SportsLife issue 6 2016 | Page 27

But there is good news for girls in Winnipeg! Myself, along with Allison Gervais, have created the Fitness Journal for Girls. We understand the numerous issues facing girls in sport in our city, and wanted to be part of the change. Awareness of the issues is one thing, but what can we as members of the local sport community, do about it. In the Spring of 2016 we brought twenty businesses together to create the Fitness Journal for Girls. There are three main components to the Journal. First, there were nine free summer weekly challenges for the girls to participate in. For example, there was a Come Try it Day for tennis, wakeboarding, ringette, crossfit and many more. It was great to see girls come out and try new sports, meet new friends and be active. Next, each business within the Journal had an offer or ‘coupon’ inside. There was 50% off summer diving and synchronized swimming camps, free classes in boxing and kickboxing, and great discounts on programming including swimming, gymnastics and much more. The last section of the Journal was where girls could journal about their experience in sport. This included a page on what sport taught them about themselves, goal setting skills and a page dedicated to 10 things they love about themselves. In 2017, we want to see this grow. We want to have more businesses and sport organizations involved. We want to have more Journals in the hands on Winnipeg girls and in turn trying new sports that perhaps they hadn’t thought of trying previously. We really want to gain access for girls to sport, show them how fun it can all be, and get them excited about sport. This Journal is geared to girls ages 5 - 15 as those years are so important in their overall development and the longterm athlete development model. According to Canadian Sport for Life, “Children, youth and adults need to do the right things at the right time to develop in their sport or activity – whether they want to be Thanks todancers, our incredible sponsors: hockey players, figure skaters or gymnasts. Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) describes the things athletes need to be doing at specific ages and stages.” The basic skills that are taught in sport at a young age will help kids be active for life. It also allows them to move into more elite level programs as they get older, because their skill set has a strong base. The Fitness Journal for Girls allows them to try out various sports at a young age and develop these basic skills at the right time. If your business or sport would like to be involved in the 2017 Fitness Journal for Girls, there are many opportunities to do so. You can be WR WRL Winni Winnipeg innipeg a participating sport organization or business whereby you have an offer and/or a weekly challenge in next year’s Journal. If you have a sportminded retail business, you can put an offer for girls inside the Journal. Or perhaps you want to show you dedication to girls and sport in our great city. You can be a sponsoring business and show your solidarity and commitment that way. To be a part of the 2017 Fitness Journal for Girls, please contact Andrea Katz and Allison Gervais at [email protected] Fitness Journal for Girls Your year-round guide to everything fitness and fun for girls ages 5 -15. $ 20 fitcommunications.ca/fitnessjournalforgirls/ sportslife Winnipeg’s place to play Ringette League sportslife / 27