are the physical challenges, of course, but there are mental ones, too. “Trusting your abilities and overcoming fear is something everyone faces, from beginners to advanced skaters,” she says. “But you don’t have to be good at it. And you only have one life, right? So why not?”

Find skate events and more fun things to do this fall in Vancouver in our Big Arts and Culture (and Sports) Preview.