Stonefit Clinic
Stonefit Clinic: Conference in San Francisco Educates Female Athletes
Words: Pip Hunt
Photos: Lynsey Dyer
“I never knew you could be an elite athlete in ten minutes,” says Claire Smallwood, president of SheJumps, a non-profit organization that aims to increase the participation of women in outdoor activities through mentorship and coaching. SheJumps joined forces with Dr. Kevin Stone of the Stone Clinic in San Francisco on Friday and Saturday, September 19th-20th, for the first Stonefit Clinic, a pro-athlete conference for women. Attended by skiers, snowboarders, surfers, kayakers, mountain bikers, sailors and Olympians, the two-day clinic aimed to have top agents, sponsors and successful athletes teach each other the business tools necessary to build a successful career. “No one has ever done anything like this before,” says SheJumps founder and pro-skier Lynsey Dyer. “We just made a wish list of what questions we could all benefit from asking and went from there.”
The sessions started each morning with an introduction to Crossfit, a core strength and conditioning program built on a variety of functional movements at high intensity. Through the introduction to Crossfit, Dr. Stone educated the athletes about nutrition, health, and injury prevention. Jen Hudak, a Winter X Games Supepipe skier, is a veteran of injury recovery. She has been training and exercising all summer with her trainer and still felt the burn from the eight-minute Crossfit work-out. “The Crossfit workouts are an excellent way to get your entire body working together to accomplish an intense goal in a short period of time,” says the 22 year-old Hudak. “They usually take between five to 20 minutes to complete after about a 15- to 20-minute warm-up. So I'll usually still mountain bike or go climbing or play some other sport later in the day.”
After lunch at the Fort Mason Conference Building, everybody turned their attention to the vast array of speakers. The speakers varied from pro athletes, such as sailor Dawn Riley and bad-ass mountain bike guru Marla Shreib, to media representatives, agents, marketing directors, and athletes who have maximized their athletic endeavors by creating a business around their name, such as Franz Weber, former world record holder in speed skiing gone sports agent. Deb Friedman, former marketing director for Burton Women—the first person to hold this job title at the company—inspired all of us through her enthusiasm, understanding, and commitment to women’s participation in action sports. Not only did she state that women collectively underestimate their value within a company, but claimed that, “it is a great time to be a women.” She continued by adding, “Now that women are finally being invited to participate in a legitimate way and more female athletes are filling editorial pages and TV time at the X Games, Grand Prix’s and Olympics, womens businesses are growing and they are growing fast,” said Friedman. She encouraged the women to be aggressive and to believe in themselves, but that patience and humility are key to working with companies on a sponsorship level. While we may be able to attain the fitness level of elite athletes in ten minutes, our potential careers will require much more patience.
The inaugural Stonefit clinic was a huge success. In a day where female participation in action sports is a rapidly growing demographic, the Stonefit Clinic taught the women how to maximize their marketing potential while fostering a sense of community within action sports. “We had so much fun together!” gushed Lynsey. “I could feel the energy build throughout the weekend within each individual as it opened each girl's perspective on the potential of her career and beyond that. I also watched as we came from individuals who really didn't know each other outside of competition to a community.” Angeli VanLaanen, another Winter X Games Superpipe skier, agreed. “We became a sort of super team and I know that support will help us all throughout our careers."