Girls at Play

Anna is a professional kayaker, a world class athlete, and an inspirational woman who has gone above and beyond to give something back to the sport of women's paddling.  As the principal and founder of "Girls at Play" she has devoted her recent career to becoming the kayak industries foremost ambassador to women.  With two instructional videos under her belt, a nationwide clinic tour, international paddling trips and women specific instructor training programs, there is little Anna hasn't done to increase women's foothold in the sport of whitewater kayaking.

While she enjoys paddling with guys, she also stresses the important of paddling with other women.  It's important to find a good, supportive group of paddlers who are sensitive to your needs as a beginner and who are out there to have fun. "Too often I've seen women give up kayaking because their first few experiences on the river were with a group of more experienced men who were not conscious of the intimidation factor for beginners." "It really does make a difference in your confidence when you paddle with women." 

Confidence is something Anna talks a lot about.  "Kayaking takes more psychological strength than physical strength," says Anna, "so it's important to build your confidence." While Anna is quick to point out "You don't have to be a daredevil to enjoy the river", it is hard to find a kayaker of any experience level who hasn't had fear issues at one time or another and Anna is no exception. Her programs acknowledge the fact that men and women deal with fear differently and talk about the best ways to manage those differences on the river.  "I have seen women come into the sport, not gaining a lot of confidence. I try and make kayaking accessible to women." Her kayak video series for women, called "Girls At Play," not only offers practical how-to advice, but also features interviews with women on how they deal with the mental aspect of kayaking. 

Women's only whitewater camps offer women the chance to learn and improve their skills in a fun, supportive environment, which can go a long way toward building confidence.  These programs tend to be low on pressure and intimidation and high on support and fun.  For those paddlers who have been bitten by the paddling bug and are looking to progress to the next level Anna offers camps like "DIVAS wear skirts" which offer in-depth instruction, a 5:1 teacher ratio and video analysis.  Seeing-is-believing; and video taping allows you to "see for yourself what you need to work on and how you can improve". Viewing videos with other students allows you to "compare their technique to yours to figure out how you can get better."

The sight of whitewater can get your heart racing like a double shot of espresso in the morning.  Confidence in your abilities and an understanding of your emotions can help turn that pulse into invigorating excitement rather than crippling fear.  While you rarely ever see Anna without a smile, her grin seems to grow even more abundant when she talks about former students who have shared their experiences of building personal confidence and enriching their lives through kayaking.

Anna was a bronze medalist at the 2001 Freestyle Kayaking World Championships, and five year member of the Canadian National Freestyle team. As a professional whitewater kayaker and international guide she's worked and paddled in Canada, the U.S., Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Australia and Austria. She contributes as a freelance writer to whitewater publications and websites.