Friday morning, students at Park City’s Winter Sports School cheerfully waited for ski race legend and Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn to visit.
As her arrival approached, the number of students and level of excitement grew larger. Vonn showed up with a contagious smile matching the ear-to-ear grins of the kids.
Head of School Tess Miner-Farra thanked Vonn for her partnership and presented her with an honorary diploma from the school. The partnership is the first of its kind, integrating the Lindsey Vonn Foundation’s #STRONGgirls accredited curriculum — which focuses on mind, body, relationships, confidence, grit and leadership — to the school’s annual advisory curriculum.
Aiming to foster connections between upper- and lower-classmen, the foundation’s curriculum will include the entire student body. In conjunction with training from the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, juniors and seniors will serve as the curriculum leaders, the school said.
That morning, the conversation revolved around empowerment through sports and mentorship.
Meeting Olympic skier Picabo Street, another Park City resident, when she was 9 inspired Vonn to try to become an Olympian herself.
“I want to give back what she gave to me,” Vonn said, explaining that many athletes are in a position to inspire and help but choose not to.
Speaking about the program’s six core values, Vonn highlighted grit as the most important.
“Grit is the passion and perseverance that helps us overcome obstacles and strive to be our best self,” she said. “Grit is not about succeeding. It’s not about winning the Olympics. It’s about trying your best no matter what is thrown at you.”
She said her foundation aims to help every girl unlock her inner grit, hard as that is.
“We provide resources to build self confidence, inner strength and community. We empower girls to help them tackle challenges and pursue their passions,” Vonn said.
Foundation ambassadors — including twin snowboarders Barrett and Devin Hendrix, ski racers Sofia Leveratto and Emily Grace and Olympic snowboarder Tessa Maud — spoke about their personal experience with the foundation’s core values and how they themselves have found growth through them.
“Just having the opportunity to get this message out to young girls and be able to inspire the next generation has been absolutely amazing,” Barrett said.
She spoke about the core value of “Strong Body.” Having suffered an extensive ACL injury that removed her from the sport for 11 months, Barrett emphasized the need for young athletes to stand up for themselves when they feel something is not right. Barrett said with her injury it all came down to not listening to her body.
“I knew I shouldn’t have been doing what I was doing, but I had outside influences … and people putting pressure on me. But I knew it was wrong. I knew the conditions were wrong, and honestly, now looking back, I would just listen to what I knew and not even hit the course that run,” Barrett said. “In Lindsey’s curriculum, she says strong is beautiful. Strong body means standing up for yourself and doing what is best for your body. No two bodies are the same, and that’s what makes everybody so special.”
Maud spoke about “Strong Mind.”
“As a competitive athlete and student, you have a lot going on and life can get hectic,” Maud said. “It’s so important to learn to trust your gut. … When you have coaches and people in your life that are giving their input, it’s really important that you listen to yourself, listen to your body and put your needs first.”
“We’re creating a world where girls know they can achieve greatness, not just in sport, but in life,” Barrett said. “Let’s do this together.”
The announcement of the partnership between the Lindsey Vonn Foundation and the Winter Sports School comes as the school raises funds to expand its campus to create more opportunities and resources available to students. The 8,732 square-foot. expansion plans feature an amphitheater, additional classrooms, bathrooms and a communal space.
To learn more about the Winter Sports School and the Lindsey Vonn Foundation partnership, visit wintersportsschool.org and lindseyvonnfoundation.org.
