Woodward Offers New Action Sports Programs For Girls And Women With Lizzie Armanto And Jamie Anderson

While more girls and women are participating in action sports than ever before, they represent a far smaller share of the overall participation numbers than boys and men.

According to National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) figures from the 2021-22 season, the gender breakdown among skiers and snowboarders in the U.S. is 63 percent male, 37 percent female.

Per Statista’s survey results for 2019-20, 79 percent of skateboarders identify as male and 21 percent identify as female. The number of skateboarders in the U.S. was 6.7 million in 2019.

Freestyle BMX participation figures are harder to pin down since they are frequently married with BMX racing. However, per the 2022 Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) bicycling (BMX) single sport report, 28.3 percent of U.S. BMX riders are femal. Approximately 43 percent of all U.S. riders are younger than 17.

One of the most robust incubators of youth action sports participation in the U.S. is experiential action sports company Woodward, which now offers programming at eight destinations: Woodward Mt. Bachelor, Woodward Tahoe, Woodward West, Woodward Park City, Woodward Copper, Woodward Eldora, Woodward Pennsylvania and Woodward Killington.

Woodward, which was founded as a gymnastics camp and now specializes in action sports experiences across its properties including skateboarding, freestyle BMX, roller skating, scootering, and freestyle snowboarding and skiing, has long tapped action sports vetearns to lead programming for the next generation of athletes.

In 2021, it announced pro skateboarder Ryan Sheckler would take on the role of skate program designer for its summer camps. BMX legends Ryan Nyquist and Jamie Bestwick serve as program advisors for freestyle BMX offerings.

But with girls and women showing up in greater numbers to learn action sports—and with skateboarding and freestyle BMX having joined skiing and snowboarding on the Olympic program—there has been a corresponding need for the industry to adapt, with gender-based programming and initiatives to balance out participation numbers and welcome new athletes.

That’s reflected in Woodward’s increased brand-wide focus, announced in 2022, on the inclusion and empowerment of women and girls in action sports.

Not only has Woodward brought on female action sports superstars in pro skateboarder Lizzie Armanto and pro snowboarder Jamie Anderson to offer a variety of signature athlete experiences over the next several years, but it has also tapped Emily Brooks for the new role of Women’s Action Sports Manager for Woodward Camps.

In her role, which she started in October 2022, Brooks focuses on developing female-centric curriculum and programming, assisting sports program managers with hiring female coaches and counselors and working with female visiting athletes and partners to create an inclusive and supportive environment for women, trans and non-binary individuals.

“I see my role as the Women’s Action Sports Manger as an opportunity to make women and girls feel comfortable and confident when they are with us at Woodward,” Brooks told me. “Empowering women in action sports has been a large focus at Woodward. By adding more curriculum for these campers, such as special skate sessions or clinics, it gives women and girls the chance to have a judgment-free and safe space to try something new and gain confidence in skating and riding.”

Armanto, 30, is one of the most influential women skateboarders of all time—the first woman to be featured on the cover of Transworld Skateboarding and with more than 30 awards to her name, including having won the first-ever gold medal in X Games women’s skateboard park competition in 2013.

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Armanto—who holds dual citizenship and competed for Team Finland—was one of the old hands among the female park skateboarders. The three athletes who landed on the podium—Japan’s Sakura Yosozumi and Kokona Hiraki and Great Britain’s Sky Brown—were 19, 12 and 13, respectively.

But Armanto says that when she was younger, there weren’t many girls who went to Woodward for skate camp, and it’s great to see the increase in inclusivity.

“Learning how to skate isn’t easy,” Armanto told me. “Having that safe space at Woodward is important for all new skaters to be able to experience skating without judgment and surrounded by likeminded kids and counselors.”

This summer, Armanto will host a themed girls’ week at Woodward Pennsylvania and Woodward West summer camps. Given Armanto’s love of wellness and holistic approach to skateboarding, each camp session will feature activations focused on physical wellness, injury prevention and kindness. Campers will also enjoy girls-only skate sessions hosted by Armanto.

Woodward and Armanto will also work with a non-profit to provide scholarships to bring underserved girls to summer camp, including a private experience with Armanto.

Anderson already has one activation with Woodward under her belt. The “Jamie’s Jam” event in late January at Woodward Park City saw Anderson and Woodward partner with local non-profits Youth Sports Alliance and  SOS Outreach to host 10 underserved girls who received a half-day private experience with Anderson, lunch and a new gear setup from Anderson’s sponsors.

“When I was nine, I was gifted my own hand-me-down, also, new-to-me snowboard gear, and it changed my life forever,” Anderson said at Jamie’s Jam. “I’m excited to partner with Woodward to continue to introduce snowboarding to more and more girls and help them believe in themselves on and off the mountain.”

Anderson, who just welcomed her first child, took the 2022-23 season off from competition. She’s one of the most decorated female snowboarders of all time; her 21 X Games medals is one short of the all-time winter record, and she earned the first-ever Olympic gold medal in slopestyle at the 2014 Sochi Games and defended it at Pyeongchang 2018.

Future events Woodward has planned with Anderson include an on-snow women’s event the slopestyler will host and guest appearances at Woodward Copper’s snowboard summer camp at Copper Mountain, Colorado.

Armanto and Anderson will also draw on their veteran status in the industry and years of lived experience as women in action sports to serve on Woodward’s Women in Action Sports Advisory Council.

The council will work to enhance the status, representation and opportunities for girls and women in action sports through Woodward-branded experiences. It will also serve in an advisory role to Woodward on how to positively increase participation and awareness in action sports.

“If we, the women’s council, can reach and speak to even a few girls and encourage them to try action sports, they will be able to spread that love and passion to others,” Armanto said. “We’re just planting the seeds and hoping it spreads.”

In addition to the new experiences it is offering with Armanto and Anderson, Woodward’s new girls- and women-focused programming will include eight girls-themed weeks at Woodward West and Woodward Pennsylvania summer camps, offering specialized instruction from female professional athletes and girls-only sessions.

Partners for those initiatives include Exposure Skate, the largest annual women, trans, and non-binary skateboarding event; The Poseiden Foundation, a 501(c) 3 non-profit inspiring youth to pursue their passions and accomplish their dreams by teaming up with community, professional athletes and city officials to create life-changing experiences using the platform of skateboarding; Bloom BMX, the leading girls’ BMX media platform; and roller skate brand Moxi Skates.

The Exposure Skate experience will be headlined by pro skater and Olympian Amelia Brodka July 2–8 at Woodward Pennsylvania and July 30–Aug. 5 at Woodward West.

The Poseiden Foundation experience will feature founder and president Micaela Ramirez at Woodward West July 16–22.

Bloom BMX will be stationed at Woodward West June 4–10 and Woodward Pennsylvania June 18–24 and feature co-founder Angie Marino, pro athlete for Vans and Cult and current U.S. national team athlete.

The Moxi Skates roller skate overnight camp will be offered at Woodward West July 16–22 and Woodward Pennsylvania July 30–Aug. 5 and will feature founder Michelle “Estro Jen” Steilen.

Woodward Pennsylvania and Woodward West also have new skate parks the brand has termed the “Progression Centre.” The aim is for new skaters and riders to be able to progress within action sports in an inclusive and non-intimidating way using smaller, lower-risk ramps.

More than just providing opportunities for women, trans, and nonbinary folks in action sports, Woodward’s initative—and Brooks’ role guiding it—is really to build up a whole inclusive ecosystem within action sports that will become self-sustaining.

“The ecosystem we are creating is to take away the intimidation of trying a new sport like skateboarding and letting everybody come together as one,” Brooks said. “The goal is to reach a point where everyone co-exists, and a girl skateboarder is not seen just as a ‘girl skateboarder’ but that everyone, no matter how they identify, is a ‘skateboarder.’”

To get there, Brooks says, Woodward will hire more female coaches and counselors and increase the number of women VIPs it brings to its camps.

“By doing so, we can provide everyone with an experience they can’t get anywhere else and to skate and ride with more women and girls than they can at home,” Brooks said.