Retreat Will Focus on Sports for Women

Diane Loring remembers that when she was just a gangly, 6-foot-tall high school student, there weren’t any organized sports she could play.

Now, in an effort to change that and give future generations of young women the athletic opportunity she never had, Loring, 45, has organized Women Involved in Sports Evolution, or WISE.

“Women’s sports are happening every day, but we don’t hear about them too much and I’d like to see that changed,” said the owner of a Ventura spa.

Although still in its infancy, WISE hopes to stoke the development and expansion of women’s sports at the college level, raise funds for athletic scholarships and try to get media cameras focused on women’s athletics.

As part of that strategy, WISE will host a three-day women’s retreat to promote physical and mental well-being through athletics, from April 18-20 at the Pierpont Inn and Racquet Club, 550 Sanjon Road, in Ventura.

The retreat will feature guest speakers, including KABC news anchor Laura Diaz, two-time Olympic bronze medalist Kate Schmidt, Apache medicine woman Kachinas Kutenai and bodybuilder Lynn Conkwright.

Seminars at the retreat will focus on women’s health issues and will include lectures on topics ranging from menopause to yoga and instruction in tennis, racquetball and weight training.

The event will culminate with a bonfire on the beach where participants will discuss what they learned from the conference and develop strategies for meeting the organization’s goals. “It’s a place for women to learn and find out what’s available to them from experts in the field,” Loring said. “But they don’t need to be an athlete to participate.”

Registration for the conference is open to all women and will cost $50.

Loring said she was inspired to establish an organization promoting women’s athletics after watching the Olympics last summer. Loring said she was impressed by the stellar achievements of many of the women athletes, but was concerned that the public would not hear about them again until the next quadrennial round of games.

“When the Olympics ended, it was wonderful seeing so many women do so well,” she said. “But no one’s going to hear about them again, because women’s athletics don’t receive much attention.”

But Loring said she is encouraged that women’s athletics have gained some ground in recent years. For instance, the 1997 NCAA women’s basketball championship between Old Dominion University and the University of Tennessee drew more than 2 million viewers on ESPN, making it the largest audience to ever watch a basketball game on the sport’s channel.

“We really need to work to keep that momentum and make sure that even more people watch,” Loring said.

For information on WISE and the retreat, call Loring at 652-1805.