We received the following note this afternoon:
Happy Holidays To All,
I hope the holiday finds you well for you and your family.
We wanted to give you an update on recent events that have transpired
at Girls Learn To Ride and how they will affect the 2006 clinics and
camps.
As you may know, we have just finished one of the most successful
seasons in the program¹s six-year history. Over 5,000 girls and women
of all ages learned a new action sport and we continue to encourage
them to communicate with other females through our online chat rooms,
which we hope will help them to incorporate these sports into their
lives. We have also experienced a few challenges in past months.
As we approached the winter season, our main financial sponsors
withdrew from the program, leaving us in a bind to find companies who
are passionate about giving females the opportunity to learn and enjoy
this lifestyle.
After weeks of meetings and many discussions, I had to make a very
difficult decision: put the Girls Learn To Ride program on hold for
2006. It was probably one of the most difficult decisions I have
had to make, for many reasons. In no way do I want to put an end
to this program, especially after six successful years of building the
brand. If anything, this hiatus will give those of us
involved in the program time to rework Girls Learn To Ride so that next
year we can come back with an even better program.
I would like thank you for the support you have given to Girls Learn To
Ride program as a whole. There were so many success stories and the
smiles and confidence these girls and women gained from the
experience. If anything, we feel a sense of accomplishment in
making so many females happy about who they are.
On a personal note, I never imagined that Girls Learn To Ride would
grow to this level. I started the company as a way to teach my
girlfriend and her friends how to snowboard. and later, to learn other
sports. I have to give
proper credit and heartfelt thanks to the sponsors, instructors,
schools and venues that have been involved, for believing in the
program and seeing its potential. It was them that first allowed
an experimental clinic series to occur, providing the building blocks
for what would become a great program. Through the years, GLTR has
become a part of my life. I personal met almost every girl and woman
who participated in the clinics. I heard their stories of fear
and self-doubt as they explained why they couldn¹t learn in the
past. By the end of a clinic, each girl walked away with a new
sense of self-esteem, confidence, new friends and smiles. Every
girl was unique, but they were similar in the way they approached GLTR
events. Over time, my goal was to show others that women should
be given equal opportunities when it came to learning and being
involved in action sports. And in most cases, we saw that they
could learn and progress more quickly than their male counterparts (the
same guys who held them back from learning in the first place).
I hope that we can work together again to introduce girls and women to
the sport of snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing, wakeboarding,
motocross, BMX and mountain biking. And I hope that we continue to find
ways to keep them riding years after their first lessons. These are the
challenges of the future and I hope that we continue to grow the sport
together.
If you have any questions or would like to talk in detail about this detour in the program, please feel free to contact me at mark@girlslearntoride.com. Thank you again for your support and have a great year.
Sincerely,
Mark Sperling
Founder
Girls Learn To Ride
