Project Fearless

Celebrating women who change the world 🌍 Skibidi sigma. That’s what Arisa Trew’s coach said to her right before she won gold in the women’s park skateboarding at the Paris Olympics this year… aged 14 years and 86 days. The win made her Australia’s youngest ever Olympic gold medallist 🏅 It’s the latest on her list of mega skate moments: in 2023, she was the first woman to land a 720 in a competition (2 full rotations in mid-air). And in May this year, she was the first woman to land a 900 (that’s 2.5 rotations) 🤩 “I wasn’t really nervous... I just needed to think it’s another skate comp and have fun with all my friends and skate my best. All I really wanted to do was land a solid run.”

We’re reliving the vibes from our community Fearless 5K last year… and are you ready for the 2024 edition? Sign-ups are open now! Link in comments 👇 It’s on Sunday October 13th at Amsterdamse Bos, and everyone’s welcome: all ages, all genders, all speeds 🤗 Come along and smash your 5K PB, or chat while you walk the route with your crew. The Fearless 5K’s about what moving means for you — and for a social weekend and a good cause, too. We’re going bigger and more Fearless this year, so come move with us! 🤸 Psssttt… not based in Amsterdam, or away that day? Sign up as a remote runner and do your 5K wherever you are in the world 🗺️

*Amsterdam* Autumn course sign-ups are open! Link in comments 👇 Our programs start the week of September 16th, and we're excited to welcome new and returning faces. Check out what’s on this season… Amsterdam Centrum: ♻️🧵 Sustainable Sewing - ages 12-14 (tbc) 🎨 ARTivism - ages 9-12 🧗🏽♀️ Bouldering - ages 9-11 & 12-14 (free) 🥊 Kickboxing - ages 9-12 🛹 Skate & Create - ages 9-11 & 12-14  👟 Run Club - ages 9-14 (free) Amsterdam Nieuw-West: ⚽ Football - ages 9-14 (free) 🥊 Kickboxing - ages 9-12 (free) 🛹 Skate & Create - ages 9-14 (free) 🥊 And Kickboxing for local women (free) Sign up now via the link in comments 🤗 With big thanks to our autumn sponsors Nike Made to Play, Here to Be and The Athlete's Foot.

Celebrating women who change the world 🌍 In 2020, Zandile Ndhlovu became South Africa's first black female certified freediving instructor 🇿🇦 She was always a minority on the dive boats she went out on — and knew she wanted to use her qualification to change that, making sure children of colour have access to the ocean. So Zandile set up the Black Mermaid Foundation from Cape Town, South Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans come together 🌊 It runs ocean-exploring programs for kids across the country, where they learn to swim and discover the huge underwater ecosystem known as the African Sea Forest 🐠 “Representation is powerful. When we see ourselves in spaces we were told we don't belong, we begin to believe in the limitless possibilities of our own potential.” Inspo: https://lnkd.in/emGTA8ru

It’s baaack! Sign up now for the Fearless 5K 2024: https://lnkd.in/eXBgfR4T   Join our community fundraiser run on Sunday October 13th @ Amsterdamse Bos. Everyone’s welcome: all ages, all genders, all run speeds 👟 Working with The Athlete's Foot, we’re stoked to host our Fearless 5K for the 2nd year in a row! Soooo… 💨 Give your regular weekend run a Fearless twist — and smash that PB  🤗 Take it as a low-key jog, whatever pace you like  👀 Walk the route and have your group’s weekend catch-up as you go Our standard entry fee is €25, and all the money we raise will support more girls and kids to join our after-school programs. Entry includes your exclusive Fearless 5K 2024 t-shirt, timer chip and post-race snacks 😋 Not based in Amsterdam, or busy on October 13th? Run your 5K wherever you are in the world, whatever day you can. We had 50 remote runners tag in last year, from Mexico to Japan 🗺️ Get your spot here: https://lnkd.in/eXBgfR4T Got questions? Reach out to [email protected] Let's move!

New moves and bigger comfort zones 🧗♀️ This summer at Bouldering, our Fearless crew learned how to fall safely. It’s a key skill to protect yourself, but also so you’re not afraid of taking calculated risks — and so you can feel comfortable with the fact that falling is part of being a stronger climber 🙌 We played our Lucky Game to get the crazy moves flowing, where the kids rolled a die and then did the challenge matched to their number. 5 was using your foot like a hand to get to a new point and 6 was daring to jump to a hold instead of reaching for it 😲 Because of the work we did on falling, the kids felt more confident trying out new bouldering moves and expanding their comfort zones 🤗 And — because of a *lot* of requests (even a few 11-year-olds who said they’d sue us if we didn’t open up Bouldering for our older age group 😆) we’re starting new sessions for ages 12-14 this autumn!

Rotterdam: We’re looking for basketball Coaches and dance Coaches to join us this autumn! We think the best way to inspire our girls and kids is to give them Coaches who are accessible role models. That way, they can see what’s possible for their own futures. Our Coaches identify with the female experience and are passionate about creating safe and empowering spaces. Whether you’re experienced or you’ve never coached before, we’ll make sure the role's a good fit for you. And our Coaches (both Head Coaches & Assistant Coaches) are paid for their time. 📍 Location: Rotterdam West  🗓️ Date: Courses run weekly from September 16th - November 11th (we’ll pick which day based on your availability)  ⏱️ Time: 17:00 - 18:30 If this sounds like a fit or you’d like more info, reach out to our newest teammate @Sophie Wodzikova at [email protected]

As it’s Amsterdam Pride, we wanted to talk about inclusive language at Project Fearless 💭 🤔 Why do we say girls and kids? We’re a supportive community that’s open to everyone. And our programs welcome girls aged 9-17, including gender-fluid and polygender people, as well as kids who are discovering their identity. So we tend to say ‘girls’ and ‘kids’ interchangeably when we write, to include all our Fearlessers. Sometimes, we do emphasise that we’re a girls-only space (for example, it’s
important for parents and guardians to know this in some communities). 🤔 What do we mean when we say we’re open to learning? We listen to the language our Fearless community uses to describe themselves, being open-minded and welcoming. We’ll keep evolving how we write and talk so that we include everyone — and we’re grateful to people who’ve shared their time, energy and insight so far. We like to crowdsource quality resources, too. Recently, a teacher in the USA reached out to us with resources her student suggested we add to one of our Pride blogs. They were great, so we did! 

We’ve heard from kids and parents that the Pride resources we’ve shared previously have been useful for them (check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eRN_q6g2) And, as more non-binary kids are joining our Fearless crew, we want to add more voices to the conversation. So we’re welcoming our Fearless friend Seb to talk about what non-binary means to them, and their own experience. Read their full answers below! 🙌 *** More about Sebastien Sutherland: They’re a cyclist, drag king, drummer and inclusion consultant originally from Scotland 🚲🌈🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 They’re the founder of Queer Wheels Cycling Club and the Rapha 101 . And they’re passionate about making sport a fun and inclusive environment for everyone. Seb loves what they do because they can be themselves, and creating an environment where others can also be who they are, without fear, is the best feeling. Image cred: @federicovandone on Insta *** Q: What does non-binary mean to you? A: Being non-binary to me means having a way to understand and express how I feel and navigate the world. It has given me a lot of strength in understanding who I am. I’m someone who exists outside what we know as the gender-binary of male and female. Somewhere in between. A bit of everything but something that is much more beautifully expansive. I can express myself without feeling bound by what’s expected and follow my own path, even if that’s hard sometimes.    Q: What would you have told your younger self?  A: I would have told my younger self that yes, you are different, but that’s ok. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re exactly who you were meant to be. Someday you will be able to celebrate that and live as your true self. Despite the hard stuff it will get better, and your life will be filled with love and community! Q: What do you wish people knew about being non-binary? A: I wish people knew that it isn’t as scary as you think and we don’t have any agenda. There’s also no one way to ‘look’ or be non-binary. It’s a spectrum of gender identities! We are also not a ‘new’ thing, we have been around for thousands of years. We just choose to be ourselves and sometimes people don’t understand that, but with education and empathy we can all be in a place where people can exist as themselves. It doesn’t harm anyone to be different. We should celebrate our differences and promote a world of acceptance. 

Throwback to our spring Run Club 👟🌷 Practising taking good care of our bodies and minds, surrounded by a supportive, Fearless crew! With BIG thanks to our course sponsors The Athlete's Foot Pssstttt… we’re hosting our 2nd community Fearless 5K on October 13th in Amsterdam — a fun run open to everyone! Keep an eye out for more details coming soon 👀