Building on the results of the DC4SKI and ESKI projects EWAS aims to empower women in Alpine skiing.
Women today are still a minority in coaching or in serving in leadership positions in sports organizations. This is particularly the case in Alpine Skiing, where female coaches and senior administrators are still a rarity, and where girls quit in much greater numbers and much earlier than boys.
The absence of female coaches, translate in a lack of role models for girls, which contributes to them quitting the sport. One of the main obstacles to gender equality in Alpine Skiing is how coaches are trained and recruited. Ski instructors’ and ski coaches’ trainings insist on the technical aspect of skiing, leaving behind important skills and knowledge that it is assumed it will be then learned on the field. However, this translates into a practice of cooptation and, consequently, to the perpetuation of the “boys club”.
By developing trainings and offering skills development opportunities, EWAS will empower women coaches and will increase women’s employability in the sport, making access to the profession merit-based and therefore more equitable.
In short, the project will:
1. Research the obstacles girls and women face
in Alpine skiing first as athletes and then as coaches
or administrators and elaborate policy proposals
and best practices to foster a culture
fostering gender parity starting at the grass root club level,
going up to the Federations level.
2. Promote skills development in Alpine Skiing
by creating 6 training modules for women coaches,
aspiring coaches and administrators.
The training modules will deal
with important aspects of the profession
about which there is little to no formal education,
including:
-
Winter sports and climate change (hybrid)
-
Boot-fitting and ski preparation (in person)
-
Management, leadership, communication, digital competencies (online)
-
Alpine Officials (Technical Director, Race Director, Chief of Race) and Ethics (online)
-
Ski slopes preparation and Race organization (in person)
-
Athletes’ wellbeing (mental health, physical health, nutrition) (in person)
Participants who will successfully complete all the modules shall receive a Certificate in Coaching and Leading in Alpine Skiing.
