With a mandate to promote gender equality in all sports run under the governance of the FIM, the FIM Women’s Commission (CFM) has a clear mission and the FIM Women’s Speedway Academy (WSA) is a major tool in its armoury.
The fourth edition of the WSA supported by HKC Koopmann, Kineo and Anlas takes place this coming Thursday and Friday (10-11 July) at Donji Kraljevec in Croatia and represents another major step forward for gender equality, highlighting the ongoing and successful collaboration between the CFM and the FIM Track Racing Commission (CCP).
“I believe we have achieved the goals we set at the start of this project, but of course there is still some way to go and I feel this fourth edition of the WSA will show that we are continuing to move in the right direction,” explained CFM Director Janika Judeika. “Hopefully there will be more and more riders joining not only the academy, but getting involved in women’s Speedway in general.”
The first WSA was held at Diedenbergen in Germany in 2022 with subsequent editions staged in Manchester, Great Britain, in 2023 and last year in Teterow, Germany. With an encouraging growth in numbers and unquestionably positive results, there is no doubt that the WSA has gained considerable traction in a short space of time.
German star Celina Liebmann is the first female competitor to race an FIM Speedway Under 21 World Championship (SGP2) event and the first women to sign for clubs in Great Britain and Poland, Liebmann has opened the door for other women racers to compete on equal terms with their male counterparts.
“This initiative began before I became the Director and I think it was a very, very good decision made together with the FIM Women’s Commission and the FIM Track Racing Commission to start this project because I believe there were doubts at first that the Speedway community was ready for something like this.
“It’s definitely a result of teamwork. Since the very beginning there has been so much work from every single person involved who have put all their efforts into bringing this project to the stage we are at now and watching how well the riders are progressing and developing is very rewarding for everyone involved. It’s also very encouraging to see the effect the WSA has on a national level and how it is helping to establish the sport for women in different. The CFM collaborate with all sporting commissions on FIM academies in other disciplines.
“Of course, we share notes between the academies. Every sport is different in some specific ways, but in many other ways they are very similar so it is very important to exchange information between the different disciplines.”
“The main objective for the FIM Women’s Commission is to provide Equal gender opportunities for both men and women in the sport. Every discipline is different and maybe what works in one sport won’t work in another so we must explore all the available options, not rush things.”