Women’s History Month is here! At Athletes for Hope we know that by empowering girls to become leaders in society, nations change. When women and girls lead, economies become more stable, prosperous and peaceful. We believe that sports have the ability to change lives. That’s why, over the course of the next 31 days, we want to celebrate the trailblazers that have changed the trajectory of women’s sports for the next generation of female athletes. To do so, our goal is to equip you with the facts and figures that illustrate how far we’ve come, how much is left to be done and how YOU can make a difference. Here’s the lineup:
Media Coverage & Sponsorships
Representation is important. As they say, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” Burying articles in the back of a sports section, bumping a highlight to the final segment of a broadcast or even worse, excluding it altogether, isn’t going to cut it anymore. Especially when we know that from a brand and ROI perspective, women control 80% of consumer purchases. And with women’s participation, interest and turnout all on the rise, brands are missing out on valuable long-term investments by turning down opportunities for women’s teams and athletes. Need another reason to support increased media coverage and sponsorships for women? We have a week’s worth of data to back it up.
Equal Pay
Women make an average of 80 cents on the dollar compared to men. It’s even worse for women of color. Those gross inequalities can be found at the highest levels of sports as well. Take Serena Williams for example. She’s paid significantly less than her male counterparts. Serena Williams! In fact, no woman shows up on the list of highest paid athletes until Serena…at #40. But thanks to activists like Serena and her counterparts on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, USA Women’s Hockey Team and elsewhere, things are starting to change. We’ve captured what’s been done, what’s coming down the pike and how you can keep the conversation about equal pay going.
Champions for Change
Our heroes. We all have them. Those athletes that changed what you thought was possible, pushed you to dig a little deeper and made you believe that you too might win the World Cup, a WNBA Championship or an Olympic gold medal. We’re highlighting some of the female athletes that have inspired, empowered and used their platforms to encourage the next generation of girls in sports. Who’s your shero?
Sports Participation
We’ll round out our Women’s History Month celebration by showcasing the reasons why increasing and encouraging girls to play and stay in sports is critical. And it starts at the top. When we make women’s sports a priority, we will begin to see an increase in participation in sports at the youth level. Title IX may make funding available for women’s sports, but it doesn’t mean there are enough opportunities for women in which to take part. Title IX is just the beginning to achieving equality between women’s and men’s sports. With so much left to be done, we’re talking what you can do to narrow the gap!
We hope you’ll follow along as we bring you resources, data and stories from your favorite athletes. We’re looking forward to hearing from YOU so please share your thoughts with us along the way! You can follow us on Instagram (@AthletesforHope) to see our daily stories, on Twitter (@AthletesforHope) and on Facebook. Make sure to share the images and stats that speak to you using the hashtags #SistersInSport and #WomensHistoryMonth. Let’s make some noise for change this March!