Competitor being cheered-on during tire toss

By Dori Modney and Photojournalist Brandyn Montgomery

Flipping 300 lb tires – just one of the competitions at Femsport

Jun 21, 2019 | 4:07 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Femsport! What is it? Well, in a nutshell, it involves some feminine members of our society, involved in very specific, very intense…. sporting events.

There are ladies from Lethbridge involved – lots of them – and they’re headed to a competition in Calgary on Saturday (June 22).

The events the women compete in include flipping a gigantic tire, dragging another weighing 120-lbs, performing burpees with a 40-lb sandbag, a sprint carrying heavy kettle-bells, running an obstacle course, and jumping up and down off a 45-centimeter-high box up to 50 times — among other rigorous pursuits.

Most of the events involve women competing side-by-side in teams of three, in six main events. However, there is also a solo event which involves pushing a truck.

Femsport – pushing a truck

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And… the women are looking forward to the challenges!

Sherri Otis and Justin Dursma, from local gym, #Perfectfit4u, are leading a group of 20 to Calgary.

Otis also plans to compete alongside her team. But she says they aren’t alone in their pursuit.

“There are other gyms in Lethbridge that are sending people as well, so about a total of 150 women and about half of those (are) coming from Lethbridge.”

For the past weeks, the women have been in training to develop best-times. Otis notes that the group is made up of a diverse mix of women of different ages and abilities, but they are all united by determination.

“I am mostly looking forward to the women seeing what they are capable of. They’ve been training hard for the last twelve weeks – evening practices, early mornings, Saturdays, extra one-on-one sessions. I really think they’re going to amaze themselves.”

Of the 20-women headed to Calgary, four of them are competing at the Masters level for those over the age of 40.

“It’s inspiring – for most of the women on our team, this is a first-time experience for them, they’ve committed to something completely outside of their comfort zone and have embraced the journey.”

Otis explained that they do have women who are more competitive in nature.

“They are there with the goal to win a medal, those who want to successfully complete all the events, and those who are just going to experience the camaraderie of the team”

“Events like this are just really cool because they kinda follow the social trend that’s happening right now of getting away from it being aesthetics and having to look a certain way.”

“Lots of people are getting away from what they call fat-shaming, said Otis, “this is like being more about strength is beauty, versus looking a certain way – it’s about how you feel, how strong you are, it’s about what you can accomplish and you have a goal in mind – something to train towards – that’s what I like about the event the best.”

Samantha Paradee is in her third year of competition at Femsport.

“In my first year, actually, I placed first in the novice category with my team – #PerfecftFit4U – which was wonderful.”

“Then last year I actually got put in two weeks before (the competition) and had no training time what-so-ever, so I’m comparing my current times (from last year when I wasn’t training) and 12 weeks of really good, hard training with our athletes and our coaches, who have given so much of their time, love and energy to us, which means I’m doing personal bests every single day.”

“I think all women should get involved in it” said Paradee. ”It’s a great community and it’s a camaraderie that we build together – it’s completely amazing. We encourage women to come out and join us, have a good time and push your own limits.”

Femsport competitors from#Perfectfit4U