By age 14, girls are dropping out of sports two times the rate of boys. Research shows that one of the top reasons for their exodus is a lack of social belonging. For this reason, I established an empowerment series, Finding Your Edge, specifically designed for U14+ female athletes on the Sundance Ski Team. This educational series includes an annual retreat where we have an evening of professional enrichment, spearheaded by some of our incredible female coaches and local professionals. We assign female mentors to guide the girls in developing a growth mindset and to keep us connected as a team.

My hope is to reduce dropout rates of our U14+ female athletes, but more importantly to establish a sense of belonging and support between teammates, give them the tools to become great leaders and the skills to find their internal edge.

Looking forward to launching next years program and to welcoming the next group of U14 female athletes to Finding Your Edge.