Yoplait Women’s Cycling Summit Conference to be Held at Interbike
On June 14, 2003, professional and amateur women racers, team managersand cycling luminaries from across the country gathered at the Nature Valley Grand Prix to begin charting the future of their sport. This
“first of its kind” conference, sponsored by Yoplait Yogurt, considered a wide range of grassroots and elite issues that have stifled the growth of women’s racing. Although this conference was hailed by participants
as a great success, it was just the first step in a long process. The next step will be taken at the 2nd Yoplait Women’s Cycling Summit Conference, which will be held at the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas
on Monday, October 13.
One focus of the June conference was strategies that could build elite women’s racing. A key weakness in the sport today is the lack of coaching opportunities that can help gifted youngsters advance. Conferees also recommended that elite women, promoters and sponsors be educated to the promotional value of women’s racing and that USA Cycling create a focused points series to identify the top women’s events.
The elite racing session of the Interbike conference will focus on the development of a national women’s points series. During this session, conferees will work towards the development of recommendations for
promoters that want to raise the level of their women’s events. They’ll also discuss strategies for marketing women’s racing to the media, the community and the women racers themselves.
The June conference also addressed the need to make both recreational cycling and entry-level racing more accessible to women. The conference identified a number of strategies that have produced good results.
Programming options include women’s rides, skills clinics, mentorship, social support networks and seminars on topics like balancing cycling with job and family obligations. Conferees at Interbike will discuss
strategies for distributing these programs nationwide.
The conference, which is open to everyone who supports women’s cycling, will be held in room Casanova 505 of the Venetian hotel from 6:00 to
7:30 PM on Monday, October 13. Refreshments will be served.
For more information on the conference, contact David LaPorte at
[email protected].
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