An award winning evidence-based program to enhance the physical and emotional wellbeing of girls
Since 2015, Daughters & Dads has been encouraging girls and their dads to play sports together like cricket, football and basketball. It’s an evidence-backed program delivering life-changing results to girls, dads and families.
WestCycle is pleased to bring bike riding into the self-esteem boosting program in Western Australia for the first time, with support from the University of Newcastle and Healthway. It kicks off in January 2024.
The 9-week program is structured for girls aged 5-11 years old with a combination of theory and practical sessions. It teaches fathers/father figures positive parenting strategies and how to become an effective coach and mentor and to engage their daughters in sport.
Daughters develop critical thinking skills and build their confidence, bravery and resilience; while at the same time developing closer relationships with their fathers as they progress through the program, while experiencing the joy of cycling and enhancing their bike riding skills and capacity.
A key program element is to challenge parental bike safety concerns that frequently block kids riding to school and riding bikes more often.
The Benefits
- Fathers (or father figures) are taught key parenting and coaching skills to improve their daughter’s sports skills and social-emotional wellbeing
- Daughters make rapid skill improvements as they work with Dad as their ‘personal coach’
- Daughters and dads are empowered to recognise and address gender prejudice in sport and broader life
- Daughters and dads are given the skills and encouragement to ride more often for transport and leisure
The Program
Daughters and Dads Cycling is a 9-week health and wellbeing program.
The first session is a 2-hour dads-only session covering:
- The unique influence of fathers/father-figures
- Unique challenges our daughters face
- Engaging your daughter in cycling
- Maintaining your bike
Daughters and dads then attend together for the following eight weeks. Each week includes an Empower Session and Active Session. The Empowerment Sessions focus on developing daughters’ social-emotional wellbeing skills, understanding of cycling, how to ride safely and how to maintain their bikes.
The Active Sessions include rough and tumble play, cycling skill practice and cycling games.
Why Daughters & Dad Cycling?
- Only one in three cyclists in Australia are female
- Engages girls in a more supportive/safe cycling environment
- Opportunity to teach dads to effectively coach/engage their daughters
- High quality program where girls have greater involvement, learn useful safety and maintenance skills, gain motivation and have fun!
- Dads can accelerate their daughters skill development through 1-on-1 coaching, demonstrations and physical play
- Provides a program that is more than just practical skills (e.g. Empowerment Sessions to increase social-emotional skills)
- Opportunity to enhance girls’ social-emotional wellbeing through cycling and quality time with their dad/father figure
- Includes a home program to increase engagement and affinity with cycling and bonding between daughter and dad
- Empowers girls (and dads) to address gender inequity
Interested in participating?
For more information about Daughters & Dads please contact Sarah Nisbet on (08) 6336 9688 or [email protected]
