Photo Credit: Canada Snowboard Photo Gallery 

Craft Beer Connoisseur and snowboarding enthusiast Sheena Keay pushes boundaries in snowboarding excellence through workshops and high performance coaching. An avid snowboarder for more than 20 years, Sheena’s passion for the sport began early and has continued to grow with every season. So, when it came to assuming a leadership role for the Alberta division of Snowboard Canada’s female rider program, she couldn’t say yes fast enough.

In response to a lack of existing resources and support for female snowboarders, Elleboard is a program launched by Canada Snowboard designed to encourage female athletes to grow and develop as riders, coaches, judges and officials. A short-term goal of the program is to have female membership with Canada Snowboard rise above 30% in the coming years. By creating a network for girls of all ages who want to feel more confident and connected on the slopes, Elleboard intends to bridge the gender gap on the hill and increase female participation in the sport.  

“The idea behind Elleboard is to build a community for females that want to continue to snowboard,” says Keay, Elleboard leadership for Alberta, “The average girl quits a sport between the ages of 12 and 14, and we want to change that.” According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, by the age of 14, girls are dropping out of sports at double the rate of boys their age. There are a number of key factors driving this statistic, including lack of positive role models and decreased quality of experience as they grow (1). 

Elleboard is a provincial program that connects girls with other girls who want to keep riding, continue progressing, and eventually compete. The program has trained with girls between the ages of 8 and 34 to help them take the next step in their snowboarding careers, whether that be learning the basics or hitting the half-pipe. 

With a variety of available training opportunities, girls can participate in Learn to Train days, with a focus on long-term athlete development, or sign up for the Ride Days program, a nationwide all-female tour led by top coaches that brings girls together on the hill for one-day sessions.

The Elleboard registration fee includes membership to Canada and Alberta Snowboard, which covers access to sponsored events as well as liability insurance for participants. Sponsored by Roxy, Elleboard currently holds 4-5 events a year featuring exciting prizes and increasing competition as interest in the program continues to grow.  

Determined to see the success of Elleboard continue and encourage more women to push themselves as athletes, Sheena Keay is exploring all possible options to increase awareness of the program. This includes hosting off-snow events such as yoga nights as a way to introduce girls to Elleboard and each other so they might make friends and build confidence both on and off the hill. Although the winter months are coming to a close, Sheena is committed to riding for as long as nature allows, which means hiking in the Rocky Mountains to find some summer snow even after the lifts have shut down for the season.  

For more information on Elleboard, visit https://www.canadasnowboard.ca/en/programs/grassroots/elleboard/. 

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