Empowering Women in Alpine Skiing: Investigating Obstacles to the Profession

Women today have more opportunities to participate in sports but are still a minority in coaching or serving in leadership positions. This is particularly the case in Alpine skiing, where female coaches and senior administrators are still rare and where girls quit in much greater numbers and much earlier than boys. The US Ski Federation is an exception in a sea of male-led ski federations and clubs, not to mention the absence of women coaches. Here again, Mikaela Shiffrin’s women-led team stands out.

The problem is that the absence of female coaches translates into a lack of role models for girls, which contributes to them quitting the sport, as they can’t realistically see a future for themselves in a snake-biting-its-tail scenario. One of the main obstacles to gender equality in Alpine skiing is the training and recruitment of coaches. Training for ski instructors and coaches typically focuses on the technical aspects of skiing, neglecting essential skills and knowledge that they are expected to learn in the field. However, this translates into a practice of co-option and, consequently, to the perpetuation of the “boys club.”

The European Union’s generous financial support has made possible the launch of a groundbreaking project to bridge the gender gap in Alpine skiing: Empowering Women in Alpine Skiing, or EWAS for short. This innovative initiative unites three prestigious American and European universities (the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Rome Tor Vergata, and the Science Research Centre Koper in Slovenia) with like-minded national ski federations and clubs. Through the development of comprehensive training modules and providing valuable opportunities for skill development,

EWAS enhances women’s coaching and leadership skills to promote gender equality in Alpine skiing. This will not only boost their employability in the sport but also make access to the profession more merit-based and equitable. Importantly, it will provide girls with a multitude of inspiring role models and clear career paths, fostering their long-term engagement in the sport.

After a very well-attended and successful conference on Winter Sports and Climate Change held at the University of Colorado Boulder last fall (after all, gender equality would have no meaning in the skiing world without snow!) EWAS’ next step is to investigate and better understand the obstacles women face when coaching or leading in Alpine skiing and then elaborate on policy proposals and best practices to support gender equality from the grassroots level up to FIS. The project is reaching out to women who are (or were) coaches, asking them to kindly spare five minutes to help by responding to an anonymous questionnaire. The more answers the project gets, the more significant the results will be. The link to the questionnaire is here. 

Focus groups will follow for those interested, and then EWAS will launch into the training portion of the project, starting this fall. You can find more information about the project and how to participate in the next EWAS activities here or by contacting the project’s P.I., Dr Federiga Bindi Federiga.bindi@colorado.edu