Bend Endurance Academy starts ‘She Can’ scholarship
One rainy afternoon in the bouldering area of the Bend Rock Gym, Bend Endurance Academy Climbing Director Mike Rougeux asked Call of the Wild Adventures owner, Emilie Cortes, if she was familiar with the trend of young female athletes dropping out of competitive pursuits in their teen years.
Mike works with youth training and coaching them in endurance sports, specifically rock climbing.Emilie runs an all women’s adventure travel company and has experience guiding pre-teen and teen girls in climbing and backpacking outings.
Together, the two developed an idea to help counteract that trend.BEA will create a special scholarship aimed at female teen athletes to help support and encourage them to remain engaged in rock climbing, Nordic skiing and cycling.The scholarship will be awarded to those female teens who demonstrate both dedication and financial need.
The seed funding of $1,000 has been provided by Emilie Cortes via the Compton Foundation out of San Francisco Emilie serves as the Treasurer and has allocated a portion of her discretionary grant fund toward the She Can Scholarship.She plans to donate annually. BEA will be seeking additional funding from donors to sustain and expand the scholarship.
The name “She Can” connotes that all girls and women can be athletic, competitive, and achieve their dreams … whatever she believes she can do.
Contact Bend Endurance Academy for information on how to apply for the She Can Scholarship and how to help support the scholarship with additional funding.
ABOUT BEND ENDURANCE ACADEMY
The Bend Endurance Academy is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a mission topromote healthy living through active, outdoor experiences. We emphasize teamwork, personal growth and community responsibility.
Founded in 2009, the Academy currently features development programs for youth and juniors inRock Climbing,Nordic Skiingand Cycling. Our Youth Programs have hundreds of participants who arelearning from their coaches through teamwork, games and playful drills what it means to be an endurance athlete. The Development and Competition Teams have dozens of athletes who refine their techniques, train and who often decide to compete in fun events at least at the local level. A handfulof our most dedicated athletes arecompetitive at the national and international level.
The Academy’svision is to create healthy opportunities for anyone in our community to enjoy endurance sports. We are proud of our innovative programs, our dedicated coaching staffand our supportive families. Learn more at http://www.bendenduranceacademy.org.
