Kawasaki Womens Motocross School of Champions

As most enthusiasts probably know, the popularity of motocross has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. Participation in the sport has grown by over 300% in the last decade. But a statistic you may not know is that 40% of that growth is women. Female participation in motocross is at record highs, and it has naturally followed that more products than ever are being created for and marketed towards us. As a result, opportunities for women in motocross have never been better. A shinining example comes from Rick Johnson and Mercedes Gonzales recently teaming up with Kawasaki for the Women's Motocross School of Champions.

Rick Johnson and Mercedes Gonzales, both legends of the sport in their own right, teamed up in creating a riding school out of Irvine, California called the Motocross School of Champions. While their schools are usually men by a vast majority, both Rick and Mercedes agreed that they thought there was a special need for women. Kawasaki also felt the need to give more attention and support to female riders, so the Kawasaki Women's Motocross School of Champions was born.

Heather Lewis (Jimmy's wife) and I both received invitations to the event which took place at Lake Elsinore Motocross Park. Also on the guest list were some of the most recognizable females in the industry: Miki Keller of the WMA, Pro motocrossers Elizabeth Bash and Kadie Garrett, Former Host of Dirt Rider Adventures Molly Culver, and veteran woman motocross racer Gale Webb (a.k.a. America's Sports Mom).

The School of Champions offered a safe, confortable environment from the very start—I discovered that when I didn't get in trouble for showing up late. (oops!) The experience levels of all the girls ranged from beginner to Pro level. But Rick and Mercedes made it clear that the point was not who was better or faster than anyone else. It was about everyone—no matter what their skill level—taking a step forward by the end of the day.

"The goal here isn't to make [the girls] faster, but to make them more confident," Rick Johnson explained, "With confidence comes speed, with knowledge comes speed. The key is to make them understand what they're doing right and what they're doing wrong."

The school was separated into two groups, one taught by Mercedes and Jeff Emig and the other by Rick and Destry Abbott. It was really cool to see people like Abbott and Emig come out to support women in our sport. Heather and I were both in Rick's group; he was encouraging and patient with the girls, even when gently reminding us (...I mean them) not to sexually harass his assistant.

We did drills on simple techniques like stopping, flat turns, berm turns and jumping. Drills like this can sound very basic—even mundane, but when you can perfect these basic moves, you can then start to put them together into more complex techniques.

At the end of the day, we had all picked up a lot. Plus, we all had a great time. Rick and Mercedes really hit it on the head when it comes to teaching girls. We learn differently; we respond to encouragement. After riding with almost entirely guys for years, even I had forgotten how important that can be. I've learned to take not getting run off the track as a sign of encouragement, and a lack of criticism as a compliment. All the "great job!" comments and high fives really made for a fun, relaxing environment (a pleasant change of pace)! Many guys don't understand a girl's constant need for comfort and encouragement, but just know that we're hard-wired that way.

"Being a woman, I understand the fears and the hesitation that women have where men don't," said Mercedes Gonzales, "Because men have the tendency to give you the tools, tell you what to do, and they're like, 'Just do it!' With women, you have to build up their confidence, and assure them that nothing's going to go wrong."

Toward the end of the day we did round-about introductions. Gale Webb was the last to introduce herself and brought up her past and being a woman rider for so many years. She really put it into perspective how far we've come in a sincere speech. She said that if someone had told her ten years ago that she'd be here under a factory tent with this many girl riders, all in the industry and all wearing gear made for women, she wouldn't have believed it. It prompted all of us to look around at eachother and realize that women truly have come a long way in our sport.

Opportunities now are better than they've ever been, and still getting better every day. There are products, gear, race divisions, series' and now schools dedicated just to girls, so if you've been waiting for the best time to jump out on the track, now's the time!

The School - Not Just for Girls!

Rick Johnson and Mercedes Gonzales' Motocross School of Champions is for everyone—not just for girls.

"We are going to do some all-women schools, but the majority of them would be combination and/or all-male schools. We don't exclude women from them, but when we have a women's class, we exclude the men."

To find out more about the Motocross School of Champions, visit RJMX.com.