-----Original Message-----
From: Susan L. Collicott <camel@serv.net>
>You know what brought out the most new women drivers to Seattle last year?
>A 'Women Only' practice. That's right, NO MEN DRIVING. We had over 30
>women show up. Most of those women had never set foot in a car to do
>anything more than go from one place to another. Most weren't fast. But
>damn, they had a blast, and a large number of them came back! And you
>know what most of them told me? They wouldn't have shown up if there had
>been men driving. They wouldn't have shown up if there had been times
>announced, or times posted. They wouldn't have shown up if there had been
>heated competition at this, their first try at autocross. They liked the
>calm, informal, low-key approach to learning about autocross. They liked
>the only-ladies format.
Same is true in CalClub. When our female RE started a Ladies Only school,
we had a good turnout (gets bigger each year) with many of them entering the
regional event the next day. And why was this started? For exactly the
reasons Susan stated. They wanted a place to try it with no or few men
around. All the instructors were women also (helps to have a large region
with several women National champs). Any men that showed up were relegated
to course working and pit crew only, no instructing. And to encourage the
men to talk their ladies into trying it, any man bringing a first timer
would get free entry into the regional next day.
Rick Brown
GT2/AP 240Z
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