This week we tracked the German skateboarder down to talk getting on board and dealing with injuries

Interview by Anna Langer

Hi Anna, where are you and what are you doing at the moment?
I’m in my hometown Aurich and just got home from work and am about to go to my second job as a waitress in a cinema. At the moment I am working as an Apprentice for Management Assistent in Marketing Communication but will be finished by end of the year.

What else do you have planned for the summer?
Actually I wanted to go to NYC and Montreal for a girls skate trip but I injured my crossed ligaments again beginning of the year. So I decided it’s better to cancel my flight and take a bit more care of my knee for this year until I will have another surgery end of the year. So at the moment I am driving to Hamburg every weekend to skate some vert (want to learn more and higher airs). So I don’t have anything else planned yet. Just skating and surfing a little bit. Hopefully take some new pics and film a bit.

Have you spent a lot of time on your deck already?
Until I injured my knee I was skating every day after school… But now I have to work all day long and besides skating on the weekends, I need to keep my muscles fit with swimming and gymnastics. But skateboarding will always give you the feeling of freedom. And thats worth all the pain and “time loss”…

How do you prepare for the season after a long winter?
I’m skating just as often in winter as in summer, because we got the biggest indoor skatepark in my hometown! Summer though, brings more fun for sure.

Do you think the number of girls entering skateboarding is going down?
Not at all. I was so stoked at this years Suck My Trucks competition in Berlin. There were so many good female skaters from all over Europe (and Brazil) I have never seen or heard about before. And the level was so damn high! I think girls’ skating in Europe is getting really big now. And thats so good to see.

What needs to be done to get even more girls into the sport?
When I did my girls skate camp last year, it showed me that in the beginning of skating, those experiences and the time the girls share with each other can help a lot. They can keep in mind the good times and get over the hard times while being injured and stuff like that. When all the other girls would already stop skating probably. So I believe in girls skate camps at lot!

Looking back at your own beginnings and career – what do you wish someone had told you earlier?
Some people told me to be carefully with my body and health. But as I was quite young I prefered when people said “Fuck off doctors, they don’t know a thing!” For 4 years now, I’ve been skating in pain mostly. I wish there was someone who could have convinced me to do a 9 month break after an injury instead of getting back after 4 months already…

When and how did you get into skateboarding yourself?
Summer 2004 my brother started skating again as I came home with a board. So he and my new friends I met at the skatepark showed me the first tricks.

Do you do any other board sports?
I just started surfing. My boyfriend and I are trying to find waves on Norderney (an island just close to my hometown), Denmark or in the Basque country (Spain) as often as possible. And it’s just perfect because the negative thing in surfing is that you can never tell, if there will be waves or not. So if there’s a flat day, we can go skating.

Do you think you will still be skateboarding in 20 years?
I really hope so. I will try as long as my body lets me.

Anna is sponsored by Vans, Morphium, Irie Daily, Dogtown and Playground. Find out more on annakruse.de