Women Win and Skateistan To Empower Women Leaders with ‘ROLL Models’ Programme
November 1, 2019
Beyond Sport Global Award winning groups, Women Win and Skateistan have joined forces to empower a generation of female leaders in Europe in a new initiative called ‘ROLL Models.’
The project will operate in Germany, the Netherlands and Greece and aims to develop 72 female youth leaders over the next three years, who will in turn support and develop social skateboarding projects for 900 girls.
Skateistan will contribute to the project through its Goodpush program, which seeks to support the social skate sector around the world through knowledge sharing, advice and resources.
Launched on World Mental Health Day, ROLL Models is designed to bring the physical, mental and emotional benefits of sports to a whole generation of young women. Through skateboarding sessions, leadership training and seed funding, Women Win and Skateistan will empower young women to achieve their full potential whilst also inspiring younger girls to follow a similar path.
The project aims to reach those who are often excluded from participation in sports. The current generation of girls and women in Europe is the least active ever: only 10-20% of adolescent girls meet the recommended level of physical activity. This lack of exercise and participation in sports is linked to increased mental health issues, which Skateistan and Women Win seek to address.
Rhianon Bader, Goodpush Manager at Skateistan said: “Through the last 11 years of running skateboarding programs at Skateistan, we’ve learned a lot about the power of sport to develop leadership qualities in young people. We know that sport plays a major role in physical and mental wellbeing and we look forward to combining our expertise with Women Win to support young women as inspirational leaders in their communities.”
ROLL models will provide intensive leadership training opportunities for 72 young women aged 15-30 involved in social skate projects. Seed funding will be made available to individuals and organizations that seek to expand and improve the social skate sector for women and girls. Particular focus will be on inclusion; ensuring that women of colour, refugees and women living with disabilities are directly involved in the development of programming.
The project will conclude with the production of an open source toolkit to support the mental and physical health of girls and women through sport.
Maria Bobenrieth, Executive Director of Women Win said: “Women Win works on the premise that transformative partnerships are the only way forward to tackling increasingly complex social problems girls and young women face. We are delighted that, through ROLL Models, we will work together to continue to deliver our mission to empower young women to actively direct their own futures, while impacting their lives through the physical, but, as importantly, mental and social benefits sport offers.”
Women Win won the 2017 Beyond Sport Global Award for the Global Impact of the Year and Skateistan won the 2017 Sport for Education Award. Learn more about the Beyond Sport Global Awards here.