The Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table hosted hundreds of female high school and college athletes at Monday’s belated celebration of National Women & Girls in Sports Day at Earl Warren Showground.
Olympic bronze medalist bobsledder and Santa Barbara resident Erin Blumert headlined the event by sharing her journey as a woman in sports at the highest of levels and giving advice to the next generation.
Before Blumert took the stage, Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table president Alison Bernal highlighted Title IX and the importance of women in sports within the Santa Barbara community and the world as a whole.
It has now been 52 years since the passage of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.
Title IX has allowed countless female athletes to have their dreams realized, including Blumert and the athletes in attendance at Monday’s Women in Sports Luncheon.
Blumert, now the co-owner of Prevail Conditioning, earned a bronze medal at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics as a driver on the two-woman bobsled team.
“I had a coach the week before the Olympics tell me that I wasn’t good enough and I didn’t deserve to be where I was, I was just fast,” Blumert said. “So I got a little revenge and I told him thanks for pushing me… that drove me.”
A track & field athlete in college, Blumert had a coach recommend bobsledding to her before having any experience with the sport. She decided to give it a shot, and it’s safe to say that it paid off.
“Be flexible and open to a coach, a teacher or someone that’s training you,” Blumert advised the group of young female athletes. “If they see something in you and recommend something, look into it, don’t be afraid and take risks.
“If I never took that risk to go and try out for [bobsledding], I would never be an olympian with a medal today.”
While Blumert was able to shed light on her career and her experience being a woman in professional sports, she left the next generation of women in sports with one lasting message of encouragement and advice.
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Blumert said. “If you have a dream, go for it and enjoy the moments while you’re there because it will go very fast.”
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