LAGUNA BEACH, CA - YM Magazine announced it is continuing as title sponsor of the Op Girls Learn To Ride (OPGLTR) program through 2005. Op GLTR, the original series of girls-only action sports clinics in North America, is entering its 5th year with an impressive lineup of more than 100 events, including instructional clinics and camps taught by top professional athletes in skateboarding, snowboarding, motocross, surfing, and wakeboarding. Due to overwhelming requests from past Op GLTR participants, bicycle motocross (BMX) racing, BMX freestyle clinics and mountain biking will be added to the program this year.
Op GLTR has also announced that YM magazine, the leading lifestyle publication for young women, will be the new presenting sponsor for the series. In addition to providing marketing support, the magazine will create an on-site YM Lounge at 15 Op GLTR events in 2004. Joining YM will be sponsors EcoLips, Honda, Sg magazine, Racer X magazine, Wakeboarding magazine, Active.com and STA Travel.
³Op Girls Learn to Ride was as successful as we could possibly have hoped, and the sold-out attendances confirm the programıs relevance to womenıs action sports,² says Michael Marckx, Op vice president of marketing and advertising. ³These types of clinics are critical to the growth of the action sports industry and inasmuch as the promoted fun and comfortable means for girls and women to learn action sports, sharing in the spirit and activities that are the foundation of the lifestyle.²
Adds YM publisher Joan Sheridan, "We're delighted to be the Presenting Sponsor of the Op Girls Learn To Ride program. This is an exciting time for us at YM. Our readers are passionate about everything they do. They know who they are, they know what they like and they know where they want to be. The Op Girls Learn To Ride program gives our readers a chance to celebrate their "action" side."
Op GLTR has also formed new partnerships this year, including RaceGirl BMX League, Women of Freestyle, ESPN X Games Skate parks, Vans Skateparks, MGT Snowboarding Camps, MTBChick, Surf Academy, Womenıs Only Mountain Biking, Maui Surf Girls, the Pro Wakeboarding Tour and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation to ensure young women are provided with information on the organizations that shape each sport. Op GLTR will also continue to work with industry leaders such as the Womenıs Motorcross Foundation, the Honda Rider Educational Centers, Woodward Camp, Surf Diva, Lou Marescaıs Central Florida Surf School, Wake Chicks, Charlie Pattersonıs Mission 2 Ride, Live 2 Ride, Racer X Illustrated and ski resorts throughout North America. As in previous years, a portion of the proceeds from all events will benefit the Boarding For Breast Cancer Foundation, which supports breast cancer research.
Op GLTRıs continued growth includes a record number of participants this past year, as hundreds of females from ages 4 to 65 have signed up for lessons. The growing popularity of actions sports among women is also strongly evidenced in the retail sector where juniors action sports brands are on the verge of overtaking young menıs labels in sales volume (as reported by TW Surf Business, Sept. 2003).
³This year we have seen unprecedented growth in attendance, selling out 94 percent of the clinics with a 65 percent increase in attendance over the previous year. We will continue to add more clinics and camps to meet this growing need, says Mark Sperling, founder and event director of Op Girls Learn To Ride. The contributions and guidance weıve received from Op and other industry leaders has taken these events to a whole new level, and itıs through their support that we can continue to grow participation in these sports.
Op Girls Learn To Ride (Op GLTR), the original series of girls-only action sports clinics, is designed to give females of all ages the basic skills and confidence necessary to participate in skateboarding, surfing, motocross, wakeboarding, BMX, mountain biking and snowboarding. In this program, skilled professionals provide hands-on training with an emphasis on safety and skill development. Now in its fifth year, Op GLTR has taught thousands of girls and women a new action sport. The program will host over 100 events throughout the United States and Canada in 2004.
About YM
Published 12 times annually and with a circulation of 2.2 million, YM is Your Magazine - an independent teen brand that's free to be itself. We are the leading sourcebook for teenage girls. YM covers it all - beauty, boys, stars and style - with a smart, irreverent, authentic teen voice that tells it like it is. In the pages of YM, readers see themselves and find the confidence to be themselves. We give millions of girls the power to declare their own independence. YM can be found online at www.ym.com. and is published by Gruner + Jahr USA, a part of Bertelsmann AG, which publishes 120 magazines in 14 countries.
About Op
Launched in 1972, Ocean Pacific Apparel Corporation (Op) was the first surfboard manufacturer to create an apparel line to meet the demands of surfers in and out of the water. The brand was the first action sports company, the progenitor of "West Coast living," and the originator of what is now known as the "active lifestyle industry."
The Company now stands as the largest privately-held and most recognized action sports apparel brand in the world and proffers a broad array of product extensions targeted at the youth culture and its attendant preoccupations young and young-at-heart.
Through manufacture of goods ranging from apparel and footwear to fragrances and accessories, and sponsorship of world-class sporting events and athletes, Op continues to remain true to its mission: to create quality active-lifestyle products with genuine value, authenticity and style.
