WHY A SKI CAMP FOR GIRLS?

A MESSAGE FROM KEELY:

I grew up without having female coaches. The coaching industry, no matter what sport I was in, was dominated by males. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, 

“Women represent 43 percent of coaches of collegiate women’s sports, only 4.2-3.5 percent of coaches of men’s sports and 22 percent of athletic directors.”

And one of the reasons girls drop out of sports is because of the:

“Lack of positive role models. Today’s girls are bombarded with images of external beauty, not those of confident, strong female athletic role models. To some girls, fitting within the mold that they are constantly told to stay in is more important than standing out. Peer pressure can be hard for girls at any age; when that pressure isn’t offset with strong encouragement to participate in sports and healthy physical activity, the results may lead girls to drop out altogether.”

The year I retired from my World Cup ski racing career I went to Mt. Hood, Oregon and coached my first group of girls. The girls told me they, “loved relating to a female coach” and “Keely you should start your own camp!” I was among only a handful of female coaches on Mt. Hood that summer. I wanted to change that.

The following summer I hired an entirely female staff stacked with Olympians, U.S. Ski Teamers, and NCAA collegiate racers. Collectively we decided as a staff that we were going to give girls something we never had – strong, positive, experienced, female coaches. 

It’s been eight years since Keely’s Camp began. We’ve coached thousands of girls from all over the world and those girls have come back to coach for us. We give girls a community of support for the rest of their lives. 

Why? Because every girl deserves a female coach. This is our mission. Thank you for being a part of it. 

Keely Kelleher
Founder & Director