Sports mag for 10-12 year-old girls?

[KathiCville]

My boyfriend's very bright 10-year old daughter mountain bikes with her dad, loves to swim, and plays basketball (with so-so enthusiasm) at school. Her birthday is coming up and I'd love to give her a subscription to a magazine or newsletter that will stoke her athletic interests---particularly mountain biking. I think she's right at the age when a steady (but somewhat subtle) diet of photos and stories of women/girls setting athletic goals, training, and racing would get her thinking, "Hey, I can do that!"

Her dad is great about encouraging (but not pushing) her to enter the two or three local MTB kids' races in the summer---and she always does well when she's psyched. (In fact, last summer, she outpaced a boy two years older! )But when she's feeling lazy, plopping in front of the TV wins out, ack!....I'd love to "feed" her a bit of inspiration to combat the TV-itis.

Any recommendations? I think she'd get a real kick out of having her own "serious" magazine arrive in the mail.

Thanks!

[shootingstar]

Tough one, because some of the women's mags. so overtly cover gorgeous women where all look slim, etc. I'm not familiar with a sport mag exclusively for teens.

Such as: http://www.womensadventuremagazine.com/features/

I know Bicycling Magazine is dissed at times, but for a 10-14 yr. old, it might just be the thing..not sure she would be interested in the more technical aspects of cycling.

The other option, totally different if she is advanced book reader, I would choose a travelogue book written by a woman who's done some cool things. But only if she is advanced in reading skills at that age.

[michelem]

How about Sports Illustrated for Kids? Personally, I haven't looked at it, but here's a link to their website so you can check it out and see if it might be appropriate:

http://www.sikids.com/

[shootingstar]

If you haven't done this already, take her along to a bookstore with a large magazine selection plus large book sections organized by sport, travel, etc. and teens bks. also.

You might get a better feel what she will automatically gravitate towards if you not certain of her tastes at this point...which can be fickle and exploratory.

Or type of books and magazines that are cluttered around in her rm.

If it is a book or magazine, just aim for adventure and fun...especially latter. Isn't that what keeps all of us on bikes/tied to any other favourite sport?

[TrekTheKaty]

Women's Health (sister mag to Men's Health) covers a wide range and is kind of "light." Unfortunately, Her Sports, a great magazine just became a runner's mag.

[michelem]

Just a warning re shootingstar's suggestion: I've recently noticed that our local Borders bookstore is getting rid of a lot of their sports mags (no more running or cycling mags) and is increasing their selection of porn mags, placed right out in open view on their magazine racks (not behind the counter). I voiced my displeasure to the manager. She thanked me for my feedback, but said that "corporate" directed them to return many magazines, including the running and cycling mags, and cancel all future orders and that due to "free speech" there is nothing she can do about the pornos. Whatever. I just don't feel it's right they are out in the open where kids can get an eyeful (and, believe me, the adolescents/teens love to gather 'round and "tee hee" at them). No more Borders for me . . . Hopefully you have better options where you live!

[smurfalicious]

Women's Health (sister mag to Men's Health) covers a wide range and is kind of "light." Unfortunately, Her Sports, a great magazine just became a runner's mag.

I grabbed a copy of this mag a few weeks ago when there was nothing else appealing and I needed fresh bathroom material. Cool article to inspire women to ride, shortly after the piece on "Unleashing your inner sex goddess." Just a head's up it's not kid friendly unless you cut out pages with a box knife.

[KathiCville]

Great, thanks for the tips! I'll check out the suggestions. More ideas would be welcomed..........I also looked at the Women's Sports Foundation website to see if they have a pub designed for a teen audience, but no luck. The website offers a lot of interesting material for parents, coaches, teachers, but I didn't see a magazine or newsletter geared for the girls themselves.

Ideally, I'd love to find something that offers a balance of fun and serious...and keeps the "fashionista-buy-buy-buy" factor to a minimum. At age 10, she's already an expert consumer and doesn't require any more "coaching" in that skill!

[sfa]

It's not a sports magazine, but I've been impressed with American Girl, the magazine published by the same people who do the dolls. The magazine is non-commercial (except, of course, that it's part of the overall AG marketing) and focuses on age appropriate topics for girls in that age range (my DD is 10 and loves it; my niece has been getting it since she was 8--it's designed for the 8 to 12 age range). Lots of stuff about friendship, individual accomplishments and self esteem. Also lots of crafts, recipes, quizzes, games, etc. Each issue has features on girls and their accomplishments, which has included sports accomplishments. And, refreshingly, there's been nothing about celebrities, make up, boyfriends, fashion, etc. Oh, and nothing about the dolls either, except tangentially (i.e. the newest doll's story is an anti-bullying story, so there are things in the magazine about dealing with bullies.).

Sarah