The Women’s Sports Foundation Advocates for All the Grrls

Women’s sports have come an extremely long way over the past few decades. Female athletes are now found playing at all levels and throughout the country – from small town recreational leagues to national professional competition. Despite the many successes however, there remain many areas where equality has not been fully achieved and discrimination still exists. It is for that reason that organizations like The Women’s Sports Foundation are so valuable in ensuring that the respect earned continues to grow for women in sports.

The Women’s Sports Foundation is an educational nonprofit (501(c)(3) charity organization that was founded by Billie Jean King in 1974 and is the leading authority on the participation of women and girls in sports. Their mission is to advance the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity by advocating for equality, educating the public, conducting research, and offering grants to promote sports and physical activity for girls and women.

Building on King’s legacy as a champion athlete, advocate of social justice, and agent of change, the Foundation strives for gender equity and fights discrimination in sports. Their work shapes public attitudes about women’s sports and athletes, builds capacities for organizations that get girls active, provides equal opportunities for girls and women, and supports physically and emotionally healthy lifestyles.

The Foundation is one of the top five public grant-giving women’s funds in the United States and distributes $10,000-20,000 per week from operating dollars to provide opportunities for socioeconomically underprivileged and inactive girls to participate in sports and physical activity. Also, their advocacy efforts have directly affected the amount of scholarship dollars supporting educational opportunities for female student-athletes in the United States.  (In 1972, women received only $100,000 but now receive $617 million a year.) In the past 34 years, the Foundation has awarded more than $50 million in educational and cash grants to advance participation, research and leadership in sports and physical activity for girls and women.

One of the major issues that the Foundation takes on is homophobia in sports. The “It Takes A Team! Educational Campaign for LGBT Issues in Sport” is the division of the Women’s Sports Foundation that addresses the issues faced by LGBT individuals in sports.

Because The Women’s Sports Foundation is committed to creating an athletic climate that is respectful and safe for all people and eliminating barriers to all girls being active and healthy, It Takes A Team! was created as an education project focused on eliminating homophobia as a barrier to all women and men participating in sport. Their primary goals are to develop and disseminate practical educational information and resources to athletic administrators, coaches, parents and athletes at the high school and college levels to make sport safe and welcoming for all.

Originally called The Project to Eliminate Homophobia in Sport, It Takes A Team! started in 1996, enabled by fundraising efforts by tennis legend, Martina Navratilova. The Project to Eliminate Homophobia in Sport was a collaborative effort among the Women’s Sports Foundation, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Gay and Lesbian Education Network, the Ms. Foundation, Uncommon Legacy and ASTRAEA.

Pat Griffin is Director of It Takes A Team! Education Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Issues in Sport. Dr. Griffin is a Professor Emerita in the Social Justice Education Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the author of Strong Women, Deep Closets: Lesbian and Homophobia in Sports and co-editor of Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice: A Sourcebook for Teachers and Trainers, Routledge. In addition, for the past 25 years Dr. Griffin has led seminars on diversity issues and lesbian and gay issues in athletics at numerous colleges and universities as well as at coaches and athletic administrators’ association meetings around the United States and Canada.

The Women’s Sports Foundation and the It Takes A Team! Education Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Issues in Sport are extremely valuable resources for all women in sports and vital to the continued successes of LGBT athletes everywhere. For more information about the Foundation and It Takes A Team visit http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org.