How to increase women's participation in mountain biking: The TMBC program for young girls

Toowoomba is home to some of South East Queensland's best janky trails. With names like Jared Graves shining a light on the Jubilee trail network, the town has hosted national downhill and cross country championships as well as Oceania champions events. The Toowoomba range has produced some great mountain biking talent over the years, most recently in the form of Oliver Colthup and Elle de Nooyer.

Paul and Fiona de Nooyer have been members of the club for many years, and have seen the difficulties of building a community of girls and women role models as their daughter Elle struggles to find community during her journey in the sport. Elle progressed from U17 to U19 and is now at the top of downhill and enduro as one of the only women racing in the region at national level.

Paul said when Elle was developing in the game, 'there were only two other girls up here in Toowoomba, other than that there was nobody. It can be difficult for these young girls to build relationships'.

So when the opportunity arose to cut a government grant focused on getting more women and girls into the sport, they jumped in and started the Toowoomba Mountain Bike Club's junior girls program. 'The aim is to get these girls into it, to be confident and connected' said Paul.

Targeting girls aged 8-14, Paul and Fiona had modest ambitions, hoping for at least 4 girls to sign up. Instead, they ended up with 14 girls in the first term of this program, and the next term is already almost full, proving that there is a burning need to train girls mountain bikers.

Next term's expansion depends on coaches, as Paul explained, 'it has been difficult to find coaches and training courses in Queensland. Getting people on board is the hard part, people are busy and don't want to give up their time on the weekend, so a big part of the process was finding the right people without taking money out of the coaches' pockets.'

Prioritizing strong leaders was the focus of the program 'Elle (de Nooyer) did hands-on training in the last session with the girls' and focused on bringing in female coaches where possible, as Paul explained, 'they need strong role models to look up to. who are women, who are not their father or another man.'

'Although we want a regular program for children, we started with girls first,' explained Paul, 'we will only open for boys if we have enough coaches, we will not add boys at the expense of existing girls. system. We defend well and stick to our guns, no girl should miss out because the boys are coming in.'

The girls were caught; 'The little ones talk, they like trash talk and they get along very well. The seniors have had their “cool” years…they just want to ride better at Jubilee, some of the tracks are tougher and tougher' said Paul.

And for the future? They want to increase the visibility and presence of all women on the routes, 'We want their mothers to meet and ride and participate'.

“If they feel good about looking good they will have hope”