Recognizing that parkour tends to be a male-dominated discipline, we are offering a mentoring program for women, to provide additional support.
Mentors:
*are traceuses with some experience who are willing to share their knowledge
*can also be mentorees of another traceuse if they so choose
*provide support, advice, and assistance to mentorees
*need not be "advanced" level traceuses but should have enough experience to feel confident/comfortable guiding others
Mentorees:
*are traceuses of any experience level who desire mentoring from a fellow traceuse
*can also be mentors to another traceuse if they so choose
*seek support, advice, and assistance as needed from mentors
Hallmarks of the mentor/mentoree relationship are:
*trust
*confidentiality
*positive support
*teaching and learning (this is bidirectional)
*collaboration
After a minimum of three months of working together, either party in a mentor/mentoree pairing can request a new mentor or mentoree if the current pairing is untenable. This reassignment is considered "no fault" and no questions will be asked about the reasons for the request. This is in place to ensure that mentor/mentoree relationships are based on compatability and effective collaborative relationship.
All personal information shared between mentors/mentorees (such as contact information, etc.) is kept strictly confidential. Confidentiality is necessary to ensure that mentor and mentoree can collaborate in an environment of trust, to ensure effective training and support.
Mentors and Mentorees need not be in the same geographic region to work together. It is up to the mentor/mentoree pair to determine their best method of communication and how often to interact. It is strongly recommended that mentor/mentoree pairs communicate regularly, such as bi-weekly, or monthly, to ensure consistent communication and relationship building.
As soon as a mentor/mentoree pair is assigned, both parties will be notified via PM.
The mentor should contact the mentoree within 48 hours of the assignment, via PM, to introduce herself and initiate contact. After initial contact, it is up to each mentor/mentoree pair to establish a preferred means of communication and a regular schedule for "checking in" with one another (on top of any general questions or guidance that may arise in between times). Bi-weekly (once every two weeks) is a good starting frequency. It is recommended that both parties choose a specific day for their "check in" time. Mentors should always initiate the "check in" communication.
The mentor is the initial "go to" person for questions. So if a mentoree has a question about training, diet, jams, techniques, anything at all; she can contact her mentor if that is preferable to posting a question on the forums. This means the mentor must be intimately familiar with the forums, in order to direct the mentoree to the appropriate place (if the answer can be found here); alternatively, of course, the mentor can and should share personal experience, advice from other sources, etc. Whatever is needed to best guide the mentoree.
Often the mentor and mentoree struggle to identify what kind of help the mentoree may need. Some topics for the mentor to consider addressing with the mentoree are:
Training: goal-setting, advice, program design, encouragement
Diet: advice, tracking, directing towards resources
Parkour History and Culture
Jam etiquette and "what to expect," travel arrangements, etc.
Shoes
General issues: being a woman in a male-dominated discipline (pros and cons), social aspects, training differences, etc.
Common ground with prior experience (martial arts, gymnastics, etc.)
Parkour technique: video critiques/exchanges can be especially helpful here, particularly if the mentor and mentoree are not geographically close
TO PARTICIPATE:
Please be sure you read and understand the procedures, outlined above. I want to keep this relatively simple and flexible but still give some structure to facilitate interaction and the fostering of relationships. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or suggestions for how to improve things.
Post in this thread to be matched to a mentor and/or mentoree. Be sure to use the following format:
*APK username/forum name
*Location (to the degree you feel comfortable: "Mountain Time Zone," or "Southwestern United States," are just as acceptable as "Denver, CO." Go with what you feel most comfortable sharing.)
*Requesting a mentor or Volunteering to be a mentor?
*I would prefer it if my mentor/mentoree would contact me via (PM, email, phone, other) <--please choose one. If you have specific information such as a phone number, AIM handle, or email address, do NOT post it here. You can share that information with your mentor/mentoree in your first PM exchange after your pairing has been assigned.
*Practicing parkour since:
*Other athletic/physical experience: (be as detailed as you care to)
*(Mentorees) Please list any specific goals and/or concerns you have about your parkour practice:
*(Mentors) Please list any specific expertise, knowledge, or experience that you have (parkour related or otherwise) that may be of benefit/interest to a mentoree:
*Do you have a specific mentor/mentoree that you would prefer to be paired with? (Please simply say "yes" or "no." You can share that person's name with me in a PM)
*Any additional comments:
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As we go along, I will update this first post with all of our mentor/mentoree pairings so people can see who is working with whom. As usual, please feel free to post suggestions/comments/etc. for how to improve this process. It's definitely a work in progress.
Happy training, ladies!
Current pairings as of 5/27/08:
Phytolith/MiniPK
Phytolith/FourEleven
Muse_of_Fire/Kaya
Muse_of_Fire/WandererInGray
HaiWolfe/sharpjo
