SIA Snowsports Industries America said the Recreation Outdoor Initiative (ROI) it sponsors would host the first National Youth Summit on Saturday during its annual trade show in Denver. ROI members work to make certain 50,000 youth are involved in winter sports each season. The group was scheduled to convene the summit at SIA’s Snow Show in Denver Saturday to discuss how to ensure that one million new youth are involved in winter sports by 2020.
Hundreds of Denver students who have participated in winter sports programs were invited to gather at the Colorado Convention Center to listen to speakers discuss the importance of getting more youth in winter sports activities. After the event, they departed to enjoy a day of skiing and snowboarding at Copper Mountain and Keystone Resort.
Speakers for the Youth Summit included former and current heads of SIA and National Ski Areas Association, who discussed efforts by manufacturers, retailers and resorts to get kids in winter sports.
The summit, which SIA had been working on for more than a year, is one of growing array of initiatives aiming to increase youth participation and engagement in outdoor recreation. On Jan 22, Outdoor Foundation Executive Director Christine Fanning unveiled plans at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market show in Salt Lake City for a broad campaign that will culminate in the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit and Festival in Central Park in New York City later this year. Craig Mackey, OIA’s director of government affairs, was in Denver Friday helping SIA prepare for its summit, said Arn Menconi, of SOS Outreach, a Colorado based organization that promotes youth participation in outdoor recreation.
The Outdoor Foundation, a non-profit organization established by Outdoor Industry Association, is working with a broad coalition of government, non-profits and corporations from the outdoor, healthcare and health insurance industries to recruit delegates from all 50 states to its Outdoor Nation summit.
