Cassidy Andersen: Not Afraid to Slam

If you skate at the Orem Skate Park, you’ve probably seen Cassidy Andersen pushing around. Andersen’s love of skateboarding began at eight years old when a cousin sparked her interest in the sport and inspired her to buy her first board. She quickly fell in love with the freedom that skateboarding brings. When Andersen wasn’t outside on a board, she was inside watching St. George skate shop Lip Trix videos and the X Games. Skateboarding also led Andersen to her husband. “We didn’t go on a normal first date—we went to the skatepark,” she says. Now a mom of two girls aptly named Ollie and Banks, she’s a sponsored ripper who enjoys skating for the challenge, the community and the pure love of pushing.

Andersen admits that, for many, skateboarding isn’t an easy sport to jump into. It requires resilience and a bit of bounce in both body and attitude. Anyone who has spent time around a skatepark has seen a fair share of scrapes and cracks of skin, bones, boards and egos alike. For young girls like Andersen who grew up in the ’90s and early ’00s, skateparks could be intimidating for another reason: Most boarders at the park were male.

Andersen never let her sense of being different keep her from the skatepark, even though at first that meant hitting the park with a group of boys she knew. “The first time I saw another girl at the skatepark, I was excited,” Andersen says. It made her feel empowered and let her know, “I can be here too.” She says, “10 years ago, I would’ve never gone skating alone, but now I feel very confident. Some of it comes from confidence in myself but also a more accepting community.” Consistent practice, whether at the skatepark or her own living room, has also allowed Andersen the opportunity to grow her skating prowess, leading her to landing tricks such as a proper boardslide down a handrail, hitting a backside flip and, one of her favorite tricks, a backside crooked grind.

“10 years ago, I would’ve never gone skating alone, but now I feel very confident. Some of it comes from confidence in myself but also a more accepting community.”

Andersen notes that over the last few years she has seen a positive surge in community reactions defending her against the haters and those with a misogynistic outlook on skating. “You have to have thick skin in this, and if you can laugh it off, even better,” she says. Even when met with negativity, Andersen doesn’t let it turn her away from the sport she loves. If anything, the comments fuel her fire to keep pushing herself and become an example for everyone who has the opportunity to meet her or see her skate.

Skateboarding is hard and requires perseverance, which is one of Andersen’s favorite parts of being a skateboarder. A trick might take 10 tries to land or it might take 40, but Andersen’s love for the sport allows her to persevere even after a bad fall. This is something she showcases on her social media pages. She posts her bails and falls and does it with a smile, enjoying the roller coaster of emotions and the buildup until eventual success—all the hard work put into one trick makes the land feel unlike anything else.

“You have to have thick skin in this, and if you can laugh it off, even better.”

Andersen’s positive attitude has helped her stay in the sport despite occasionally negative comments, and her presence in the skate community in Utah is well known. With a large social media following on Instagram and TikTok due to her skate clips, Andersen’s skills have also helped her get sponsored by Board of Provo skate shop and Flik Griptape.

When she isn’t skating, Andersen loves mountain biking, playing soccer and (hopefully she won’t get hate for this) playing pickleball. You can check out her skateboarding progress @cassskates on Instagram. She’s an awesome person who loves skateboarding, and if you have the chance to meet her in person or via social media, give her a hearty hello and push with her.

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