Elizabeth Lambert Spurs Facebook Interest

This blog post is part 7 of a series discussing my experiences with social media as they relate to advocacy issues that highly affect the women’s sport sphere. This is an assignment for a class I’m enrolled in as part of John’s Hopkins University’s Digital Communications program.

On Friday, we all saw the below video of New Mexico professional soccer player Elizabeth Lambert, who astonishingly displayed unsportsmanlike conduct in a game against Brigham Young University. (She’s since been suspended indefinitely from the league).

The cultural fascination with violence displayed by women in sports is nothing new. The 2008 WNBA fights gave the league more attention than they’ve ever gotten. And we all know how upset everyone got when Serena Williams gave a tennis ref a piece of her mind.

But what I find particularly interesting with the case of Elizabeth Lambert this is the varied Facebook interest that this act of violence has spurred.

Read more

Live Blogging from the Women’s Sports Foundations’s Annual Salute to Women in Sports!

Tonight, I’m going to be live blogging from the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Annual Salute to Women in Sports event at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Stay tuned below around 6pm ET for some live coverage from the Red Carpet!

Tonight’s evening hosts include Bob Costas, Mary Carillo, and Billie Jean King, Women’s Sports Foundation’s founder. Honorees include Annika Sorenstam, legendary golfer and philanthropist, Dick Ebersol, Chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, and Pat Summitt, University of Tennessee head women’s basketball coach  and all-time winningest coach in NCAA history.

Follow me live over at WomenTalkSports.com. Or, follow me on Twitter: @mhueter

Female athletes head to college and beyond

Read more

(Video) Christiane Amanpour on the importance of women in sport

Below is a video – created and distributed by the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) – of Christiane Amanpour, CNN Chief International Correspondent, on the importance of sport in the lives of women and girls.

It is vitally important that those in the public eye who support women’s sports continue to participate in opportunities such as these, regardless of how much/little they’re paid for doing so.

Props to WSF for making this video available and embeddable. I found this on WSF’s Facebook Fan Page. They’ve got some great content up there – highly recommend you promote it within your network. They also have a Cause Page – great way to recruit friends as engaged advocates. Enjoy!

This. Is. Cool…. Online community comes together, demanding fair pay for women

I wanted to share the list of blogs which collectively came together (with the help of the National Women’s Law Center) to discuss and demand fair pay for women.

The list continues to grow. It’s so great to see women coming together for a common cause to actually discuss and create conversations about an advocacy cause that we all collectively support.

Take a look at this list (be sure to click “more” – this is huge). Also, notice the Twitter widget, below – they’re following all conversations with the hashtag #fairplay.

9to5 National Blog

A Blog of Our Own
AAUW CA Online Branch Forum
AAUW Dialog – Lecia Imbery
AAUW Dialog – Linda Brodsky
AAUW-WA Public Policy
About.com: Working Moms

Read more

What happened? Kara Goucher finishes third at the Boston Marathon

So… I’m not a runner. I never was. Actually, that’s a lie – I ran cross country my sophomore year of high school in an effort to get in shape for basketball season.

That resulted in a stress fracture in my right fibula and sheer pain that entire season. Needless to say, that was the end of my career as a runner.

So I find it hard to get excited about professional track & field events. I understand there’s an entire culture out there of people who LOVE it, and it’s one of the most popular (and grueling) sports in existence. But it just doesn’t seem as dramatic to me as some of sports that, well, let’s say… involve a ball.

Regardless, the excitement over this year’s Boston Marathon got me.

I was interested. Reason being – one Kara Goucher – who the world was watching. After only three short months after her Olympic performance, Goucher ran the New York Marathon and earned a 3rd place finish with the fastest time ever by an American woman, 2:25:53. So all eyes were on her for Monday’s race in Boston. Read more

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.

Webinar: Breaking Down Barriers: NWLC’s Guide to Title IX for Lawyers and Advocates

The National Women’s Law Center is hosting a webinar titled Breading Down Barriers, tomorrow (Thursday) at 1pm EST.

In partnership with the law firm DLA Piper, NWLC will focus upon empowering participants on how to be a resource as a Title IX advocate in your community.

To sign up, click here.

Specifically, the webinar will address:

• How schools can comply with Title IX
• Tips for recognizing Title IX violations
• Step-by-step guidance for addressing Title IX violations in the courts

Thanks again to the folks at NWLC for passing this along to me. If I can tear myself away from my desk, I’ll try to hop on.

Otherwise, I’m told there will be a recording of the session available on the NWLC Web site.

NWLC is one of many organizations committed to promoting women’s participation in sport. This webinar is part of the National Women’s Law Center’s Citi Education Series on Family Economic Security.

Also, for a great post on National Girls and Women in Sports day, check out Womenstake, the NWLC blog (I highly recommend adding it to your feed reader).

Happy Girls and Women’s Sports Day: Look Who’s Playing

I’d like to wish you a happy girls and women’s sports day!

The theme for today is Look Who’s Playing, which shows how athletes who played or are still playing, are making a difference, overcoming difficult circumstances, breaking records and making things possible.

My favorite resource (so far) is this photo gallery which showcases the 35 most memorable moments since Billie Jean King inspired a generation of men and women when she beat Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes. (so inspiring)

If nothing else, the most important thing you can do today is take action. Check out this page from the National Women’s Law Center to encourage your elected officials to pass these two important, bipartisan bills that will make a huge difference in the lives of girls.

On a professional level (correct me if I’m wrong) it looks like the WNBA is taking the lead with support for this day.

Check out the below video about why the WNBA matters, as well as an accompanying letter that I recieved from Donna Orender, the president of the WNBA. Donna, thanks for taking the lead on this.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vkuXg5yxYs&eurl=http://www.womensvoicesforchange.org/2009/02/national-girls-and-women-in-sports-day-why-the-wnba-matters.html&feature=player_embedded

From Donna Orender, President, WNBA:

Tension and passion hung in the air in the final electrifying seconds of Game 2 of the WNBA Western Conference Finals on Sept. 27. In front of a packed home crowd at the AT&T Center, the San Antonio Silver Stars’ Sophia Young hit a 14-foot turnaround jumper at the buzzer to fend off elimination from the Los Angeles Sparks. At this moment, someone leaned over to me and whispered, “You must be so proud of all this.”
It was one of many incredible moments that define our league. At these times, I am grateful for the messages the league delivers to young women that sweat and grit are permissible and to young males that strong and athletic women will populate their future.
The WNBA formed just 12 years ago, and it continues to blaze trails. The markers of success are familiar in the American sports landscape – corporate partnerships, network television broadcasts, the rhythm of a season from training camp to All-Star to playoffs. It’s the trailblazers who are different.

This WNBA is defining what an investment in our female youth can yield.

With these role models before them, young women are playing sports in exponentially increasing numbers. The health benefits of this participation have been well documented: the lowering of heart disease and cancers, and the rise in self-esteem and school performance. Far less commonly recited, however, are the enormous social benefits. Sports is a pervasive cultural presence; its language is the language of business and the currency of status, clearly dominating the hallways and corner offices of the global corporate landscape. Up until now, women have been largely sidelined, kept away from the enormous profits and other considerable benefits that being a valued member of this sports society generate. The WBNA says to young women that they can earn a seat at this table by showing them that they’re invited to dinner in the first place.
Our league sits uniquely at the crossroads of Main Street USA, with an atmosphere and accessibility that encourage families to gather for a game that speaks to America’s values and work ethic. In a day and age when community leaders, politicians and parents simply ask for positive role models for their children, we find one right in front of us: the WNBA, a league where teamwork and hard work are prized, and athletes’ raw passion to play and compete are front and center from opening tip to closing buzzer.

After 12 years, the WNBA deserves more credit and more importantly, greater support for its considerable accomplishments. By just existing, it continues to encourage significant numbers of young women to compete, compete in all fields of endeavor.

Our fans have responded to the high level of play by pushing increased attendance, TV ratings, Web traffic and merchandise sales. These women are spreading this work ethic and universal language around the world – note the 41 current-and-former WNBA players on Olympic rosters in Beijing, including the 12 members of Team USA who brought home their fourth consecutive gold medal.

Progress has been made and yet for all of us who are involved with girls and women’s sports, the gap is still wide and perceptions still slow to change. In a world that is turning upside down and inside out as we try to buckle our seat belts, my hope is that the shift in the earth’s tectonic plates helps us collectively recognize and actively support change.

If you have a daughter, a sister or a niece, then you fully understand the desire for her to have full access to all that is possible for her. Sports is a huge gateway. The WNBA is an iconic brand that is the most visible means of providing very positive imagery and role models who support all of her hopes and dreams and possibilities. Further, it provides major league sports entertainment rooted in value and values. Wow, life’s lessons are on sale, front and center, and at a great price.

The question we have to ask ourselves – are we willing to pay the price to keep the momentum going? As the women’s game continues to explode and play happens both below and above the rim, the drama of winning and losing are decisions that we effect each time we choose to support our young women with our time, attention and financial resources. Please choose wisely. I would tell you that the price for us to not support the WNBA and our young girls’ physical and spiritual development through sports is a very costly one.

The mission for the league is to lead, to inspire and to create change. It’s a rallying call every day. For me, it is both a professional and personal calling. It is about making a positive difference, which is everyone’s self-interest. The wonder of sports is that it is a place where passion rules and where fun and games form a solid foundation for winning, winning in the most important game, in the game of life.

Happy National Girls and Women in Sports Day!

Texas Covenant team forfeits 100-0 win in apology

Now I’ve seen it all….

Officials from a private Christian school in Dallas, The Covenant School, forfeited a 100-0 win against their opponent, Dallas Academy.

Apparently,  their forfeit is intended to  apologize for their margin of victory.

I agree that running the score up 100 points is wrong (and this is the coaches’ fault) but I’m not so sure I agree with the forfeit attempt to apologize. The girls earned their points – and the coach allowed them to get greedy.

Apparently, the Covenant team was draining 3 pointers the whole game (up 59 at half time), and the coaches and spectators cheered louder and louder as they approached 100.

Success should not be considered “wrong” if the means to achieve it was not wrong. It doesn’t seem like they cheated – they didn’t break any rules. So this is NOT something they should have to apologize or feel bad for.

“I think the bad judgment was in the full-court press and the 3-point shots,” said Renee Peloza, whose daughter plays for Dallas Academy. “At some point, they should have backed off.”

Absolutely, but let’s take a look at Dallas Academy’s record…

Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons.

“On a personal note, I told the coach of the losing team how much I admire their girls for continuing to compete against all odds,” Burleson (the director of the league) said. “They showed much more character than the coach that allowed that score to get out of hand. It’s up to the coach to control the outcome.”

Yes, they’re showing character, but they’re also being humiliated… badly. This is not how you build character and self-esteem in young athletes. You must invest in them and show them that they have potential.

Dallas Academy eeds to spend some money (for once), recruit an “outsider” coach with some experience, hold summer camps, and begin to organically build a winning program, over time. If this doesn’t happen, girls could go through the rest of their lives thinking they’ll never be able to compete.

All this news does is highlight that some privately-owned schools don’t value its female athletes.

As someone who played basketball my whole life, this completely and totally disgusts me.

[1/27] CORRECTION: I must take back my prevoius comments on this post. I did not realize that Dallas Academy is a school for children with disabilities, as a commenter has pointed out to me. If this is the case, The Covenant School has no right playing them in the first place.

(Video) Why do women play sports?

Check out this great video from Go Go Girl World/Women’s Sports Foundation. Special thanks to She Loves Sports for posting it.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj_C7MOVj4U

We need to see more of this. These are the types of videos that need to be spread in our community.

Next Page »