Testimonials

I’m a grade twelve student and an athlete. I love love love cross-country skiing, and I really aspire to succeed in this sport!

Believe it or not, I was actually at the very first Fast and Female Event at Silver Star in 2006. I remember the feeling of being so incredibly inspired by the older female athletes. I got them to sign my shirt, and I honestly didn’t take it off for a month after that! I specifically remember Amanda Ammar telling me that I was a really fast, really fun kid. Funny enough, Amanda is now my teammate and she still tells me things like that. But I was so amazed that somebody that successful, and that amazing, told me that in Silver Star back in 2006. So basically, that’s my goal! I want to tell younger girls that they are amazing too! I want girls to be inspired like I was when I went to all those fast females back in the day.

I really want girls to become more involved in sports like cross-country skiing. I think girls turn away from this sport because it’s so manly and so hardcore! But what they don’t realize is that’s the beauty of it! I really look up to Emily Batty because she shows girls that sports like cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, and mountain biking are for girls too! She shows everyone to embrace our femininity and go out there and kick butt! She’s fast and she is so female!

I’m so in love with my sport, and I really want to spread the love to others as well! I cannot even describe what this sport means to me, and the more people involved the better. I have become a better person because of cross-country skiing, there’s no denying it. In my club (Canmore Nordic Ski Club) there are no girls my age who ski. It’s tragic for many reasons. I want to tell young girls they are amazing, I want them to look up to me. This has been my dream for a long time now!

Thank you SO MUCH for this event, it was such a huge confidence builder for her. She has been scared and dreading moving up in to the Learn to Train program from Jackrabbits because she didn’t think she was good enough or fast enough – after yesterday, she can’t wait for L2T to start!! The work you and your colleagues are doing is so important, I can’t thank you enough for the confidence it gave my daughter.

Thank you for the opportunity to be involved on November 1 with Fast and Female. I was so impressed with everything I saw and the vibe and energy in the building were tangible! I hope all the people involved in the organization of the event felt a great sense of accomplishment for a job well done. I look forward to future involvement with your amazing group!!!

I did Fast and Female when I was 14, so I got flown out to Canmore because I won a contest. In the first Fast and Female events ever, they were flying two girls from every province to Canmore for this event. That was my first time out West and I got to meet Chandra Crawford, who was a celebrity to me at that point. That was super motivating and I was on a high from that for a really long time. My inspiration from Fast and Female combined with the feeling that I was enjoying skiing the most out of all my sports prompted me to join the local Fondeurs Laurentides nordic team at 15. Two years later, I fully committed to skiing, leaving Quebec to train with Coach Les Parsons in Edmonton, Alberta.

I was very impressed with the Fast and Female program. Thanks for all the enthusiasm you bought to Prince George. Over the years, my daughter has felt uncomfortable XC skiing although it is our family sport and we have been taking her since she was two. This year she refused jackrabbits and sat in the lodge instead during lessons. However she saw the fast and female posters which piqued her interest and she signed up. She had such a good time during the two hours of fast and female that she came back saying “I wonder why I ever told you I didn’t like skiing. I love skiing! Sign me up for lessons next year mom!” This sentiment has lasted for our family downhill ski trip this week as well. I am so grateful to fast and female for bringing my daughter around to love skiing. My sincere thanks to all of you.

Kudos to Chandra, Annika, Rosanna and team for organizing such a great event on Sunday. I would like to thank you for letting me be involved as the “oldest” ambassador!! I believe that every time we have an opportunity to empower girls in sport we grow our sport in substantial ways.

In 1981 there were 2 women competing in Biathlon in Canada – Kaarina from BC and Denise from Alberta – I knew that I was a better skier and shooter than her, so in 1982 I started my adventure in Biathlon. That year at nationals there were 4 women, the next year 8, then the next year 16, then there was a Jr. women’s category, etc etc until 1992 when Myriam won an Olympic medal and many young girls knew that it was a real possibly for Canadians to succeed at the Olympic level.

So all of you great ambassadors need to know that you make a huge difference as role models and mentors to the young girls who you work with. When people see that the way has been paved it opens the door to set the bar even higher. Best of luck to everyone this season as you set and meet your goals, I’m going to forge a new skiing class this year and plan to give ski instruction for women 55+ at COP this winter!! So maybe to can encourage that age group to also be empowered through sport!!

Best wishes and see you on the trails!!