Skater Means relishes PH team debut: ‘It is my dream’

 

TAGAYTAY, Philippines – The country just found another Filipina skateboarder to cheer.

As the latest crowd favorite, Christiana Means proves to be as entertaining as she’s good.

The 22-year old joined Margielyn Didal twice on the podium, finishing runner-up to the Philippine skateboarding star in the women’s Game of S.K.A.T.E and street events in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

“It is my dream,” said Means. “Being part of my culture is something that I always wanted to do and [I haven’t had] that opportunity, until Margie [Didal] got the medal in Asian Games and I was added to the team.

“And up until that point, I feel like a little lost in my culture and now being a part of it is, it feels very good to represent  the Philippines and want to just keep digging into it.”

Means, who grew up in Rockville, South Carolina, decided to get into skateboarding when she was 16 years old, which eventually led her to rediscovering her Filipino roots.

And since day one, she never failed to mention that representing the country is a dream come true.

Means assured that she’s here to stay and plans to represent the country more.

But like Didal and the rest of the team, Means also wishes to have more skating facilities in the country. 

“In my hometown, there was a skate park for a little bit and you know, there’s a lot of kids that would go and skateboard and when it shut down, it was surprising how many kids got in trouble and started to get in to drugs and all that stuff because they didn’t have the facility to go to, and go and skate,” she shared. 

“So my thing will be build facilities, let these kids express themselves in a nice, secure facility.” 

But aside from pushing for more support for skateboarding, Means enjoys the company of Filipino supporters, who trooped to Tagaytay to witness her fun-filled matchup against teammate Didal.

“I love you guys,” she told her supporters.

 

Means hopes to snatch her first gold medal in the women’s skateboarding park event on Sunday, December 8 at the Tagaytay Extreme Sports Complex. – Rappler.com