Photos from Women’s Sports Foundation red carpet

Check it out (click through to Flickr to see descriptions)…

Ok, so I’m not a professional photographer. But I did my best. Very cool to meet such neat people who have “moved the needle” from multiple generations of women in sport.

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

Womens Sports Foundation Annual Salute to Women in Sports… Here I come

This week, I’m going to do something I’ve been waiting to do for a long time.

I’ll be attending the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Annual Salute to Women in Sports event in New York City as a member of the media and co-founder of WomenTalkSports.com. I’ll be covering the event on WomenTalkSports from in the red carpet and the media room (hopefully in real-time).

Right now, I have 1) no idea what to wear, 2) no idea what to say, and 3) no idea what I’m in for. But I’m not at all scared, and I’m really excited for the opportunity to meet some of the people I respect the most.

Appreciate any tips/advice/interview questions you can give me.

If you’re interested, tickets are still on sale here. If you have a blog, I highly recommend you promote this event, since it’s an important one for our industry. Two thumbs up to WSF (esp. President Jessica Mendoza) for recognizing the women’s sports blogging community as a valuable member of the media.

Check out the recap from last year:

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.

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!

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

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!

(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.

Sheryl Crow supports women’s sports… I think

Check out this video, via the Women’s Sports Foundation:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQDEatFk27g

Great to see Sheryl’s support, and she has some really great things to say as a former athlete about the opportunities created for her later in life.

She also promotes physical activity through the GoGirlGo campaign (which is a great contest that high school girls and AAU teams should get involved in)

However, what’s up with the volume issue on this video? I can barely make out what she’s saying!  What’s up with that?

Regardless, I’m going to become a member. Are you?

Join here. Support their mission.

NCAA releases long awaited pregnancy handbook

The NCAA has released its first pregnancy handbook – a long-awaited resource for information and support for administrators and coaches.

The Women’s Sports Foundation says,

“The first of its kind, this critical publication suggests model athletics department policies, a model student-athlete handbook statement and certified athletic trainer best practices. The final chapter shares stories of successful male and female student-athletes who competed while parents.“

The handbook assists athletics department personnel in establishing policy and also outlines the legal issues that affect treatment of pregnant and parenting student-athletes.

It is authored by Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a professor at Florida Coastal School of Law and one of the leading advocates of Title IX, and Elizabeth Sorensen, an assistant professor at the College of Nursing and Health at Wright State.

Frankly, I’m shocked that this document did not already exist. It will be interesting to see if coaches and administrators find it helpful.

The document, along with some background information on why it was developed, is located here.

Now, if only they had a handbook for the players….

Title IX: Not an excuse for cutting men’s programs

NCAA President Myles Brand told USA Today last week that Title IX is not to blame for cutting men’s programs during tough economic times.

In my opinion, this is a message that was barely heard and needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

Because of tough economic times, the NCAA expects that some schools may drop men’s teams in the coming months. Brand is urging schools not to blame Title IX – which bans sex discrimination at schools receiving federal funds.

To my faithful critics who will come on here and post in response to this, I HAVE to point out.. from the NCAA’s Double-A Zone (something I’ve been trying to emphasize for months):

The law does not mandate a university cut men’s programs to accommodate this proportionality. “I would suggest that athletics directors need to spend more smartly,” Brand told the paper and suggested cutting costs in travel, facilities and “expenditures in the highly visible sports.”

I’d like to personally thank the NCAA for helping me construct my argument.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how the economy effects programs in the coming winter season.

Where’s the Women’s Sports Foundation?  You guys should be helping the NCAA broadcast this message!!!

Billie Jean King named “Global Mentor For Gender Equality.” Global partnership announced to promote women’s leadership

This past week, Billie Jean King was named “Global Mentor For Gender Equality” by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, the world’s leading global sport for women.

According to the Women’s Sports Foundation,

“The appointment of Billie Jean King to the new role brings together the sporting world’s leading advocate for equality with the landmark global partnership between UNESCO and the Tour to further gender quality and promote women’s leadership in all spheres of society. It also brings together two of the world’s leading organizations devoted to furthering equality, in the Women’s Sports Foundation, founded by Billie Jean King in 1974 with a mission to increase opportunity and participation for women and girls in sports, and UNESCO.”

Since its founding in 1973, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and its players have been leaders in fighting for equality.

As mentioned above, the global partnership will seek to further gender equality and promote women’s leadership in all spheres of society. (We all know this is needed!)

The partnership elements include:

(i) a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour/UNESCO Fund for women and leadership, which will be endowed initially with approximately €200,000 as seed funding with the goal of reaching a much higher figure through planned additional fundraising activities,

(ii) a “Promoter of Gender Equality” player program, which will involve players at both a global and national level in awareness raising activities as well as direct involvement in specific gender equality and women’s leadership programs throughout the world,

(iii) mentoring, scholarship and fellowship programs designed to create opportunities and the environment for women and girls to succeed in all walks of life and

(iv) usage of existing UNESCO and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments, galas and conferences as awareness and fundraising platforms. Additionally, the Sony Ericsson Championships promoters and the city of Madrid will support the program through marketing, awareness and fundraising activities. Advertising utilizing players to raise awareness of gender equality issues is also planned.

I’d like to personally thank both the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and UNESCO for their commitment to a strong future generation of women.

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