18-Year-Old Courtney Burnett Is Redefining the Skateboarder Stereotype

The 18-year-old Brooklyn native talks about how the pandemic and a gap year after graduating high school helped her discover her passion.

Get to know the next generation of must-know names that are changing the game in the series Introducing, where Sports Illustrated and Empower Onyx are celebrating the Black women and girls who are emerging leaders and rising stars in the sports world.

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Courtney Burnett

Instagram: @ctbskates

Name: Courtney Burnett
Age: 18
Profession: Skateboarder
Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Hobbies: Basketball, soccer, lacrosse and playing the drums

Empower Onyx: How did this union come about with you and a skateboard?

Courtney Burnett: I always wanted to do it. I saw one of [my brother Joshua’s] old skateboards and I just had to try it out. During quarantine, it was an escape. It was fun to find something to work on during a time where everything was uncertain and there’s all this stuff going on. It was my time to focus and learn.

EO: Why skateboarding?

CB: It makes me feel free. Like I’m cruising—I’m standing still, but I’m going fast. It’s a juxtaposition between the movement and observing the environment around me. Also, it makes me feel like I have a community, especially during a gap year.

EO: How has skateboarding impacted your gap year?

CB: It changed my life, essentially. I'm experiencing the things I want to experience. Time to myself has been important, I'm an extrovert, but I realized I need that recharge time.

EO: If someone is unsure about taking a gap year, what advice would you give them?

CB: Do it, but make sure you have a plan. I know people that did it because of COVID-19 but did nothing, which is not the way to spend your gap year. I’m making my own decisions and I’m like making my own schedule, that’s an important skill to know before you go to college. It'll give you a better chance of knowing what you want to do when you get there.

EO: Prior to skateboarding, were you involved in other sports?

CB: I was a soccer goalie in high school. I played basketball, point and shooting guard. Basketball is the sport I love the most. And in lacrosse, I was also a goalie.

EO: Has being an athlete helped with skateboarding?

CB: Yeah, because there’s a sense of determination that comes with being an athlete. You want to win. If I’m trying a trick and it’s not working out, I’m not discouraged by it, I’m motivated. My favorite thing is not knowing something and then learning it to the point where I don’t have to think about it anymore. It’s like, Whoa, I didn't know that before, this is so easy now.

EO: Let’s talk about being in skateboarding as a woman.

CB: In mainstream media, when you think of a skateboarder, you think of a white guy with a baggy shirt and pants. It’s hard when you haven’t been welcomed in the past. That’s changing—now there’s Instagram accounts with girls who skate and I have a skate community that is supportive. So to see that exist is cool. People don’t realize how important it is to finally feel representation in the community.

EO: What would you like to change in the skateboarding community?

CB: It’s been a scene for men, mostly white men, for a long time. What’s frustrating is that some people think they deserve it more. I wish they would just be supportive. I’ve seen those comments on Instagram—it doesn’t end and if you scroll, you’ll see it. It’s a piece of wood with wheels, yet skateboarding has the capability to bring so much joy to people. It shouldn’t bring hate—that’s not the point, there’s no reason for that.

EO: How does it feel to be a Black female skateboarder?

CB: I feel like Black women are always walking this line. If you do this, or that, you’re too aggressive or you’re too ghetto. All this stuff, you don’t want to be perceived as being a Black woman. What’s really cool about skateboarding is that it’s O.K. to screw the line.

Your job here is to get over yourself, so you can land this trick. You know what I mean? In skateboarding, everyone’s always saying, commit. So you tell yourself, screw what my brain is saying, I’m going to land this trick. There’s something that’s so freeing about that because you’re pushing past boundaries, which I really like. So as a Black woman who has always been walking that line, it’s like nice to have that escape.

EO: How do you want to be perceived as a Black female skateboarder?

CB: Perceived? Hmmm… to have people think of me the way I thought of the people I looked up to when I first started. I’m very inspired by my friends and the people around me. If I see them do a trick, I want to do it too. I want people to see my IG account or if they see me skating, to say, Oh, let me start this today or let me do this trick. That's what happened to me when I first started out, so I'd like to be that person for others.

EO: Now that you experienced a gap year, what’s next?

CB: I plan to go to college in August. I want to continue to improve at skating—it’s going to be a skating summer. It’s been cold, so I’m excited to get back into the flow of things. And I really love drumming. I play with musicians, so I’m going to continue playing shows and stuff. If something crazy happens before college, then I would be into that. But right now, the plan is college in August.

EO: What advice would you give for someone who is standing on the skateboard “sidelines” but not so sure they’re ready to try it?

CB: No more excuses, no more. I want to convince people, especially girls that don’t want to fall—falling is a part of skateboarding. You can get over it; you’ll be fine because of the risk to reward. Landing that trick is so much more rewarding when you’ve fallen along the way. Falling is just a part of life.