In New York City? Check out Girls, Inc. on Thursday to see womens sports leaders

For those of you who may not know this, Wednesday (Feb. 3) is National Girls and Women in Sports Day. To celebrate, women’s sports bloggers throughout the WomenTalkSports.com network will be posting about local events and activities.  This is an awesome example of how online communities can  support a social movement for female empowerment (through sports).

If you’re like me and you live in the New York City market, there’s a great being event held the day after (Thursday) with Girls, Inc., which might be worth checking out (or at least promoting). Below is the press release.  Some cool sports chicks will be there!

Girls Incorporated of New York City to host National Girls and Women in Sports Day

New York, New York

Based on research conducted by the Women’s Sports Foundation showing that females who participate in high school sports are more likely to attend college than those who did not participate in sports, Girls Incorporated of New York City will hold their 2^nd Annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day event on February 4, 2010 in partnership with The Urban Assembly.

Seven outstanding women leaders including Phaidra Knight, a USA National Rugby Team member, Amanda Kraus, founder and Executive Director of Row New York, Kristina Marchitto, founder of the Yoga Project, Erika Mehalick, head softball coach at The Stevens Institute of Technology, Crissy Van Meter, Associate Editor for ESPN Action Sports, Kim Puntillo, the first woman to run a marathon on every continent, and Agatha Wasilewska, action sports writer for Transworld. The speakers will share their experiences, promote careers in athletics, and encourage a healthy lifestyle with the girls.

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Reading: Cluetrain Manifesto

Image credit: http://thinkwinemarketing.wordpress.com/

This blog post is part of my ongoing weekly series discussing the role of social media and female athletics. It’s also a class requirement for a course I’m taking at John’s Hopkins University.

 

In short, Cluetrain Manifesto by Levine, Locke, Searls & Weinberger, is a book that changed my life. This is my second time reading it, and I was just as engaged as ever this time around.

The central theme: “All markets are conversations.” The authors talk about the history of markets – “selling things” – as conversations. They used to be hyper-local, and producers directly communicated with their customers.

Throughout the 21st century, technology and innovation have separated these two groups. Social media is giving everyday people a voice, and all of a sudden, producers (now corporate America) are being forced to talk directly with their customers again. Now people like me are in the business of telling them how to do it again, being as authentic and meaninful as possible.

It all goes back to the basics of building relationships – trust, honesty and direct engagement = success.

No matter what industry you’re in, the premise of a “relationship” and a subsequent “conversation” applies, and it’s one to constantly think about as you determine the meaning of “return on investment” (ROI) and continue to define “success” means to you, both online and off.

This is how I, over the past two years, have been grasping the essence of the sports industry. It’s a giant conversation comprised of fans, athletes, business people, brands, the media and consumers.  I chose to dive in head first and made a lot of friends along the way.

Where’s your voice in the conversation about sports? 

Who is the loudest?

Where’s the voice of female athletes in the conversation about sports?

Audio interviews: Women’s Sports Foundation’s red carpet event

Check out some of the interviews from the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Annual Salute to Women in Sports red carpet event last night… (Click links below pictures to listen to the interviews).

Apologize in advance for the lack of “depth” in my questions (interviews are very short). Please understand I was being trampled upon by other media personnel and didn’t have enough time to prepare. However, that said, there are some great quotes here and definitely worth listening in.

Jessica Mendoza Interview
Softball left fielder and Women’s Sports Foundation President Jessica Mendoza discusses the importance of social media in female athletics.  Jessica is an avid member of WomenTalkSports.com and is responsible for inviting me to the red carpet event.

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Nancy Lieberman Interview
Nancy Lieberman, ESPN women’s basketball analyst/Olympian discusses the “family” of female professional athletes and the importance for women to continue to support the Women’s Sports Foundation.

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Female athletes head to college and beyond

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Inspiring women and an inspiring league

This past week, I traveled to Chicago for a wedding and a work trip. Just as I pulled out of my place in DC, I tweeted my status, “En route to Chicago.” Among responses from friends wishing me safe travels came an email from one of my WNBA contacts inviting me to their Inspiring Women luncheon in downtown Chicago the next day, should I have time to swing by.

The event was great. One of the major accomplishments of the event is that it provided an opportunity for the league’s sponsors to come together for a nice lunch. Watching the WNBA President, Donna Orender,  greet everyone (including me) by name with a smile is quite an experience.  It exemplifies how the league tries very hard, despite criticism, to make everyone feel like family. The event also shows that the league supports inspiring women in society, too.

The WNBA honored Cokie Roberts, senior news analyst for NPR News, political commentator for ABC News, and best-selling author.

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Dads: Important role models for female athletes

While I know that not all female athletes have fathers (nor do they need them to be successful), I find it important on this Father’s Day to recognize the positive impact dads can have on the female athlete experience.

First, it’s important to point out that men make up the majority of female athlete coaches. While I understand the Women’s Sports Foundation’s POV on this issue continues to (rightfully) focus upon the lack of women in the profession (which is a problem), I also believe it’s important to talk about the men who do coach girls. Often times, these men are dads: supportive role models who have a vested interest in a woman’s future as an athlete.

Take, for instance, fathers like Richard Williams, the father of Serena and Venus, two of the most well-known tennis players in the world. Serena and Venus’ careers started on the Compton public tennis courts, where her father encouraged their development.

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Sports Industry: Women and Minorities Wanted, Future Sole paves the way for sneaker designers

As a minority woman, recent college graduate and an aspiring sports journalist there is only one thing I am searching for; an opportunity.

This post is about opportunities for minority women in the sports industry, and it touches on a special sneaker design contest called Future Sole. While the registration deadline for this contest has already passed (6/1/09), there is still an opportunity for you to participate by voting for the winner. This post (hopefully) will give you reason to do so.

In order to paint the picture for how important this program is, I decided to share a little bit about my own life.

I posses a strong desire to make a name for myself in the sports communication industry, and by myself, I mean a strong African- American woman with a high passion for sports.  The last couple of weeks I have been searching day in and day out for a fall internship. “Sports Journalism”, were my initial keywords that I typed in many search engines, which then opened my eyes to other career paths, ones that I wasn’t aware of.

I stumbled across the NCAA career center, where I discovered the sports information director profession. Immediately I took a strong interest in the position, the job sounded appealing to my interests. However, I will be honest; the fine print at the end of all of the job descriptions grasped the majority of my attention and ignited my confidence.

The fine print read somewhere along the lines of ‘women and ethnic minorities strongly encouraged to apply’, which seemed to good to be true. After more internship searching, this statement became a reoccurring theme.

There is a lack of women and minorities in the sports media industry.

As an African- American woman that is striving to become successful in the industry that I love, I plan to be a force in breaking down the barriers, race and gender combined. I am confident that  I have the same dream as many other young female athletes; when I was young, I wanted to be a professional basketball player, until recently I realized the odds of that happening were slim to none.

I  decided not to give up; I just made the decision to take another road to the same goal.

I discovered my passion for writing, media, and sports. I switched my college undergraduate major from Health and Physical Education to Journalism, because I love to write I played basketball my entire life on the high school and collegiate levels.

I now have my B.A. in Journalism at the age of 23, and can proudly say that I’m the first in my immediate family to achieve a college degree. My brother (pictured with me above) is close behind, too, set to finish his degree in the next couple of years.

This is an accomplishment that I am very proud of, however, I will always look back and wish there were more opportunities and exposure along the way to guide me toward my dreams.

With a lot of hard work and some help from others on the way, I made out alright. But as a child, or teenager, they were non-existent.

I believe one of the keys to making a way for women in sports media is opportunity. My community and childhood surroundings didn’t introduce me to women’s sports; actually my middle school didn’t even have a basketball program (those opportunities came later – in junior high, high school and college).

But one thing I learned is that it isn’t too late to make change.  I plan to give back to the young ladies in my community, which is predominately African- American, and help them broaden their horizons.

On a larger scale, there are still individuals who have become successful, and are providing chances for the youth. Future Sole is an example of such an organization.

Future Sole is a sneaker design contest that was created in 2007 to give youth the access to the footwear design industry.

“When I was growing up, there wasn’t a forum to learn about the sneaker design industry or a community to share design ideas,” said Edwards. “Many kids don’t know a career in footwear design exists, so with Future Sole I wanted to open their eyes to the possibilities and show them how they can achieve it.”

- D’Wayne Edwards, Jordan Brand Footwear Design Director

Future Sole is a nationwide high school footwear design competition co-sponsored by Nike. The contest is in its second year, and the registration ran until 6/1/09. High school students between the ages of 14-19 were eligible for the contest. While the deadline for this has past, you can still participate by voting for the winner.

Why women? Because there are only 2% women of color collectively. The contest hopes to close the demographic gaps in the industry.

Lisa Leslie of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks is a sponsor of this program, and this really speaks to her ongoing support of minority youth trying to make it in the industry.

“I believe this program will  impact many kids lives in a very positive way. I think this is an awesome opportunity for any child who’s creative and loves to draw. I am happy to be a role model and have the opportunity to give back especially in my own community!”

What that says to me is there is another avenue for creative women (especially colored women) in the sports industry to take. Last years winners were two males, while that is awesome, maybe this year can be different, and two women can win the contest.

I can remember a good friend of mine always drawing pictures of cool sneakers when we were younger; he wanted to design sneakers. If he had access to an organization like Future Sole back then, he may have been able to pursue this dream.

For more information, please visit www.futuresole.com. To vote for a winner, click here.

Basketball teammates help girl with amnesia

Just saw this story on ABC’s World News. It’s a good one. Good enough to share it with you.

It’s about a girl named Kayla Hutchinson, who, at the age of 19 as a student-athlete at Walla Walla Community College, collided with a teammate during a basketball practice and suffered a concussion (very common).

A few days later, however, she started losing her memory, didn’t know where she was, and had responses similar to that of a toddler. She didn’t know where she was, and couldn’t remember anything from the 19 years of her life. Memories of vacations, graduation and holidays were all gone. On top of all of this, she couldn’t do things like make her lunch or get to class.

Who was there to help? Her teammates.

Hutchinson’s roommates, all female athletes, started recognizing the problem as soon as Hutchinson returned back to her downtown apartment. Hutchinson couldn’t feel her arms and didn’t remember her roommates’ names.

Her basketball coach was equally concerned.

“When I recruit these kids, I make a promise to their parents to take care of them, but you never think it’s going to be this. Every year I get 15 new children. Kayla is like a daughter. Every day when I wake up, my first thought is How’s Kayla?”

When the accident occurred, Kayla’s parents wanted to take her home to Idaho. But, as this news report on KomoNews.com says,

“they found a network of support so tightly woven around their daughter that to remove her would have been detrimental, they believed.”

Hutchinson’s teammates, coach, roommates and professors all helped to get her back on track. Last year, she was released to participate in most of the basketball practice drills. She’s writing and reading again.

If you missed World News, you can watch this again on ABC’s Nightline at 11:35pm ET for the full story.

Jacklyn Murphy’s “big sisters”: Northwestern women’s lacrosse team

Jacklyn Murphy is no ordinary 14-year-old junior varsity lacrosse player. She’s got a great story, one which I’m thrilled to say the New York Times told the world this past weekend.

In short, Jacklyn, four years ago, was a frail 10 year old being treated for a malignant brain tumor. Through a mutual friend, she developed a unique relationship with the Northwestern University Women’s Lacrosse coach, and then the team, who have since become her “big sisters.”

At the time, the lacrosse players developed a relationship with Jacklyn through cards, text messages and a signed media guide.  Taken back by her story, the Northwestern players “began playing for Jacklyn,” New York Times reporter Pete Thamel wrote. “Soon after it started winning national championships, four in a row.”

The team is now 21-0 this season, and two games away from its title. They beat Princeton on their home turf in an N.C.A.A. quarterfinal game Saturday afternoon, and will compete against Penn on Sunday in Towson, MD at 6pm ET.

The bond helped Jacklyn, too. Thamel writes, “the bond the Northwestern team formed with Jaclyn helped save her life. She is now a healthy 14-year-old freshman at Arlington High School in LaGrangeville, N.Y., where she plays junior varsity lacrosse.”

Denis Murphy, Jacklyn’s father, has since set up Friends of Jacklyn, a non-profit organization which “matches a child with a college or high school sports team based on geographic location.”

“There’s magic in what they’ve done for her,” Denis Murphy said. “I can’t tell you or put into words what they’ve done for her health.”

I highly recommend you read the full story titled Four-Time Champions, and All Jacklyn’s Big Sisters. In addition, below is a great Big Ten Network video where Jacklyn tells her story..

Vote today! 13 ways you can change the world through sports

… as if you needed ideas.

Today is the last day you can vote for your favorites in the Sport for Change contest finalists run by Nike and Ashoka. This post contains links to the finalists, as well as some social media they’ve shared with the world.

To recap – The title of the contest: “GameChangers: Change the Game for Women in Sport”.

Ashoka’s Changemakers and Nike continue their partnership to identify, inspire and bring together the next wave of innovators eager to change the game for women in sport. Between November 12, 2008 and February 25, 2009, individuals from around the world came together to propose a ways to leverage sport for positive social change in the lives of girls and women. Read more

Peace Corps’ Jeffrey Chatellier uses social media to share stories of youth sports program in Africa

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jeffrey Chatellier, a Peace Corps’ volunteer who helps run Ball for All Sport Charities for African women.

I was put in contact with Jeffrey through the Sport for Change contest run by Nike and Ashoka. As I’ve mentioned before, the Sport for Change contest is powerful and effective because it calls on organizations (big and small) from around the globe to come together, share their stories and collaborate together, online.

In this interview, Jeffrey mentions that “sports, environment and Africa” are three things that have been instrumental in making him the person he is today. As you read his story below, you’ll seet hat Jeffrey is among the few who are dedicated toward creating opportunity and enhancing the lives of African women through the power of sport.

The teenage girls who Jeffrey has worked with live in Dassilami Soce, a village of 1,000 people near Toubacouta, in central Senagal. They were members of the first team Ball for All sponsored in Senegal. They continue to practice and play, and their families have grown to see how beneficial a sport like soccer can be in shaping their children into responsible members of the community. They have brought the teamwork, cooperation, and confidence they learned on the playing field into their homes and community.

Jeffrey is doing the right thing – he’s sharing this incredible story by utilizing the power of social media. Not only is he involved in the Sport for Change collaboration, but he created a Facebook page, shared a viral YouTube video (below), and is now conducting blogger outreach (through me).

My only suggestion to Jeffrey is to keep doing what he’s doing. Maybe even set up some podcasts with the girls, create a blog, join Women Talk Sports, and start a Twitter account. Using multiple mediums to share some of the amazing stories he has heard is (for sure) the way to go. Hopefully you will read this story and share it, too.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV5fbKsoGOE&feature=player_embedded

I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did. Best of luck to Jeffrey and Ball for All. If you support this organiation (like I do), join their Facebook Cause page and make a donation. A little bit can go a long way. In addition, check out their Web site where you can learn more.

1) Tell me about your background, your experiences at Yale, and how you’ve ended up where you are now.

Sports, Environment, Africa: These three things have been instrumental in making me person I am today. I began playing sports at 4 years old when I started ice skating. Even though I stopped playing hockey, I became a varsity soccer and tennis player in high school. I can still remember clearly the words of my coach as he said “you must leave your comfort zone.”

As I sat in a corporate consulting office after college, those words came back to me. I decided to join the Peace Corps and follow my dream to visit Africa and learn a new language. While living in Senegal, I became passionate about the environment as I lived next to a national park.

However the experience was extremely tough as I was thrown into a new culture and was living in a very poor community where people live on less than a dollar a day for the whole family. Often sick from contaminated water and food, I considered giving up and going home but the echo of my coach saying “leave your comfort zone” came back to me and inspired me to stay.

Soccer was the way I connected with my village. The young men I played with became my language teachers and cultural guides helping me to truly integrate into the community.

After finishing my Peace Corps service, I wanted to pursue a career related to improving environmental management practices so I applied to Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. I focused my master’s degree research on rural energy needs in developing countries and creating sustainable ways to provide the world’s poor with modern and clean energy. I am currently working on this issue in Indonesia. Ball for All keeps me connected to Senegal and the work I started as a Peace Corps volunteer.

In 2004, Brad and Jenny Kremer, two former Peace Corps volunteers in Senegal and Guinea, started Ball for All. As volunteers in small villages, they saw the power soccer had in bringing joy to the children. They also saw a lot of development money being wasted and as a result, they wanted to create an organization that would help children directly. They believed that sport was the best medium to do this and Ball for All was born out of this concept.

In 2005, Brad came to Senegal looking to set up programs for Ball for All. At that time I had just finished my Peace Corps assignment but was in the capitol city completing my medical clearance getting ready to go home.

By chance, we met at the Peace Corps office and I told him about a girls’ soccer team I started in my village. Brad asked if I could accompany him to the village. Despite not wanting to ride 10 hours in a crapped car on poor roads, I agreed as I felt connecting my girls’ soccer team with Ball for All would keep my efforts going.

Through contacts from the village where I lived and worked in as a volunteer, Brad and Jenny Kremer expanded the sports program in the Toubacouta school district. The following year, I had plans to go back to Senegal for research and planned it so I could attend the first regional tournament to include girls’ teams.

Jenny and Brad then asked me to join the board of trustees and I accepted. After helping organize the 2007 tournament, Brad and Jenny told me that they were going to have to close Ball for All due to family and work obligations.

My mother, a believer in the organization and a supporter of my early efforts, agreed to take on the administrative responsibilities as director and I along with the other board members agreed to continue the organization’s activities.

Senegal is a conservative Muslim country where women have not had the same opportunities as men in terms of education and employment. In rural areas, young females are often burdened by tedious house chores and have very little time for fun or studying. Sport helps to build the girls’ confidence and helps them realize that they are capable of doing all the same things boys can do.

The internet is our organization’s largest source of donations and we are trying to enhance our online presence in anyway we can. Our website allows us to connect with people all around the world from Canada to Australia, helping us raise thousands of dollars. We hope to add more interactive features on our website and include more up to date stories of the children that participate in our programs.

Our board member, Emily Burt, works for Google and YouTube and created the Youtube video we showcase on our website. We hope to make more videos in the future as we feel that video really captures the impact of our programs.

I created the Ball for All Facebook Cause as a way to tap into the popularity of Facebook and create a new avenue to give people information on what our organization is doing.

In a short period of time, our Cause went from being mostly a group of my friends to a group that is growing due to the recruitment efforts of lots of people.

We hope to build a group of a 500 hundred people in the next few months and we are almost half way there. I plan to maintain the Cause site like a blog with periodic stories from our Peace Corps volunteer partners in Africa along with a steady stream of photos. As with all internet sites, new and interesting stories need to be posted in order for the site to build traffic. Join our cause: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/186096?m=92eea645&recruiter_id=2483122

When I talk about Ball for All, I often tell a story about when my older sister tried out for little league and was the only girl at the tryouts. She didn’t make the team that year but she persevered and went on to become a great soccer player at the collegiate level.

Despite the obstacles, her generation really pioneered sports for women and girls and

I think female athletes in the US should know that there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of tearing down barriers that prevent girls from experiencing the power of sports.

I found out about the Nike Gamechangers program through the Beyond Sport foundation’s Facebook page. I think it’s a great idea as it has already put me in contact with a lot of people that are interested in supporting our activities. By bringing this community together, organizations can interact and learn from each other and could also potentially collaborate in order to have a greater impact.

7) New Developments:

I’m really excited to announce that Ball for All has recently teamed up with Kimberly Washington who is a Peace Corps volunteer in Mauritania. Kimberly is a true pioneer and has created the first girls’ basketball team in the country. In conjunction with the girls’ empowerment center Kimberly manages, we hope to grow this program over the next few years. Pictures can be found at: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/186096?m=92eea645&recruiter_id=2483122

We really believe in the power of the internet to connect with people that are interested in joining our cause.

Since we are small volunteer driven organization, we would love to connect with a person that has a lot of savvy in terms of making videos and would be willing to donate their time and even join our board.

A seed grant of 50,000 dollars would allow us to scale up our activities in Senegal to include the entire country and potentially make girls soccer ubiquitous throughout the rural parts of Senegal, impacting hundreds of thousands of girls.

Once again, I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I did. Best of luck to Jeffrey and Ball for All. If you support this organiation (like I do), join their Facebook Cause page and make a donation. A little bit can go a long way. In addition, check out their Web site where you can learn more.

Meet Tanni Grey-Thompson: Paralympic phenom, cultural feminist

Recently retired Tanni Grey-Thompson is now a Gamechangers judge. She’s Britain’s greatest ever paralympic athlete.

In the below video, she talks about her career and how her wheelchair gave her the freedom to do what she wanted.

According to Gamechangers, away from the track, Grey-Thompson has played an active role in administration. She is the Vice-President of the Women’s Sports Foundation, a member of the United Kingdom Sports Council, a patron of the British Sports Trust and she was a member of the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee. Her latest appointment is with UK Athletics to help identify Britain’s paralympic stars of the future. In 2003 she was awarded the Freedom of the City of Cardiff. In 2005 she was created ‘Dame’ Tanni Grey-Thompson for her services to sport.

Tanni is Vice Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy and Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

By the way, I loved this picture of her. When I saw it, I had to include it.

Thanks for all you’ve done Tanni. You’re a true inspiration.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_7gQE5bRw8

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