During the last week in October, Snowsport Scotland was part of Active Scotland and sportscotland’s Women and Girls in Sport Week 2020! We wanted to take this opportunity to showcase some of the amazing females we have within our sport and also host discussions on how we can improve and create further opportunities.

It was a fantastic week of celebration, activity and community interaction. We are absolutely delighted with the support the week received and inspired to continue moving forwards in some of the activities which launched.

Many thanks to all the females who came along and participated in our first ‘Females in Snowsports’ forum session. We look forward to developing this further, creating a community of females coming together to discuss issues and develop new ideas to continue to support women in snowsports. If you would be interested in getting involved next time, keep your eyes peeled for the date of our next session in a few months’ time.

Our Retaining Girls in Snowsports Community discussion provoked some interesting conversation. We presented barriers for teenage girls participating in sports and discussed how these present in our sport. We hope that these sessions can grow over the coming months and welcome all coaches, leaders, instructors both male and female to join us on our next meeting.

Last but not least, our final session of the week was a big one! 20 young Scottish female athletes from across a variety of disciplines came together to join the Female Youth and Junior Session led by British Nordic Senior Team athlete Nichole Bathe. The girls heard from Nordic athlete, Olympic medallist and World Champion, Astrid Jacobsen. She gave advice on how to manage sport and school, cope with body image worries, keeping the passion for your sport alive through the teenage years and much more, It really wasn’t one to miss! Since then, we have hosted our second Youth and Junior Session, ‘Balancing School and Snowsports.’ We were lucky enough to be joined by a University Cross Country Skiing coach in America, as well as hosting discussions amongst the participants on what is the most difficult about balancing school and sport but also what is the most enjoyable.

Thanks once again to all who engaged with Women/Girls in Sport Week. We look forward to continuing to work together in our aim to promote and support female participation in snowsports.

If you or your club wants to share any work that you are doing to increase female participation or you have a story to tell, please get in touch with us at info@snowsportscotland.org