To commemorate National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the WNBA’s Changemaker Collective announced a new collaboration with VOICEINSPORT to spark the future of women in sports.
Ever since 1987, the United States has celebrated the contributions to girls and women in athletics in the first week of February. In commemorating the 37th anniversary of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the WNBA and VOICEINSPORT (VIS) announced Wednesday a partnership in collaboration with the WNBA Changemaker Collective geared toward encouraging girls to remain in sports while also developing the next generation of diverse leaders on the court and beyond the game.
With the help of partners like Nike, Google, AT&T, U.S. Bank, CarMax and Deloitte, the WNBA Changemaker Collective leverages its massive network to elevate, advance, and economically empower girls and women through the power of sports.
“At VIS, we like to say that every day is National Girls and Women in Sports Day because 100% of our time is focused on creating a safe space for young women to access resources, content, and services,” Stef Strack, VIS founder and CEO told Boardroom. “So it’s an incredible day to not only celebrate the progress that we have made so far but also bring attention to the work that is still left undone.
Added WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison: “It’s really exciting to see the fruits of the labor of Title IX being around for 50+ years. I think this next generation that’s coming up never really experienced all of the inequities the older generations did. That doesn’t mean that the work is completely done. There’s so much left to do, but it’s exciting that this next generation is so optimistic and we’re happy to support that.”
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Keeping Girls in Sports
The Women’s Sports Foundation revealed that by age 14, girls are likely to abandon sports at two times the rate of boys. While several factors contribute to this mass departure, however, one of the main factors is a lack of access to some of the basic supplies necessary to excel in athletics. To help curb this outbreak, The WNBA Changemakers shared a goal of engaging over 50,000 girls in sports in 2024 through the VIS platform.
To accelerate access, VIS recruited 12 WNBA players who will serve as official mentors for the initiative. Those names are Ariel Atkins (Washington Mystics), Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever), Alysha Clark (Las Vegas Aces), Natasha Cloud (Phoenix Mercury), Izzy Harrison (Chicago Sky), Lexie Hull (Indiana Fever), Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (New York Liberty), Haley Jones (Atlanta Dream), Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle Storm), Satou Sabally (Dallas Wings), Katie Lou Samuelson (Indiana Fever), and Erica Wheeler (Indiana Fever).
“By becoming mentors on the platform, VIS worked individually with the players and the agents to bring together a diverse set of WNBA players who are passionate about mentoring, who understand the impact of using their voice, and care deeply about keeping girls in the game,” Strack explained. “The inaugural 12 VIS mentors are diverse, they’re powerful, and they’re dedicated to not only mentoring but getting involved in driving positive change in their communities.”
Should the spirit move you to support the efforts of these young ladies from afar,” Strack continued, “there’s also a separate option to sponsor a player via VIS’s sponsorship program. You can load her VIS card with allotted funds so they can go to more one-on-one sessions with the aforementioned WNBA mentors on the platform.
So, on this National Girls and Women in Sports Day, how do we keep the momentum at an all-time high and ensure that 2024 becomes the year more monumental changes happen for the betterment of the next legends-to-be?
“I think it’s continued investment on so many different levels. For us, when we think about the WNBA, it’s continued investment from corporate partnerships and the media. It’s constant coverage, and not just for live games, but what content comes outside of the live broadcast. It’s so important that we are building the next generation of fans, not just people who support women’s sports but are actually fans. And that’s where I think we’ll continue to see this transformational growth of our league and all other leagues in women’s sports.”
Find out more information on the partnership here.
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