I looked around the room at the 2018 Outspoken Women in Triathlon Summit, and felt my eyes welling up with the happy weepies. I felt overcome by the sensation that something momentous was happening.
It felt so good to be together. My cup of gratitude filled session by session, from all that I heard, saw, and felt.
The goals of summit, as posed on the website, were to
- “Build connections between women at all levels of triathlon, from age group participant, to professional athlete, to business woman.
- “Encourage and inspire current leaders and create the next generation of women’s leadership
- “Provide women in triathlon with leadership skills they can utilize in their personal and professional lives.
- “Develop solutions to increase and sustain women’s presence and leadership in triathlon events and the business of triathlon.” (Outspoken website)
Throughout the weekend, we connected through our passion for the sport, and our belief in equality and inclusion. We collaborated in ways big and small to bring on the change we seek.
If not now, when? If not us, who?
Meredith Kessler kicked off the event with her talk on Friday night about how we stay up on that rise. Her words were captivating – just the right mix of personal and shared experience, with practical tips for health of body, mind and community.
She began by saying, “I want all of you to come closer. I want you to be with me.” Then, she waited for us to gather closer around – letting us know that we were doing this thing as a collective. This is what I mean by togetherness–it was the sort that allows you to draw strength from the badassery and vulnerability of others.
Politics of Sport
This summit reminded me how important it is to voice who I am, what I believe and how my values shape what I do as an athlete, a coach, a person.
If not now, when? If not me, who?
As a culture, we often don’t think of sport in political terms. It’s “just” entertainment or “just” a hobby. However, nothing that captures the interest of thousands and millions of people is ever “just” anything.
Sport is deeply political, revealing, reflecting, embodying, constructing the broader struggle we face in society for equality, diversity and inclusion. Our language reveals cultural biases that routinely privilege the masculine, the male. For example:
- You run like a girl.
- You got chicked.
- Stop being such a pussy.
- I worked my balls off.
This discourse shapes our understanding, and in turn constrains and enables the choices we believe are available to us. It is not just locker room talk.
In triathlon, this inequality manifests most obviously in terms of the participant numbers in the sport – with women typically hovering around 35ish% of the participants. If we look at rates of participation for people of color, the representation is under 1%–and this is for all people of color, not only women of color. In leadership roles, representation is lesser still.
Seriously, it’s 2018. We need to do better than this.
Representation and language matter for both overall participation and leadership. If you don’t see anyone like you, and you don’t hear language that opens up opportunities, how can you understand that’s a choice you could make?
The Outspoken Women in Triathlon Summit addressed these issues directly by providing participants with inspirational stories of courage and triumph, historical context, and specific tools and action items to be the change we seek. As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
So there we sat, 101 women and 4 men – committed citizens plotting to change the world through sport. No big deal.
Now you see why I was doing my happy weeping thing. This was f@#king amazing!
Inclusiveness requires that we recognize all women are not the same–we can’t be treated like a homogenous group for marketing purposes. (For a great take on increasing diversity at the summit in 2019, see this post from Shero Athletics, specifically point #1).
As Senator-elect (D-AZ) Kyrsten Sinema said during the summit, “It’s not just about how we get some pink on the side, but how women are an integral part – 50% or more – of the work that we do.” This observation is key because participation can’t be about cosmetic changes, wrapped up in pink. These surface treatments further perpetuate the very stereotypes that claim women are inferior in sport, that we aren’t “serious” athletes.
We approach the sport for reasons that go beyond the cosmetic. We seek the extraordinary in ourselves, in experience, in community. We are skilled competitors. We are engaged participants. We are lovers of community and camaraderie. We are strong in adversity.
We are freaking bad ass is what we are.
Leadership to Pay It Forward
I attended a panel led by Rachel Joyce and Dana Platin in which they discussed women’s leadership roles in life and sport. They noted the strong connection between sport and self-esteem.
This has certainly been the case for me. I have learned to speak in the language of can thanks to my experiences in endurance sport. I consider problems as challenges, not game enders. My faith in my ability – and the goodness of others – has grown and flourished thanks to my participation in endurance sport.
I would love for everyone to feel this way. I want to help others pursue the extraordinary that lies within, and experience the strength of this community. Do I think everyone wants to participate in Triathlon? No, of course not. But, I want to ensure that there is a welcome space to enter–and stay.
Let’s face it: Triathlon can be seriously intimidating. Swimming in open water with several hundred or thousand people isn’t exactly a warm welcome mat. Riding a bike amid packs of pelotons in revealing spandex and pointy helmets can definitely rouse some doubts. And the seeming simplicity of running is all of sudden not so simple after surviving the mosh pit of the swim and the nascar aggressiveness of the bike.
Given all of these unknowns, it may seem too hard to take the first step. Let’s make it easy and obvious!
We know that if we provide advice, support and community, we can encourage the tri-curious to come on board. That’s what this summit seeks to do: provide an inclusive community to reduce barriers of entry and support equality of participation and leadership.
Broader representation in our leadership ranks brings diversity in ideas, which can further support our goal to increase meaningful participation. As an example, Race Director Gabriela Gallegos spoke of her Mighty Mujer triathlon series. She saw an opportunity to bring triathlon to her El Paso community – and she seized it. She has introduced hundreds of women to the sport who otherwise would not recognize it as a choice they could make. That’s leadership!
I was engaged by Sally Edwards, a pioneer in triathlon and ultrarunning, who spoke about the 4 things we can do better to increase representation in sport: Politics, Money, Business and Power. I appreciated her call for each of us to be leaders, when she said, “We need to stop talking about equity and take control.”
If not us, who? If not now, when?
Get Shit Done #GSD
So, how do we exert more control to support inclusivity in sport?
Senator-elect Sinema offered the summit her rallying cry: Get Shit Done, or GSD for short. She explained, “The philosophy is simple: Set the goal that is too high to reach, and then go reach it.”
And she knows what this means in practice! She is the first female senator elected in the State in Arizona. And, she signed up for an Ironman before she had even done a triathlon–before she even learned how to swim.
I need to put my action where my mouth is. So, how will I #GSD?
- I will host a series of free open water and bike handling skills clinics.
- I will volunteer to present at local tri club meetings to provide Q&A for those who want to learn or grow into the sport.
- I will continue to volunteer for the USAT Northeast Region Women’s Committee.
- I will create posts to help reduce the learning curve for those in sport. Post YOUR questions in the comments or email them to me (contact me) – and I’ll answer them!
- I will volunteer at local races, because these races are crucial as entry points for the sport.
- I will be an ambassador for the sport in any way that I can.
For me, triathlon is a lifestyle that goes well beyond swimming, cycling and running, or any single race. Endurance sport is a way of thinking, of being in the world with confidence, joy, gratitude, and community. It is an attitude that makes you believe you can get shit done, too.
If not you, who? If not now, when?
