Features

FIRST LOOK: Izzy Burrell & Mia Oscroft

Two Midlands Girls Who Aren't Scared!

Words and photos by Adam Lievesley

I’ve known both Izzy and Mia for over a year now and any riding trip wouldn’t be the same without them – their passion for riding is insane. They are so eager to learn and progress, making them two of the best female riders in the country. Although sometimes they can both get disheartened that it’s more difficult for them to learn tricks, I think that it can sometimes motivate them even more to try new things.

I thoroughly believe that these two girls are just what this sport needs to become more open and welcoming to female riders. NASS have a girls comp for The Worlds this year, which should inspire even more girls to get into BMX.

Izzy and Mia both have the same passion as any other BMX rider has for the sport, wanting to ride all day every day and push themselves. So watch out lads, they’re coming for you…

Name: Mia Oscroft
Age: 15
Hometown: Mansfield
Years Riding: 2 years this year
Fav Rider: Brock Horneman or Bob Manchester
Fav Trick: Toboggan

Name: Izzy Burrell
Age: 14
Hometown: Shipley
Years Riding: Nearly a year
Fav Rider: Tom Dugan
Fav Trick: One foot can

– How do two girls start riding BMX in a 99% male dominated sport? Where did it all start?

Mia: “I knew Jack, the owner of Asylum, I hadn’t spoken to him for years but I knew he had opened up a skatepark. I got in contact with him as I’d wanted to start riding, he introduced me to Kayley Ashworth and I started to have lessons with her.”

Izzy: “I used to ride a scooter but I occasionally hired a BMX at Asylum Skatepark to keep me occupied, then I started to gradually enjoy it more and more so I asked my mum if I could have a BMX for my birthday. I started coming to Asylum on my BMX and made a lot of good friends, especially Mia. It was great to see that another girl was starting too, that gave me a lot more confidence.”

– How come you like riding bikes and don’t do the ‘normal sports that girls do’?

Mia: “I used to do dancing from a very young age and also football for a little while too. When I was around the age of 6 I started horse riding and did that until I was about 13, shortly after I sold my horse to look for another one I just got bored and wanted to try something different. I’ve never been a girly girl and I just decided one day I wanted to give BMX a go.”

Izzy: “Same as Mia really. I have always been quite sporty, I played football and cricket since I was 6. I’ve always played football with the lads at school, I guess i just wanted to be different from everyone else.”

Izzy doing her favourite trick at Asylum.

– Have you had any problems with being a girl and riding BMX, any funny stories or confrontations?

Mia: “I’ve not had many but there’s been a few times I’ve had nasty comments on videos I’ve put on social media. I was determined to not to let it get to me though.”

Izzy: “I haven’t really had any problems with people whilst BMXing, I just get a few weird looks when I’m riding around town. But once someone started laughing at me, saying ‘why have you got a BMX? You’re a girl.’ I just ignored them and carried on riding.”

“Someone started laughing at me, saying,
‘Why have you got a BMX? You’re a girl.’
I just ignored them and carried on riding.”

– I know that you both ride for the Asylum Skatepark and I know that they have a very strong female scene, being one of the first parks I know of doing female only sessions. Why do you think that happened?

Mia: “I think they started doing them because there aren’t many girls involved in skatepark sports, which is probably down to the fact that when you go to a skatepark full of males it’s pretty daunting for a girl. In all honesty it takes a while to get used to, but with girl only sessions it’s a good opportunity to go to skatepark and just get a feel for it. Then as your confidence grows you’ll just get used to being around all the lads and learn to just get stuck in.”

Izzy: “As this sport is mainly a male sport most girls find it quite intimidating riding in front of a lot of lads. Having girls only sessions made me more comfortable riding in front of everyone and getting to know all the girls, so that next time they came they could speak to me and have a laugh together. I believe that it was Kayley Ashworth’s idea to start doing the girls only sessions because she had a lot to do with the skatepark when it opened.”

– Have we got anything to look forward to from you guys in the future?

Mia: “Nothing specific but I’ll just be riding as much as possible.”

Izzy: “I’m going to Nass this year, I’m so stoked. I’ve never rode in a competition before so I can’t wait to see how it goes. Hopefully there will be more to come in the future!”

– Do you have any tips or words of wisdom to any new female riders or and girls wanting to get involved in skatepark sports.

Mia: “The advice I would give to girls who want to start riding is to just get stuck in, try not to let the fact you’re surrounded by boys put you off. Don’t get me wrong, it will be very scary at first and it will take time to get used to but it really isn’t as bad as you think, after a while you’ll find them helping you out with learning new things and just improving your riding in general.”

Izzy: “Yeah, don’t be scared to get to have a go even if there are loads of lads, they aren’t that bad!”