In December of 2020, SCARPA launched our first ever SCARPA Athlete Mentorship Initiative (SAMI). This program was created to connect and engage the SCARPA Athlete team with accomplished athletes from historically marginalized communities, aspiring to take their sport or career to the next level. The mission of this initiative is to connect mentors with mentees, focused on the sports we serve, to provide participants with opportunities for personal, social, athletic and career development with the goal of helping to create a more inclusive and diverse community of athletes. 

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In May of 2022, we kicked off our second year of the program with 21 selected mentees. We are excited to not only have the support of 20 SCARPA athlete mentors, but to also have last year’s SAMI alumni mentees on board to contribute to the community of this year’s class. We are just beginning to uncover the new mentee’s hopes, dreams, and challenges and cannot wait to learn from them. The next year will be filled with mentor trainings, mentee workshops, individual education sessions, in-person meet ups, climbing, running, and skiing togther. We are very excited to see where the rest of the year takes this group and how we will evolve the program to be even better for next year.

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Please keep your eyes out for aspiring athletes in your territory that identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ, disabled or another historically marginalized community and have a strong passion for mountain athletics or climbing. If they want to learn from professional athletes how to excel to the highest levels of their discipline, refine their skills, and/or solidify a career as a professional athlete or brand ambassador, you can recommend that they apply for the 2023 program!