We are living during an inflection point in sport, in which women are breaking barriers, generating excitement, and showing that not just equity but excellence is possible. This is true across multiple sports: soccer, basketball, gymnastics, ultrarunning, and more. Likewise, it is an unprecedented moment in the history of US paragliding, when we have both more women than ever entering the sport and showing an interest in competition paragliding, and four US women in the top 10 world ranking. We’ve formed the US Women’s Paragliding Team to capitalize on this moment and ensure continued domination on the world paragliding scene.
Our intent is to change the face of US competition paragliding – to promote participation and equity and solidify institutional support for women to excel at the highest levels of the sport.
What is the Women’s Team? In order to achieve our goals of developing the next generation of pilots while breaking barriers at the top, we are instituting a nested team structure:
- Participation in the Development Team is based on declared interest, a P4 rating, and participation in at least two Category 2 race-to-goal events.
- Participation in the Competition Team is based on US NTSS ranking. To qualify a pilot must be in the top 20.
The Competition Team and Development Team together make up the US Women’s Team. Both are necessary to achieve our goals. They will work together at any competition at which at least two team members are present, as well as at additional team events. Shared goals include:
- Mentorship from Competition Team members to Development team members;
- Discussion of tactics including comp and XC strategies, team flying, and radio communication;
- Cultivation of interest in competition flying among women in the US, including through talks, fly-ins, etc.
In addition, the Competition Team’s goals include:
- Team flying at high level competitions, including but not limited to PWCs, Panamericans, and Worlds. Placement on both women’s and overall podiums at high level competitions.
- Record breaking, including but not limited to the women’s and overall world distance records.
For the remainder of 2024, we have set the following goals:
- The US Women’s Team as a whole will practice team flying and mentorship during the two US National competitions.
- We will focus on growing the Development Team through pre-competition clinics before Chelan and Red Rocks.
- The Competition Team will practice XC team flying to prepare for a first attempt at the world record in the Sertao in October.
