Non-Profit Highlight: Women’s Sports Foundation
‘Tis the season to be giving and at TomboyX, we wanted to put a spotlight on one of our favorite non-profit groups, the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF). Started in 1974 by the great Billie Jean King, the mission of this group is to encourage participation of women and girls in sports.
The work of Women’s Sports Foundation shapes public attitudes about women’s sports and athletes, builds capacities for organizations that get girls active, ensures equal opportunities for girls and women, and supports physically and emotionally healthy lifestyles. WSF has relationships with more than one thousand of the world’s elite female athletes and is recognized globally for its leadership, vision, expertise and influence.
Women’s Sports Foundation Sports 4 Life grant recipient, Woodcraft Rangers, serving girls in the Los Angeles community (Photo by Woodcraft Rangers)
This holiday season, 27 of sports’ most accomplished female athletes united to support the next generation's journey to the top in the WSF Athlete FaceOff. So far, these champions have raised more than $30,000 for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Travel & Training Program. This is a grant that, through direct financial assistance, helps aspiring champions realize their dreams.
The founders of WSF explained the importance of this grant: “In 2015, money raised during the WSF Athlete FaceOff will increase the number of grant recipients from 33 individuals and teams to an exciting 47! Athletes like Anne-Elizabeth Stone, a fencer from Princeton, was sidelined last year with a hand injury during the height of competition. Her injury caused Anne-Elizabeth to drop in national rankings and she lost her funding. She needs our financial help to focus her sights squarely on qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. By making a donation to your favorite athlete’s campaign in the WSF Athlete FaceOff, you will directly support Anne-Elizabeth and her fellow aspiring champions.”
Women’s Sports Foundation CEO Deborah Slaner Larkin attends the 36th Annual Salute to Women In Sports at Cipriani Wall Street on October 20, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Sound like something you could get behind? Us, too! And this isn’t the only event going on at WSF. This coming February 3, 2016 will mark the 30th anniversary of National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD). WSF wanted to invite all TomboyX friends to join them in recognizing the extraordinary achievements of those who have helped to effect change and create opportunities for women and girls in sports. The theme for the event is “Leading the Way” and honors all of those individuals and organizations who are actively leading the way for girls and women to participate in sports and become leaders. To learn more, you can visit http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org for more information.
Women’s Sports Foundation Sports 4 Life grant recipients speak onstage with WSF President Angela Hucles during the 36th Annual Salute to Women In Sports at Cipriani Wall Street on October 20, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)
Another exciting bit of news for WSF is that they have awarded more than $500,000 to athletes, scholars and programs overall with a primary grant-making focus on girls. In addition to awarding Travel & Training Fund and GoGirlGo! grants, the Foundation launched our new initiative Sports 4 Life, serving predominately African-American and Hispanic girls, who have more limited access to sports participation. In the program's first year there was an overwhelming response of more than 160 applicants. They funded 22 regionally diverse girl-serving organizations, impacting the lives of 6,600 girls in 16 states plus the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Can you see why WSF has gotten our attention and why we knew our fellow tomboys would want to know about them? They not only talk a good game, they walk it as well.