Advancing the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity.
Annually, the Women's Sports Foundation offers assistance to more than 2,000 organizations - helping them with gender equity situations, teaching them how to attract and retain girls in their programs and connecting them with volunteers in their communities to teach new kinds of sports and activities to girls.
For information on individual initiatives click on the links below.
HOW WE ARE CHANGING THE WORLDThe Women's Sports Foundation: Founded by Billie Jean KingAdvocated the adoption of public policy that has:
- Increased high school sports participation opportunities for girls by 847% and college sports opportunities for women by 411% since 1972
- Mandated the equal treatment of female athletes
- Inspired millions of women to become physically active
Changed the attitudes of 500,000 girls toward physical inactivity and other risky health behaviors. (The Women's Sports Foundation's GoGirlGo! education curriculum is the winner of the 2004 National Health Information Gold Award)
Expanded physical activity opportunities for 400,000 girls in predominantly underserved and lower socio-economic areas through technical assistance and the effective deployment of cash grants and educational materials to more than 5,000 girl-serving organizations
Generated more than 1 billion media impressions annually through its research and editorial positions, creating an educated public that now accepts and encourages girls and women to play sports and be physically active
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP:
Her Life Depends On ItWe must confront the current epidemic of obesity and inactivity:
- One in 6 girls is now obese or overweight, compared to 1 in 21 in 1970.
- Girls are a greater risk for inactivity because they receive fewer opportunities to play and less encouragement than their male counterparts.
- Only one state requires mandatory daily physical education for students in grades 1 through 12.
Our media culture must encourage girls to be strong and physically active:
- By the time a girl is 17, she has seen 250,000 TV commercials focusing on female physical appearance and attractiveness.
- Fifty-three percent of 13-year-old girls are unhappy with their bodies; at 17, the number rises to 78%.
- There is a lack of role models for girls; studies reveal that only 8–11% of electronic and print media sports coverage is devoted to women's sports. Girls don't see the same strong and healthy role model images that boys see.
Our schools and colleges must comply with laws that require equal opportunities for girls and women in sports:
- Girls in high school receive 1.1 million fewer opportunities to play varsity sports than boys.
- College female athletes receive $134 million less each year in athletic sponsorships than male athletes.
WHAT WE ARE DOINGThe Solution: Our Donors' Commitment Combined with our Expertise- Getting sedentary girls moving and reducing the drop-out rate of girls who are currently involved in sport and physical activity
- Increasing racial, ethnic, disabled athlete and gender diversity in sport
- Causing the adoption of laws and school policies that install mandatory physical education and physical activity programs in schools for all children and require gender equity in competitive sports and the assignment of park and recreation facilities and programming
- Influencing the media to increase coverage of female athletes in order to provide inspirational role models for girls
- Institutionalizing the history of women's sports achievements and challenges as a significant part of the National Sports Museum in New York City, a new property where the Women's Sports Foundation will have physical presence in a major market
- Producing research that tracks progress in advancing participation and leadership opportunities of girls and women in sports and physical activity, and increasing the understanding of the barriers to their participation
- Increasing the number and status of women in coaching, sports administration, sports governance and the sports industry, especially women of color